Content created by Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Division
System name:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health Correspondence Control System, HHS/OASH/OM.
Security classification:
None.
System location:
1. Public Health Service Executive Secretariat, Room 710H, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20201.
2. Staff offices of the Assistant Secretary for Health. For a list of addresses, please write to: Policy Coordinator, Office of Organization and Management Systems, Office of Management, Room 17–51, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.
3. Federal Records Center, 4205 Suitland Road, Washington, DC 20746.
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
Individuals who have contacted either the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Surgeon General, a Deputy Assistant Secretary, or a PHS Staff Office Director, or have been contacted in writing by one of these officials.
Categories of records in the system:
Hard copies of the actual correspondence, 3 x 5 card file, and computer or word processor printout and tape or disk control system records of that correspondence.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
5 U.S.C. 301 Departmental Regulations.
Purpose(s):
To control and track all correspondence documents addressed or directed to the Assistant Secretary for Health or his subordinates as indicated above, as well as documents initiated by them, in order to assure timely and appropriate attention.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
1. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from the congressional office made at the request of that individual.
2. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may disclose information from this system of records to the Department of Justice, or to a court or other tribunal, when
(a) HHS, or any component thereof; or
(b) Any HHS employee in his or her official capacity; or
(c) Any HHS employee in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice (or HHS, where it is authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or
(d) The United States or any agency thereof where HHS determines that the litigation is likely to affect HHS or any of its components,
is a party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and HHS determines that the use of such records by the Department of Justice, the court or other tribunal is relevant and necessary to the litigation and would help in the effective representation of the governmental party, provided, however, that in each case, HHS determines that such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
Correspondence records are maintained in hard copy. Control records are maintained in 3 x 5 card file and on computer or word processor printout, tape, and disk.
Retrievability:
Hard copy records are indexed alphabetically by name of addressee and date of outgoing correspondence; or by name of sender and date of incoming correspondence; or by subject. Records may also be cross-referenced.
Safeguards:
1. Authorized Users: Office directors, correspondence assistants, and professional and support staff with designated functional responsibilities directly relating to the purpose of the correspondence.
2. Procedural Safeguards: Confidential and/or sensitive documents are either handcarried or transmitted in sealed envelopes. Employees who handle correspondence are instructed to observe established office procedures to protect correspondence documents from unauthorized access. The computerized subsystem is protected by passwords assigned to specific correspondence assistants; passwords are changed periodically; the password is changed when a correspondence assistant terminates employment.
3. Physical Safeguards: 24-hour guard service in buildings, locked rooms after office hours, lockable file cabinets, word processing disks are off-loaded and stored when not in use.
Retention and disposal:
Records may be retired to a Federal Records Center and subsequently disposed of in accordance with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health records control schedule. The records control schedule may be obtained by writing to the appropriate System Manager at the address for that official which is indicated under System Location above.
System manager(s) and address:
Policy Coordinator:Director, Office of Organization and Management Systems, Office of Management, Room 27–51, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.
System manager:1. Director, Public Health Service Executive Secretariat, Room 710H. Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20201.
The Director of each Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health staff office is the system manager for the correspondence control system in his/her office. For the address of the appropriate system manager, please write to the Polciy Coordinator at the above address.
Notification procedure:
Inquiries should indicate the name of the individual with whom the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health corresponded, the date of the incoming correspondence, if any, and the date of the outgoing correspondence. Inquiries should be addressed to the appropriate System Manager, listed above, not to the policy coordination official.
Record access procedures:
Same as notification procedures. Requesters must state that they are who they claim to be, and understand that obtaining information under false pretenses is subject to a maximum statutory penalty of 5,000.00 dollars.
Requesters may also ask for an accounting of disclosures that have been made of their records, if any.
Contesting record procedures:
Contact the appropriate System Manager at the address for that official specified under System Location above, and reasonably identify the record, specify the information to be contested, the corrective action sought, and the reason for seeking the correction, with supporting information to show how the record is inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.
Record source categories:
Records are derived from incoming correspondence to, and the outgoing correspondence of, the Assistant Secretary for Health or his subordinates as indicated above.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the act:
None.