Research and Evaluation Planning

FY 1973 Accomplishments

Primary attention was placed on designing a structured process for allocating research and evaluation resources and assuring that these resources produce information which is used in Departmental decision-making. Under the system each agency

is expected to develop research and evaluation plans explaining what programs and projects will be funded and why these activities are important means of achieving the Department's objectives. Agencies are also expected to identify the policy implications of their research and to communicate these implications, supported by research and evaluation findings, to appropriate program and policy decision-makers. Program Plans FY 1974 An increase of 2 positions is requested for this office. One position would be utilized to coordinate evaluations and policy analysis concerning HEW programs as these affect consumers. The second position would be used to coordinate agency development of policy papers and would monitor responses to these papers. FY 1973 efforts will also be continued and these include: Implementation of a system in which past management performance becomes a criterion in the allocation of research and evaluation resources among agencies in the Department, and implementation of a system to provide HEW's Regional Directors a full role in the Department's research and evaluation process.

Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary

The Immediate Office directs and coordinates the activities of the Assistant Secretary's planning and evaluation offices. These offices administer approximately $15,000,000 of the Department's evaluation funds. In order to centralize management of these funds and of the evaluation contracting process, an increase of two positions is requested for the Immediate Office. The two positions would be used for an Evaluation Financial Manager and supporting secretarial staff.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, directs, coordinates, and evaluates the Department's nationwide public affairs program. Special emphasis is given to developing better public understanding of the benefits and services available from HEW. OPA serves as the central public affairs office of the Department; counsels and acts for the Secretary and his staff in assisting them to meet their legal and administrative responsibilities for informing the general public of programs and policies; and establishes and enforces policies which effect and encourage a clear, efficient and consistent flow of information to the general public and other audiences served by the Department. The Office is also reponsible for administering the Freedom of Information Act and operating the Visitors Information Center.

Accomplishments FY 1972-73

During FY 1973, the Office continued to refine and augment the Department-wide Communications Management System and the Departmental Communications Operating Plan, developed early in FY 1972 to coordinate and control the diverse public affairs activities of the Department and provide for the orderly review and clearance of

publications and periodicals, press releases and news conferences, and audiovisual and exhibit materials. The Departmental Communications Operating Plan insures more effective inter-agency cooperation in public affairs planning for such Departmentwide initiatives as sickle cell anemia, lead-base paint poisoning, hypertension and post-secondary financial aid.

The Office also instituted a system of approval authority over all DHEW periodicals and developed a program for the evaluation of readership effectiveness of DHEW periodicals as a logical way to determine if they should be continued. The computerized data base of the Publications Management Information System, established early in FY 1972 to monitor all publications produced within DHEW, was used to issue the first Department-wide catalog of publications which is being updated quarterly.

The "YOU..." series of weekly half-hour TV shows formerly produced by WRC-TV and aired in Washington is now being used by some 200 local stations around the country, reaching an audience estimated at more than 7 million. Each show concentrates on presenting and explaining a specific Departmental program. The "YOU..." series is now being produced and aired locally by WETA-TV 2-3 times weekly. National distribution will begin in spring 1973. Under the title "Straight Talk" over 100 brief (90 second) radio messages about HEW program areas-suicide, alcoholism, drugs, family planning, toy safety, etc.--were recorded and fed to 400 radio stations on American Broadcasting Company's contemporary (youth-oriented) network several times weekly. "For the People", a 23-minute weekly interview program featuring a Mutual Broadcasting System moderator and HEW officials and is being aired by 600 Mutual radio stations on prime time. All three programs are aired as free public-service broadcasts. In addition, the concept, treatment, and shooting script for a 28-minute HEW film has now been approved and shooting will begin in February 1973 with completion by November 1973. The Office also received, reviewed, and approved proposals for approximately 300 radio, film, exhibitry and television items from the operating agencies.

The Office wrote and produced 39 Secretarial speeches, 8 issue papers, 15 by-line articles, 247 Presidential and Secretarial messages to individuals and organizations and, through its Speakers Bureau, arranged for HEW officials to speak to 97 organizations. In addition, the Office revised, updated and published "People Serving People", an overview of HEW's organization and major programs intended for general audience distribution, response to public inquiries and orientation of new employees.

Press activities included arranging and producing background and supporting materials for 27 news conferences or press availabilities both in Washington and the field and included review, coordination and approval of more than 1400 news issuances originating in the agencies. The Office also initiated a "Spotmaster" program of actual voice recordings of HEW officials available daily to news broadcasters across the nation and high-lighting fast-breaking significant news items. Also in FY 1973 the Office provided feature stories and news releases of special interest to the Black, Spanish, and Indian-oriented press and broadcast news media.

The Office also participated in Congressional Hearings on the Freedom of Information Act and is assisting in the revision of the Department's Freedom of Information Regulations designed to make information about the Department more readily available to the public.

Programs Plans FY 1974

The Office will continue to refine and expand its Communications Management System by extension of approval authority beyond DHEW periodicals to other classes of regular DHEW publications; begin measuring the effectiveness of single issuance type publications; and will institutionalize a pre-publication review system at the agency level. A system, parallel to the Publications Management Information System, will be developed to establish a data base and retrieval system for Department-wide control of audiovisual materials.

The Office will continue to exercise broad overview of all DHEW communications activities, adding Department-wide perspective to individual agency efforts and seeking opportunities for Department-wide programs and programs between two or more constituent agencies. The Office will continue to improve its capacity to

provide technical audiovisual expertise to all segments of the Department, and increase efforts to present the HEW story in the electronic mass media. We will continue and expand efforts to meet the special requirements of Black, Spanish, and Indian-oriented news media. Added emphasis will be placed on providing liaison, coordination and other information services to regional information offices under DHEW's decentralization program.

To accomplish these objectives, the Office requests 3 additional positions: two professional and one clerical. One professional, a specialist in minority press, would enable the Office to expand its efforts to meet the special needs of Black, Spanish and Indian-oriented news media. The second professional, an audiovisual specialist, would assist in development of the data retrieval system designed for Department-wide control of audiovisual material production and use. A third new position would provide needed clerical support.

The major responsibility of the Office of Community and Field Services is to serve as the principal staff advisor to the Secretary and operating agencies on all matters affecting regional and field programs of the Department. The Assistant Secretary provides general administrative direction and broad policy guidance to the ten HEW Regional Directors, brings the needs and recommendations of State and local governments to the attention of the Secretary, and advises operating agencies and staff offices on all aspects of Departmental activities related to Consumer Services, Youth and Student Affairs, Mental Retardation, and Enviromental Affairs. In addition to the headquarters office and the ten regional offices, the Office of the Assistance Secretary consists four advocacy units--Consumer Affairs, Youth and Student Affairs, Office of Mental Retardation Coordination, and the President's Committee on Mental Retardation.

In FY 74 the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community and Field Services will continue to respond to the "New Federalism" goals by being an advocate for decentralization and improving the delivery of Federal assistance at the State and local levels. Forty seven additional positions are requested to involve Regional Directors in the review of agency evaluation plans and to provide them with a capacity, through Legislative Specialists, to relate directly with State legislatures on HEW initiatives that impact upon them.

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Field Management

The Field Management activity includes the ten HEW Regional Director staffs and the Assistant Secretary's headquarters office which provides administrative and policy support to the regional offices. The current staff is 332, and an increase of 47 is requested for 1974, all of which is for the regions.

Regional Offices FY 1973 Accomplishments

Significant progress was made in rationalizing the grant process. Regional directors, in cooperation with OMB and other Federal Regional Council agencies, are implementing a Regional Management Information System to track project grant applications through the review and approval process, and pilot efforts are underway in Boston and Dallas. In order to strengthen the regional directors' influence in awarding project grants and contracts, the directors have been given review and sign-off authority for all DHEW discretionary funding. Strengthening general purpose government is one of the key elements of the President's "New Federalism" strategy. Related to this, was the organization of a technical assistance program to aid HEW grantees in integrating services.

The Regional Directors' capabilities in evaluation, management information and intergovernmental activities were strengthened. Through the addition of 20 new positions in FY 73 the regional role in the evaluation process was expanded to include the development and submission of regional program evaluation projects. Fourteen new positions were provided to Regional Directors in FY 73 to expand intergovernmental activities. Through the establishment of State Liaison Officers the States now have one point of contact in the regional office.

Related to the redelegation to FS of authority to carry out certain responsibilities under the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, Regional Directors, in the four affected states, took an active role in bringing about greater regional participation in the review and integration of HEW and ARC programs. Combining ARC and HEW funds, approximately $200 million for vocational education, child care, and health programs is available to the people of Appalachia.

Program Plans FY 1974 Forty seven new positions are requested to expand regional director staff capabilities. Of these, ten new positions are requested to further expand the role of the Regional Director in the evaluation process to include review of agency evaluation plans and input to the Departmental research and evaluation system. The ten new positions, in addition to 20 new FY 1973 positions, would establish an in-house evaluation capacity to review, analyze, and make recommendations on program and policy issues.

Twenty seven new FY 1974 positions are requested to expand the State liaison concept which was established in FY 1973 with 14 new positions. These 41 FY 1973 and 1974 positions would enable the regional offices to focus on individual States in providing human resource and service delivery expertise.

Ten new positions are requested to give the regional directors a capability for providing technical assistance to State legislatives on matters related to HEW programs. It is especially important that information on HEW program initiatives be made available as the basis of conforming State law.

The Management Information System will move from stage one, primarily a grant information subsystem, to stages two and three, a budgetary feedback subsystem and a socio-economic data subsystem. Servisse Integration and the planning effort will continue to be major agenda items for #hplanet hilseturs, A services-integration project, Integrated Grants Adminspækila will kesume operational in all ten regions.

Headquarters - 77 1979 Ampliata g

The Assistant Garyalary'a office assists the regions in developing and implementing Departmental policies and integrates the development of field services policies with the planning, budget formulation and legislation process. In addition, this staff promotes the development of regional information systems, and it provides integrated personnel, budget and communications support to the regional

offices. In FY 1973 the office coordinated efforts to develop the role of regional directors in evaluating the effectiveness of DHEW programs at the regional level. To strengthen regional influence in the granting and contracting process, headquarters coordinated implementation of the Regional Director Grant Review and Signoff System and supported development of the Regional Management Information System designed to track grant applications through the review and approval process. In furthering the goal of strengthening general purpose government, the Assistant Secretary's office identified major constraints to services integration and developed a technical assistance program to aid the States in integrating services. In addition, the office coordinated decentralization of personnel management and strengthened regional financial management through establishment of regional comptrollers. A staff was established with existing personnel to implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 which requires, in advance of funding, a description of the environmental effects of Federal programs. Procedures for monitoring program compliance and for approval of Environmental Impact Statements were finalized and required training activities were identified.

Program Plans FY 1974 The Assistant Secretary's office will continue to support development of the regional evaluation capability and the grant sign-off and grant tracking systems. Particular attention will be placed on exploration of approaches for promoting and making viable the New Federalism, and in this context, the office will assist the regional offices to strengthen their ties with State and local general purpose governments and to develop a rationale for regionallybased technical assistance efforts. The office will continue to support the personnel and financial management units in the regional offices, and special emphasis will be placed on extending the regional comptroller organizational approach to all regions. The environmental affairs staff will establish a referral service with respect to environmental expertise within DHEW, and it will serve as the primary review staff for Environmental Impact Statements developed in the Department.

Other Assistant Secretarial Functions

In addition to the ten regional offices and the headquarters office, the Assistant Secretary's Office consists of four advocacy units.

The Office of Youth and Student Affairs is an advocacy office for youth and serves as a liaison between HEW and students around the country. In FY 1973 the Office concentrated on increasing the Department's familiarity with the special health and mental health problems of young people, and particular attention was paid to improving the delivery of health services to youth. The Office was concerned with assuring the participation of young people in the development of policy and programs for such issues as: desegregation, counseling in high schools, financial aid for postsecondary education, reform in higher education, and comprehensive health planning.

Program Plans FY 1974 The office plans to expand substantially the flow of information to young people about the Department's activities and programs. It will recommend courses of action to appropriate Department officials and agencies on such issues as: race relations on college campuses, the unique mental health problems of working class youth, the problem of escalating youth crime in non-urban areas and the special health and education problems of migrant youth.

The Office of Consumer Services acts as an advocate for the consumer concerns of the HEW constituency. In FY 1973 the Office advised and made policy recommendations to the Secretary on consumer issues; worked with HEW agencies to improve their consumer needs; and provided technical assistance on consumer--particularly low-income consumer--program development to State and local governments, consumer groups, and Federal agencies. A low-income consumer assistance experiment, the Consumer Consultant Pilot Project, was conducted in three cities and evaluated to determine the potential utility of institutionalizing low-income consumer technical assistance within the HEW structure. In conjunction with the HEW Consumer Council (an advisory body of representatives from HEW agencies and OS staff offices chaired