Making Government Work for Everyone: A Push for Stronger Public Engagement

In March 2024, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a request for information (RFI) on a federal framework for public participation and community engagement (PPCE). The RFI describes the framework as an effort to help agencies  “more frequently, effectively, broadly, and meaningfully involve the public, including underserved communities, in government decision-making.”

The Data Foundation strongly supports OMB’s effort to build and share a coherent participation and engagement framework. We have seen firsthand, through our convenings and research, the power that effective engagement can have. As stated in our response to OMB, “Effective engagement is not a compliance exercise; it generates comprehensive insight that enhances an agency's understanding and ensures policies reflect diverse real-world perspectives. The perspectives provided through effective engagement processes form a type of evidence useful and valid in evidence-informed decision-making across democratic institutions and society.” Our Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit focused on resources for engaging with data and evidence in government, is one tool in a growing toolbox that aims to assist federal agencies with many of the same questions that the framework seeks to answer.

The Data Foundation offered four recommendations to OMB in response to the RFI. Our recommendations  were informed by the partnerships, research, and our work operating with a core value of “radical collaboration” in our work:

Align the framework with existing processes to understand capacity for integrating engagement into decision-making. The Evidence Act requires agencies to undertake a number of engagement activities to help produce; evidence capacity assessments, learning agendas, and annual evaluation plans. These activities can act as a starting point for agencies to build and prioritize engagement activities agency-wide, while also reinforcing the existing activities.

Build evaluation and learning mechanisms into the PPCE framework. OMB recognizes evaluation as a core function of government. To help support the framework long-term, it should include evaluation and learning from the very beginning, to ensure that the necessary evidence exists to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework

Engagement necessarily varies by policy and stakeholder/community; plan for flexibilities in agency mission, scale, and scope. Effective public participation requires different approaches for different communities. It takes time, trust, and resources to build successful engagement, especially for groups that have had their trust in government negatively impacted. General approaches are not the answer, participation has to be tailored to the specific situation.

Incorporate and highlight existing tools, resources, and processes. Do not reinvent the wheel. There are resources available that can assist agencies with connecting to the public. OMB can look to resources such as the Data Foundation's Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit and the U.S. Public Participation Playbook from Digital.gov. Additionally, there are effective examples of engagement, including HHS's LymeX public-private partnership and the multi-agency Household Pulse Survey collaboration approach.

OMB has an opportunity with this RFI to gain valuable insights from communities and experts across the United States. OMB must ensure that the collective input on the RFI is not an afterthought to the creation of the framework itself. As the Data Foundation pointed out in our response, “[...]this initiative must be developed collaboratively by incorporating both internal and external stakeholder perspectives that are also sensitive to the needs of respective communities.”

If the PPCE framework is constructed in such a way as to include vital voices, from both internal and external stakeholders, it can lead to an empowerment of the public, give them a greater voice in government, and ultimately lead to provide better insights and evidence for agencies to use in decision-making. By working to incorporate diverse perspectives, the framework can help ensure that policies better reflect the needs and concerns of the communities they impact. As reflected in the Data Foundation’s recommendations; with some work, effort, and support, this will lead to a more transparent and trustworthy government that works for everyone.

Read the full comments from the Data Foundation here.

CHRISTOPHER MURRELL is a manager for evidence capacity at the Data Foundation.