U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Chief FOIA Officer: Dori Salcido, Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Message from the Chief FOIA Officer
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) programs within HHS are one of many important functions that contribute to the department meeting and achieving its mission and goals. I am pleased to present the HHS 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Report to the Attorney General of the United States, which places emphasis on improving FOIA performance and ensuring active participation to help improve FOIA operations and facilitate information disclosure. The Office of the Secretary and HHS components continue their commitment to the success of reducing the FOIA backlog and to the President’s ideal of transparency and openness.
Dori Salcido
Chief FOIA Officer
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Office of the Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
Executive Summary
The Department of Health and Human Services consists of 11 Operation Divisions (OpDivs) and the Office of the Secretary (OS), all of which receives and responds to FOIA requests. The OpDivs consists of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF); Administration for Community Living (ACL); Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); Indian Health Service (IHS); National Institutes of Health (NIH); Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH); and Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In addition there are several Staff Divisions (StaffDivs) under the Office of the Secretary.
Several OpDivs and StaffDivs provided information in response to the overall FOIA compliance and transparency for this report. The OpDivs and StaffDivs include the following:
Operation Divisions
- Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- Indian Health Service (IHS)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH)
- Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Staff Divisions
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (ASFR)
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
- Office of Inspector General (OIG)
- Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA)
- Introduction
- Section I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness
- Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System in Place for Responding to Requests
- Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures
- Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology
- Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reduce Backlogs
