Newsletter Archive
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An Automated Data Monitoring Toolkit and the AI Benchmarking Exercise at the Public Data Project
June 02, 2026by Molly HardyRead MoreThis post is being shared on both the dataindex.us newsletter and the Library Innovation Lab’s blog.
“Is data changing? Is it being disappeared? How do we know? How can we know?” This interrogative refrain rang through just about every conversation I had when, almost a year ago, I came to Harvard Law School Library to lead the Public Data Project. Thanks to the dataindex.us Data Checkup, a plan is in place to do this complicated but essential work. Through the careful scaffolding dataindex.us has constructed and the assiduous research of its staff, more than a dozen federal datasets have “health assessments” and the team continues to add to this list.
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Take Action! Public Health/Public Safety Strategies to Reduce Drug Overdose Data Collection and More
June 01, 2026by Meghan MauryRead MoreForm of the Week: Public Health/Public Safety Strategies to Reduce Drug Overdose Data Collection. These forms collect data to improve overdose prevention efforts that involve PH/PS sectors or address populations at increased risk of overdose in the public safety setting. Through this listing, the NCIPC is proposing to revise the collection to remove objective C: "Identify disparities in access to, or the effectiveness of, strategies," which CDC argues "is no longer needed." Comments due June 8.
Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
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Register for Rapid Response Data Briefing: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
May 28, 2026Read MoreDid you know that HHS's Administration for Children and Families has proposed removing reporting requirements related to sex, race, and ethnicity from the Annual Report on Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)? The Federal Register Notice — accepting public comments until June 8, 2026 — offers an important opportunity to weigh in on these changes.
Join our Rapid Response Data Briefing to learn what's in LIHEAP, why it’s important, the risks it’s facing, and how you can support this essential dataset.
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Take Action! Health Center Program Forms and More
May 18, 2026by Meghan MauryRead MoreForm of the Week: Health Center Program Forms. These forms provide HRSA with information necessary for funding eligibility determinations and for program oversight of the Health Center Programs, which collectively serve tens of millions of low-income people, people in rural areas, and other underserved populations. HRSA is making dramatic revisions to this collection, including removing several forms altogether and modifying content collected on other forms. For example, HRSA is removing the "Community Characteristics" form, which historically collected information about the demographic characteristics of people served by the program. Based on the supplemental information provided, it appears that by removing this form HRSA will no longer collect data for these programs on characteristics of people served by topics like race, ethnicity, income level, type of insurance, sexual orientation and gender identity, homelessness or housing instability, language spoken, veteran or migrant status, and more.
Comments due May 22.Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
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Take Action! Annual Report on Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and More
May 04, 2026by Meghan MauryRead MoreReport of the Week: Annual Report on Households Assisted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP provides assistance to low-income households to help pay for heating and cooling costs. This collection is used to gather information about LIHEAP program utilization and about the characteristics of households receiving LIHEAP support. ACF is proposing several changes to the collection, including removing questions on race, ethnicity, and gender, which will make it more difficult to determine if LIHEAP funds are serving communities equitably. According to the listing, ACF is removing the race and ethnicity questions because they are not statutorily required and not used for eligibility determinations.
Comments due June 8.Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.