The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is looking for feedback on two documents aimed at helping Federal agencies increase opportunities for public participation and community engagement.
Based on robust feedback from the public, OMB issued a draft memo and toolkit last week that will help agencies to better engage the American people.
The draft memo provides guidance for Federal agencies including steps to help broaden public engagement, as well as common definitions and guiding principles for participation and engagement. The draft toolkit aims to help agencies plan, implement, and assess the impact of meaningful participation and engagement.
“OMB’s draft guidance emphasizes the importance of early and transparent engagement with the public. When developing this guidance, OMB sought to model leading practices for public participation and community engagement ourselves,” OMB said in an Oct. 29 blog post.
“We held seven listening sessions and invited written comments through Regulations.gov, a simple online form, and email to learn more about barriers to greater participation in Federal engagement activities and potential content for a participation and engagement framework,” OMB added. “We learned that, above all, people want a conversation with their government.”
The draft guidance recommends that Federal agencies designate participation and engagement points of contact for agency staff and the public. According to the memo, the designated point of contact should “identify and elevate agency needs for new tools and technologies to broaden public participation and community engagement.”
The guidance also encourages Federal agencies to adopt leading practices for engagement, such as providing public notice of engagement opportunities as early as possible.
OMB notes that “while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to participation and engagement,” the toolkit would centralize materials to help agencies engage Americans “in ways that better meet agency and community needs and priorities.”
The agency is looking for comments on the draft guidance and toolkit by Nov. 29. OMB said the feedback will shape its final guidance and toolkit.
