Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

The need for agencies to work proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received remains an ongoing focus of FOIA guidance and policy. Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount of material that is available on your agency websites. In addition to the questions below, you should also describe any additional steps taken by your agency to make and improve proactive disclosures of information.

Posting Material

  1. Describe your agency’s process or system for identifying “frequently requested” records that should be posted online.

HHS continues to employ a number of ways to identify records for online public disclosure.  HHS OpDivs use the established threshold of three requests for the same information to identify records of substantial public interest, either by reviewing FOIA logs, manually tracking FOIA requests or from identifying requests for the same records from an electronic tracking system.  In addition, information is gathered from program areas and offices about significant policy documents that may be candidates for proactive disclosure, and public affairs and communications staff provide input and suggestions for records they believe should be proactively disclosed to the public.

  1. Does your agency have a distinct process or system in place to identify other records for proactive disclosure? If so, please describe your agency’s process or system.

HHS remains committed to making data open and accessible, as stated in the 2016 HHS Open Government Plan at https://www.hhs.gov/open/2016-plan/index.html, and further described at https://www.hhs.gov/open/2016-plan/proactive-disclosure.html and https://www.hhs.gov/open/2016-plan/transparency-initiatives.html.  Research resources are available at https://www.hhs.gov/programs/research/research-hhs-operating-divisions.html and a wide array of health data information can be accessed at www.healthdata.gov.  In addition, the HHS FOIA Service Centers encourage proactive posting of information, by communicating with program areas and offices regarding subjects and records of public interest.  Some examples of the processes used to identify other records for proactive disclosure are described below:

  • The majority of ACF’s program offices consider requests and recommendations (including informal requests) from state administrators, ACF Regional Offices, national organizations, and other stakeholders when deciding what information to post on the ACF website.
  • NIH takes many approaches to identify records for proactive disclosure. These include:
  • Attendance by the NIH FOIA Officer at weekly meetings with the NIH Associate Director for Communications and Public Liaison and his deputies; the Deputy Director for Public Affairs and the Chief of the News Media Branch. Current media issues and upcoming NIH events are discussed at these meetings and issues/events for which NIH anticipates interest are identified for proactive disclosure. 
  • The NIH Associate Director for Communications and Public Liaison meet bi-monthly with the Communications Directors of the NIH Institutes and Centers, where matters of interest to the public are discussed and identified for proactive disclosure. In particular, when major research initiatives are being announced, the attendees identify material/information that will assist public understanding of the initiative and that information is posted at the time of the announcement. 
  • The NIH Associate Director for Communications and Public Liaison, to whom the NIH FOIA Officer reports, also attends weekly NIH leadership meetings where program initiatives, upcoming meetings, and high-profile matters are discussed. Matters that may be appropriate for proactive disclosure are then shared/discussed with the NIH FOIA Officer.
  • Communications, research, and policy individuals in each of the NICH components monitor the component’s activities and research portfolios for matters appropriate for proactive disclosure.
  • NIH tracks the number of report downloads from the RePORT site (which contains detailed information about research grant awards) and posts to the site information about the grants that were the most frequently requested during the past three months. NIH also analyzes RePORTER queries posed by users to identify candidates for new standard reports.
  1. Has your agency encountered challenges that make it difficult to post records you otherwise would like to post?

Yes.  Please see our response below to Question 4.

  1. If so, briefly explain those challenges and how your agency is working to overcome them.

HHS continues to face the challenge of making documents and records compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The many types of records maintained by HHS’ OpDivs include (in addition to electronic mail, Microsoft Office documents, and Adobe records) charts, graphs, handwritten notes, illustrations, tables, scientific formulae, and photographic and scientific images.  Remediating these records to ensure Section 508 compliance can be technically challenging, expensive and lengthy, and may be impossible for some types of records.

HHS also maintains records that contain substantial amounts of sensitive and exempt information, such as personal health information (PHI), confidential commercial information (CCI), and investigatory information which do not lend themselves to public disclosure and posting.  Posting challenges associated with these types of records include ensuring that the publicly posted records have been appropriately redacted, and securing the resources (e.g., skilled staff and Internet storage capacity) necessary to post the records online.  Specific examples of the OpDivs’ efforts to meet these challenges are described below:

  • ACF receives 90 to 100 requests for approved grant applications annually, which must be made compliant with Section 508 before being posted on ACF’s website. ACF received quotes of $2000-$4000 and projections of two weeks to remediate each approved grant application to meet Section 508 standards. In order address this issue, ACF hired a web specialist certified in 508 compliance and purchased software that can remediate documents to minimum 508 standards.
  • The CDC FOIA office has designated a Lead Communication Analyst whose duties include facilitating the posting of FOIA responses online.
  • CMS is looking at a redesign of its FOIA website to streamline the user experience and free up space to post future records releases.
  1. Provide examples of material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past reporting year, including links to the posted material.

ACF continues its ongoing efforts to proactively post information of interest on its website; some examples with their links are below:

CDC’s proactive disclosures included the following:

CMS proactively posted Marketplace enrollment data, Medicare provider enrollment data, Medicare physician referral data, hospital appeal settlement data and other Medicare and health related data.  Some examples are provided below: 

FDA posts a wealth of data online, such as the data sets available at https://govdashboard.fda.gov/ which relate to inspections, compliance and recalls. This dynamic online tool presents information in an easy-to-read graphical format and provides access to the underlying data; allowing the public to see related data and trends. Users also can view, download, and manipulate the data.

FDA agency components continue to create web pages for specific issues of heightened consumer or media interest, to better inform the Agency’s constituency without requiring the submission of a FOIA request. For example, FDA posted extensive information during this reporting period on such subjects as drug compounding, food safety, dietary supplements, antimicrobial use in veterinary practice, tobacco information and flu vaccine information, among others.

HRSA continues to proactively provide updated information in the HRSA Data Warehouse, which contains data from multiple source systems within HRSA and from external sources:  https://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/about/abouthdw.aspx

  • https://datashare.nida.nih.gov/
    National Institute on Drug Abuse Data Share web site is an electronic environment that allows data from completed clinical trials to be distributed to investigators and the public in order to promote new research, encourage further analyses, and disseminate information to the community

SAMHSA proactively discloses information regarding grant awards, as well as releasing and updating behavioral health and mental health data.

  1. Did your agency use any means to publicize or highlight important proactive disclosures for public awareness?  If yes, please describe these efforts.

The Department continues to actively use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest and GooglePlus to communicate and disseminate information to the public. Some examples of HHS OpDiv initiatives are described below:

  • As ACF Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) documents are developed and published to the ACF website, ACF sends listserv emails announcing the publications, which include newsletters, fact sheets, and policy guidance. ACF also sends “Chirps” to its listservs which are brief “did you know” statements for the child support community. These “Chirps” also are posted to ACF’s website as news items at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/news .

    To further engage the public, the OCSE Commissioner writes a blog speaking to various topics related to child support and the public may leave comments on the blog, which are monitored. The link to the Commissioner’s Voice blog is https://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/blogs/voice/ .
  • ACF’s Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD) published comments in the Federal Register for the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Implementation Plan Guidance & Form 1: Demographic and Service Utilization Data (OMB 0970-0389). The ECD Office also has a monthly newsletter that highlights resources and new work in the early childhood field.
  • ACF’s Office of Child Care (OCC) sent an email notification to more than 4,000 OCC contacts, specifically related to the posting of the conditionally approved Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) plans. OCC also has prominently displayed a link to the new CCDF plan webpage on the front page of the OCC website.
  • CDC’s official Twitter feed provides daily health and safety updates. CDC also employs blogs to amplify the dissemination of information to the public; these include the Public Health Matters Blog, Safe Healthcare Blog, CDC Director Blog, Our Global Voices, and CDC Works For You 24/7 Blog.
  • CMS employs press releases and other existing outreach programs to let interested parties know when information has been proactively disclosed. For example, press material and webpages are often structured around high-interest programs to share information.
  • NIH components use social media platforms, including Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, webinars, Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram, to notify the public of proactive disclosures. NIH components also use email subscription services and gov.delivery to provide information on proactive disclosures.  Examples of specific initiatives include the following:
  • The National Institute on Drug Abuse hosts a LinkedIn group “Drug and Alcohol Use Prevention Network” which is growing into a community of teachers, parents, organizations, and other teen-influencers who are dedicated to preventing substance use by teens through education.
  • The Center for Scientific Review launched a new children’s game app in the iTunes store: The NIH Scientist Launch game was developed for middle school students to enable them to experience the excitement of becoming a scientist, getting a research grant, and advancing science and health. The game specifically provides players with information about the fight against cancer, heart disease, and the common cold; how to design better research projects; and the challenges and successes of being a researcher.
  • The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) continues the development of its institute-wide initiative to capture and preserve the details of NHGRI’s historic role in The Human Genome Project and in subsequent genomics programs. As part of this initiative, paper documents are being digitized, curated, and stored in an archival database and oral histories are being collected to capture the perspectives and experiences of those involved in major NHGRI genomics programs and other institute endeavors.

Other Initiatives

  1. If there are any other steps your agency has taken to improve proactive disclosures, please describe them here. For example, has your agency engaged requesters in determining how and what to post?  Has your agency used web analytics to inform your proactive disclosures? 

Yes.  Some examples of the Department’s actions are described below:

  • ACF uses Google Analytics to analyze the ACF websites’ popular resources and landing pages, frequently searched key words, and traffic types; including referral traffic. ACF analyzes trends and works proactively to meet the needs of our diverse users by highlighting and providing appropriate content.
  • CMS receives a high volume for FOIA requests for data and CMS is continually communicating with requesters to identify ways to proactively post the most highly sought after and useful data. CMS also monitors high-interest issues to proactively release information.
  • The FDA discusses proactive disclosure at FOIA training sessions and monthly FOIA Council meetings (the FOIA Council is a working group, comprised of FOIA staff from all agency components). In addition, FDA FOIA professionals work with FDA’s Office of Media Affairs and other Public Affairs staff within the FDA components to ensure that records related to issues of significant public interest are being proactively posted, as appropriate.
  • NIH web teams use data from user surveys, downloads, and views to identify material for proactive disclosure, as noted in the response to Question 2 of this Section.

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