Freedom of Information Act

Frequently Asked Questions

Electronic Reading Room

Find information on more than 500,000 grants awards by HHS on the Tracking Accountability in Gov't Grants System (TAGGS).

You may request information from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Electronic Reading Room page, has instructions on how to make a request and contact information. You will also find links to items people ask for most often.

We will continue to provide you with more current program information as it becomes available.

Annual Report

In accordance with the Electronic FOIA Amendments of 1996, each Department is required to submit electronically available annual reports. The annual reports must specify specific numerical benchmarks such as the number of requests received and processed; the types of requests received, the number of requests where the agency did not release the requested records and the reasons for these decisions; the number of appeals the results, the amount of fees collected; and the number of staff and staff hours devoted to processing requests.

Information Resources

If you have any questions regarding fees, fee waivers, FOIA-exempted materials or on how to write an appeal for a denied request, check the following HHS sites:

ACF FOIA Liaisons

Privacy Act and System of Records

The Privacy Act of 1974 requires that agencies create and maintain, as necessary, a System of Records Notices (SORN) as defined in the Privacy Act provisions. A system is subject to the Privacy Act if it contains a system of records; any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that identifies the individual, and where those records are retrieved by the name of the individual or by some type of identifier unique to the individual.

Other Related Federal Sites

The Department of Health and Human Services FOIA page contains a list FOIA and Publication offices, HHS Press Office address, annual reports, and an index of other major Information systems.

The Department of Justice FOIA site includes a directory of principle FOIA contacts at other federal agencies, the text of FOIA, Privacy Act, and FOIA Update.

Links to Agency Records on the World Wide Web

The Government Information Locator (GILS) identifies public information resources within the Federal government.

The U.S. Government Printing Office through GPO Access provides a wealth of important information produced by the Federal Government.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) stores historical government documents in different formats.