New Freedom Initiative -- Preliminary Report: Cross-Agency Collaboration and Coordination

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Initiative ~ Executive Order ~ HHS Role ~ News & Additional Resources

Delivering on the Promise: Preliminary Report

Federal Agency Actions to Eliminate Barriers and Promote Community Integration

Cross-Agency Collaboration and Coordination

In order effectively to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and to efficiently utilize federal resources, the various federal agencies that devise disability policy and provide, fund and support community-based services should communicate about and collaborate on policy and programmatic objectives. Unfortunately, agencies involved in community support funding and activities have historically operated independently, with little or no coordination of their policy and program development activities. As a result, many individuals with disabilities have struggled with multiple federal programs containing inconsistent and often conflicting policies and program requirements. State and local governments and community organizations attempting to create coordinated systems of community supports for people with disabilities have also faced barriers due to lack of adequate coordination and collaboration across agencies and programs. For these reasons, the lack of a comprehensive and coordinated federal policy on community supports was identified through the agency self-evaluation and public input process as one of the most significant barriers to community living for people with disabilities.

Executive Order 13217 provided federal agencies with a much-needed impetus to work together to identify barriers to community living for individuals with disabilities policies, statutes and regulations. In order to ensure that the goals of the Executive Order are realized, and that activities to promote community integration are carried out in a coordinated, collaborative manner, agencies propose the following activities:

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS proposes that the President formalize permanently the Interagency Council on Community Living (ICCL), convened by HHS Secretary Thompson in July 2001 to accomplish the tasks set out in Executive Order 13217. The ICCL would be comprised of all agencies involved in implementation of the Executive Order, with the addition of other agencies as appropriate, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Designated members would be Secretaries, agency heads, or their functional equivalents. In addition, staff would be assigned to meet regularly to conduct the ongoing interagency work. HHS proposes that the Council articulate a strategic interagency plan to expand and promote home and community-based services, and to address, at a minimum, issues related to: housing; workers with disabilities; the long-term care workforce; assistive technology; transportation; and education.
HHS' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will work with the Department of Justice to implement a formal arrangement under which OCR would refer to DOJ's mediation program appropriate unresolved individual administrative complaints that allege a violation of the ADA's integration regulation.

Department of Education

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) recommends the establishment of an ad hoc federal work group to address the housing needs of individuals with disabilities, and to assist OSERS-funded Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in assisting individuals with disabilities in moving from institutional to community life.
OSERS will establish a partnership with the Joint Council on Access and Mobility to investigate transportation problems and complaints and promote a network of alternative transportation for individuals with disabilities through community-based and other providers, in order to assist CILs in providing individuals with disabilities with appropriate referrals to transportation services or in establishing or operating their own transportation services.
OSERS will explore partnerships with other agencies in order to expand training opportunities regarding the recruitment, hiring and supervision of providers who furnish personal assistance services (e.g., assistance with bathing, dressing, toileting and other self-care tasks), and to explore how individuals with disabilities can have more control in the utilization of funds for personal care services.

Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUD will coordinate efforts with DOJ to devote substantial resources to investigations and enforcement actions against developers, architects, and site engineers who design and/or construct multi-family housing that does not comply with the accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Act.
HUD will work with DOJ to increase the accessibility of public housing by improving enforcement of the nondiscrimination requirements (including accessibility and reasonable accommodation requirements) of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act against Public Housing Authorities.

Department of Justice

DOJ will work with HHS to implement a formal arrangement under which HHS would refer to DOJ's mediation program appropriate unresolved individual administrative complaints that allege a violation of the ADA's integration regulation.

Department of Labor

DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) will facilitate the development of an employment-focused memorandum of understanding (MOU) between agencies and departments that are essential partners to the workforce investment system. The purpose of the MOU would be to (1) clarify integrated employment as a goal for adults with significant disabilities; (2) coordinate agency resources and capacity building initiatives at the federal level; and (3) serve as a model for state level coordination to ensure that employment becomes part of the planning process for people transitioning from institutional care into the community.
ODEP will work with other relevant agencies, including the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration, the Treasury Department, and the ED's Rehabilitation Services Administration, to educate lenders about the viability of small business ownership for people with disabilities. Given that access to capital is the cornerstone of any effort to start a business, any strategy addressing this area must consider the effects of current policy.
DOL will work with other agencies to promote the full inclusion of people with psychiatric disabilities in workforce investment programs and services. ODEP will consult with the Task Force, HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Small Business Association and the Office of Personnel Management, as well as relevant stakeholders.
PWBA will work with the other agencies with which it shares jurisdiction in administering the health laws to provide expanded education and outreach, guidance, and other activities to provide a coordinated and comprehensive program for the disabled community, including the provision of more focused information and outreach made more widely available and accessible.

Department of Transportation

DOT will work with HHS to reinvigorate the Joint Council on Access and Mobility.
DOT will work with DOJ and the National Council on Disability on an outreach plan to air carriers regarding carriers' obligation under federal law not to engage in discrimination on the basis of disability.

Office of Personnel Management

OPM will strengthen its relationship with the Social Security Administration to promote the implementation of the Ticket to Work program, in order to facilitate Social Security disability recipients' return to employment.
OPM will strengthen its relationship with the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration in order to promote federal government employment of individuals who receive state vocational rehabilitation services.
OPM will work with DOL to ensure that DOL-funded One-Stop Centers promote the use of a workforce recruitment program for college students with disabilities, promote the use of a DOL referral network for employers interested in filling jobs with candidates with disabilities, and provide One-Stop Centers with information on federal employment.

Last revised: April 9, 2002