SORN 09-90-0037
System name: Secretariat’s Correspondence Control System, HHS/OS/ES.
Security classification: None.
System location: Room 602C, Humphrey Bldg., 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.
Categories of individuals covered by the system: Individuals who have contacted the Secretary, the Under Secretary, or other HHS officials, or who have been contacted in writing to them.
Categories of records in the system: Control information from the Secretary's, Under Secretary's, or other HHS officials' correspondence to include a subject narrative, organization drafting the response, and type of action required from the Department. This information is contained on hardcopy printouts, computer magnetic tape, and computer disk units.
Authority for maintenance of the system: 5 U.S.C. 301.
Purpose(s):
To provide for the Secretary, the Assistant Secretaries, and the Operating Divisions the capability to control, track and update document records as the documents are processed within the Department.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such uses:
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. In the event of litigation where the defendant is (a) the Department, any component of the Department, or any employee of the Department in his or her official capacity; (b) the United States where the Department determines that the claim, if successful, is likely to directly affect the operations of the Department or any of its components; or (c) any Department employee in his or her individual capacity where the Justice Department has agreed to represent such employee, the Department may disclose such records as it deems desirable or necessary to the Department of Justice to enable that Department to present an effective defense provided such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
Records may be disclosed to student volunteers, individuals working under a personal services contract, and other individuals performing functions for the Department but technically not having the status of agency employees, if they need access to the records in order to perform their assigned agency functions.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system:
Storage: Records are maintained as follows: Hardcopy printouts are stored in standard file cabinets in a locked area; computer records are stored on either magnetic tape resident in a computer tape library, or, an on-line computer disk unit at the operational computer site.
Retrievability: Records are indexed chronologically by date of correspondence and also by name, subject and numerical control number. Records are available to staff responsible for preparation of responses to inquiries and to the staff of the Executive Secretariat(s). Records are used for control and reference purposes in staffing out issues and correspondence of concern to the Secretary, the Under Secretary, or operational divisions/staff office heads.
Safeguards: Direct access is limited to the staff of the Executive Secretariat and OP DIV. staff control personnel to both hardcopy and computer resident records. Access is limited during non-working hours to the hardcopy records to these individuals with keys to both the file cabinets and rooms where the records are stored. Remote computer terminal locations are protected with individual user identification numbers and passwords to the computer system. Where possible, computer terminal locations are locked during non-working hours.
Retention and disposal: Hard copy records are retired to the National Archives after three years. Control records are maintained for three years. Computer records are purged after correspondence is finalized to a history file.
System manager(s) and address: Executive Secretary to the Department, Room 636G, Humphrey Bldg., 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
20201.
Notification procedure: Inquiries should be addressed to the System Manager. The inquirer should indicate the individual with whom the Secretary, Under Secretary, or OP DIV. staff office head corresponded, the date of the incoming correspondence and the date of the outgoing correspondence from the Secretary, the Under Secretary, of OP DIV. staff office head. Address is
same as above.
Record access procedures: Same as notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents being sought. (These access procedures are in accordance with Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.5(a)(2)) Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47410.)
Contesting record procedures: Contact the official at the address specified under notification procedures above, and reasonably identify the record and specify the information to be contested and corrective action sought with supporting justification. (These procedures are in accordance with
Department Regulations (45 CFR 5b.7) Federal Register, October 8, 1975, page 47411.)
Record source categories: Computer records are derived from the incoming correspondence for the Secretary and the Under Secretary.
Systems exempted from certain provisions of the act: None.