New Freedom Initiative -- Preliminary Report: The Public Input Process

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

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

Delivering on the Promise: Preliminary Report

Executive Order 13217 -- The Legal and Factual Backdrop

The Public Input Process

A key directive of the President's Executive Order was to include public input in the evaluations conducted by each agency. HHS Secretary Thompson sent an open letter to all interested parties inviting such input, and emphasized in a press release and throughout the public input process the desire to "listen to the people who know the barriers better than anyone could" -- those who have first-hand experience with disability. To ensure the involvement of consumers, advocacy organizations, providers and relevant agency representatives, HHS, in conjunction with the other participating agencies in the Interagency Council on Community Living, developed a multi-pronged strategy for soliciting public comments. Four complementary methods to obtain public input for the federal agency self-evaluations were adopted, as pictured below.

Information Gathering Activities
For The Executive Order

graphic display of methods for public input
[Text Version]

More than 800 individuals and organizations provided comments through the mechanisms established by HHS in response to the Executive Order. Many comments were quite detailed and contained multiple ideas and observations, resulting in the collection of several thousand ideas or observations through the public input process. Most of the comments (678) were received during the period of formal written comment. Eighty individuals and organizations provided testimony at the National Listening Session, while another 47 participated in the National Teleconference call. Respondents represented a broad cross-section of interest groups, including consumers, family members, advocacy organizations, providers and provider associations, state and local governments, national government agency associations, and researchers. Respondents also represented a broad spectrum of disabilities, including mental retardation and developmental disabilities, mental health and substance abuse, physical disabilities, including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, HIV/AIDS, visual and hearing impairments, autism, Alzheimer's and various learning disabilities. See Appendix B (listing all entities participating in the public input process). Components within HHS and the other participating federal departments conducted short-term outreach efforts to alert their network and the general public about the opportunity to provide input. These efforts included mass mailings and emails, announcements at already scheduled events, and alerts posted on agency websites. For example, HHS provided and disseminated one-page flyers in both English and Spanish that described the three public input opportunities and solicited comments.

Written Comments: Through a Federal Register notice published on July 27, 2001, HHS announced a 30-day, formal public comment period, inviting members of the public to submit written comments to the New Freedom Initiative Group. (See Notice, attached as Appendix C.)
Consumers, family members, advocacy organizations, service providers, and others were asked to identify barriers to community integration that exist in federal policies, programs and statutes, and to identify solutions to address these barriers. Individuals were given the option of providing input through the New Freedom Initiative email address or by submitting written comments by mail. The full text of each communication was entered into the public input database and categorized for analysis. The categorization involved identification of the source of input (i.e., consumer, family member, advocacy organization, etc.), the main topics of input (i.e., housing, health care, education, etc.), and the barriers and solutions described in the communication.
A total of 678 individuals and organizations provided 754 separate written communications during the public input period. As depicted in the graph below, individuals with a disability (50) or family members (157) together accounted for about one-third of the comments. They represented all ages and consumer groups. National organizations representing elderly, children, or adults with a disability accounted for about 21% of the comments. Comments were received from 24 state agencies, from 6 national associations of state government agencies, and from 7 local governments.

[Text Version]
National Teleconference: On August 15, 2001, HHS sponsored a National Teleconference and invited individuals and organizations to call a toll-free number to share comments and concerns. Individuals registered to provide time-limited comments prior to the scheduled Teleconference. Simultaneous webcasting of the Teleconference was provided through the New Freedom Initiative website to enable those individuals with hearing impairments to participate in this opportunity. Key listeners during the Teleconference included agency heads from participating federal departments. The full text of all comments received was added to the overall analysis of the public input. Forty-seven individuals made observations about the long-term care system or their own experiences during the national teleconference.
National Listening Session: On September 5, 2001, HHS hosted a National Listening Session on Community-Based Alternatives for People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C. More than 25 top federal officials from 10 different federal agencies participated in the day-long national meeting, which was designed to give consumers, family members, advocacy organizations, providers and other stakeholders the opportunity to speak directly to federal officials from the various agencies about barriers to community living and recommendations for overcoming them. Simultaneous captioning was provided throughout the session to ensure that all individuals participating could follow the discussion. To ensure that everyone attending the Session was able to provide input, individuals were given the opportunity to provide written input through laptop computers, with the assistance of staff from the various participating agencies. A total of 80 individuals testified. All input received during the Listening Session was also analyzed and added to the overall analysis of the public input.
Existing Studies: HHS conducted an overview of hundreds of existing studies conducted in both the public and private sectors regarding barriers to community living for people with disabilities. Attention was focused on studies completed within the past three years and those considered significant because they represent a comprehensive, in-depth or unique review of the issues.

Last revised: April 9, 2002