Merge branch 'main' into VA-blog-post

_blogs/hhs-open-data-and-innovationx-for-impact-at-the-2023-health-datapalooza.md

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type: Blog
 
 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to drive open data and galvanize digital innovation with its substantial participation and thought leadership in the [2023 Health Datapalooza](https://academyhealth.org/events/site/2023-health-datapalooza). The Health Datapalooza is an eclectic conference of health technology enthusiasts, this year in Arlington, VA on February 23-24, 2023. Each year, the Health Datapalooza galvanizes a diverse community of unusual allies who are transforming data into insights and action to improve health care delivery. It attracts data scientists, entrepreneurs, policy wonks, medical practitioners, patients, advocates, and hopefully you—all welcome!
 
-HHS participation at the Health Datapalooza include keynotes by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, [Robert Califf, M.D., MACC](https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/robert-califf); National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), [Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., M.P.P.](https://www.healthit.gov/leadership/micky-tripathi-phd-mpp), and Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Director, [Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D](https://arpa-h.gov/news/100-days) The 2023 Health Datapalooza conference will inspire action towards a more equitable and efficient healthcare system, a central goal of the [HHS Strategic Plan](https://public3.pagefreezer.com/browse/HHS.gov/14-12-2022T07:23/https:/www.hhs.gov/about/strategic-plan/2022-2026/index.html). The discussions and debates at the conference will aim to identify specific areas where data can be used to improve healthcare outcomes and drive change.
+HHS participation at the Health Datapalooza include keynotes by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, [Robert Califf, M.D., MACC](https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/robert-califf); National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), [Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., M.P.P.](https://www.healthit.gov/leadership/micky-tripathi-phd-mpp), and Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Director, [Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D](https://arpa-h.gov/news/100-days) The 2023 Health Datapalooza conference will inspire action towards a more equitable and efficient healthcare system, a central goal of the [HHS Strategic Plan](https://www.hhs.gov/about/strategic-plan/2022-2026/index.html). The discussions and debates at the conference will aim to identify specific areas where data can be used to improve healthcare outcomes and drive change.
 
 Additional HHS talks and announcements will come from the [HHS Office of the Chief Data Officer](https://cdo.hhs.gov/), [Office of the Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer](https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/asa/ocio/ai/index.html), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) [InnovationX](https://www.hhs.gov/ash/osm/innovationx/index.html). These crosscutting teams will share HHS updates on partnerships, emerging collaborations, and new opportunities for public engagement:
 

_fellows/2022/ashwini-shankar.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ id: ashwini-shankar
 title: Ashwini Shankar
 image: Ashwini Shankar.png
 fellow_year: 2022
-project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy"]
+project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy", "state-department-leveraging-data-to-support-the-release-of-222-nicaraguan-political-prisoners"]
 agency: ["DOS"]
 hometown: Atherton, CA
 university: Tufts University

_fellows/2022/jonathan-hart.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ id: jonathan-hart
 title: Jonathan Hart
 image: Jonathan Hart.png
 fellow_year: 2022
-project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy"]
+project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy", "state-department-leveraging-data-to-support-the-release-of-222-nicaraguan-political-prisoners"]
 agency: ["DOS"]
 hometown: Los Angeles, CA
 university: San Diego Mesa College

_fellows/2022/julie-winston.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ id: julie-winston
 title: Julie Winston
 image: Julie Winston.png
 fellow_year: 2022
-project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy"]
+project: ["dos-managing-a-crisis-with-data-and-empathy", "state-department-leveraging-data-to-support-the-release-of-222-nicaraguan-political-prisoners"]
 agency: ["DOS"]
 hometown: New York, NY
 university: The University of Texas at Austin

_includes/agency-list.html

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <div class="grid-row" id="projectList">
-{% assign sorted = site.projects | sort: 'agency' %}
+{% assign sorted = site.projects | sort: 'impact_story_link' | reverse %}
           {% assign aria_id = press.title | url_encode | truncate: 15, "" %}
           {% for project in sorted %}
           {% assign agency_impact = site.data.agency-impact | where_exp:'impact', "project.impact_area contains impact.display_name" %}

_includes/sidenav-dynamic.html

@@ -16,11 +16,20 @@
                             The approach
                         </a>
                     </li>
+                    {% if page.the_impact %}
+                    <li class="usa-sidenav__item">
+                        <a href="#the-impact">
+                            The impact
+                        </a>
+                    </li>
+                    {% endif %}
+                    {% if page.the_solution %}
                     <li class="usa-sidenav__item">
                         <a href="#the-solution">
                             The solution
                         </a>
                     </li>
+                    {% endif %}
                 </ul>
             </nav>
 

_layouts/project.html

@@ -100,15 +100,6 @@ <h2 class="text-primary text-no-italic" id="the-about">
         </h2>
         <p>{{ page.partner_description }}</p>
 
-        {% if page.project_challenge %}
-        <h2 class="text-primary text-no-italic">
-          The <em>challenge</em>
-        </h2>
-        <p class="body-intro">
-          {{ page.project_challenge  }}
-        </p>
-        {% endif %}
-
         {{ content }}
       </div>
     </div>

_projects/acf-iprc.md

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ ACF Tech, a division within ACF, seeks to deliver reliable, purposeful, and secu
 project_url: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/acf-vision-mission-values
 youtube_url: https://youtu.be/1aPNfOxbQyc
 impact_story_link: acf-iprc
+the_impact: false
+the_solution: true
 skill_set: ['Product management', 'Design', 'Cybersecurity']
 tags: ['Product_Management', 'Design', 'Cybersecurity', 'Immigration']
 impact_area: ["Immigration"]

_projects/dos-ca.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 id: dos-ca
 agency: "Department of State"
-agency_abbrev: "DOS"
+agency_abbrev: "State"
 agency_logo: "DOS.webp"
 title: "Leveraging data for diplomacy at the State Department"
 project_name: "Leveraging data for diplomacy at the State Department"

_projects/dos-ds.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 id: dos-ds
 agency: "Department of State"
-agency_abbrev: "DOS"
+agency_abbrev: "State"
 agency_logo: "DOS.webp"
 title: "Developing and evaluating countermeasures to protect the State Department's networks worldwide"
 project_name: "Developing and evaluating countermeasures to protect the State Department's networks worldwide"

_projects/state-department-leveraging-data-to-support-the-release-of-222-nicaraguan-political-prisoners.md

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+---
+id: dos-nica
+agency: "Department of State"
+agency_abbrev: "State"
+agency_logo: "DOS.webp"
+title: "Leveraging data to support the emergency release of 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners"
+project_name: "Leveraging data to support the emergency release of 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners"
+summary: "Using a human-centered, empathy-based approach as part of an emergency interagency task force welcoming and supporting 222 political prisoners arriving in the United States."
+partner_description: "The Department of State works to protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values, and shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive. By promoting data and analytics, the Office of Management Strategy and Solutions Center for Analytics (M/SS/CfA) provides enterprise data management and analytics capabilities to enable data-driven diplomacy within the Department. U.S. Digital Corps Fellows have been supporting M/SS/CfA since 2022. The Nicaragua Operation exemplifies how the science of analytics meets the art of diplomacy."
+project_url: https://www.state.gov/about/
+youtube_url: https://youtu.be/vpej2adw_nc
+impact_story_link: state-department-leveraging-data-to-support-the-release-of-222-nicaraguan-political-prisoners
+the_impact: true
+the_solution: false
+skill_set: ["Product management","Data science"]
+tags: ["Data_Science", "Product_Management", "Immigration"]
+impact_area: ["Immigration"]
+status: ["current"]
+---
+
+## The challenge
+Amid almost 5 years of massive political suppression and imprisonment of hundreds of political rivals, activists, students, journalists, business and religious leaders, and members of civil society at large, on February 9, 2023, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega suddenly announced the release of 222 political prisoners into U.S. custody. At the time of their release, the Nicaraguan government stripped the parolees of their citizenship, rendering them stateless. The State Department in partnership with Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Health and Human Services, Executive Office of the President, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Virginia state and local agencies, quickly mobilized a task force to accomplish three primary goals in response to this humanitarian crisis: 
+1. Welcome the parolees to the United States safely and with dignity;
+2. Fulfill parolees’ immediate needs for medical care, legal counsel, and family reunification;
+3. Secure parolees’ futures beyond their immediate four-day stay in the Washington, D.C. area.
+
+## The approach
+Three U.S. Digital Corps Fellows joined the M/SS/CfA data task force to manage the data analytics component of the operation. The Fellows worked directly with the parolees following their arrival to the U.S., as well as in the State Department Operations Center—which serves as the Department’s communications and crisis management center, in three areas of focus:
+
+* USDC Fellows contributed to the development of an **in-flight and on the ground passenger intake form** to identify parolees’ medical and accessibility needs, as well as pre-existing family and community relationships in the United States. By automating data flow between Operations Center call activity and on the ground data, Fellows helped parolees immediately get connected with family and friends.
+* USDC Fellows also contributed to the **daily production of Secretary of State and White House operation reports** and ensured reporting metrics provided detailed status updates on parolees throughout the process. In addition, Fellows regularly provided data extracts for NGOs providing ongoing legal and psychological support to the parolees, and produced ad-hoc reports for the Operations Center, hotel liaison team, and the Virginia state government.  
+* Last but not least, USDC Fellows were critical in **developing family reunification and community reintegration reporting criteria**, collecting data to track departures, and liaising with NGOs, the hotel team, and the Operations Center to ensure all parolees had ongoing support once the task force concluded.
+
+In the next phase, the Fellows interviewed two groups of users affected by the Safety and Well Being Follow Up Call: leaders of home study and post-release services programs, who would implement the new process, and case aides, who currently conduct calls. After five hours of calls, the team was better able to empathize and understand the perspectives of the callers, sponsors, and children. They learned that one of the biggest challenges, for everyone involved, was limited availability of sponsors and children during business hours, when many are working or in school.
+
+Finally, the Fellows conducted a process map and content audit of the existing universe of procedures, reports, proposals, and a motley of program questionnaires to learn best practices that shelters were already using in their SWB calls. They prepared a proposal of over 30 new plain language questions that incorporated three virtual check-ins at seven business days, 14 business days, and 30 business days after a child’s release to a sponsor. An expanded medical and mental health section would eliminate the need for redundant post-release COVID-19 check-ins. The proposal also included relevant pre-call information, standardized the post-call assessment and escalation process, and coordinated with partners such as the Department of Justice’s Executive Office of Immigration Review. 
+
+
+## The impact 
+
+By leveraging inter-bureau and interagency cooperation **all 222 political prisoners were connected with ongoing support from family, friends, and/or NGOs within six days of their release from prison**. 
+
+It is often lamented that government moves slowly. However this experience showed how quickly government can move and how well diverse teams can work together in a crisis. The humanity and empathy every task force volunteer demonstrated towards the parolees in this effort was essential to their journey to healing from the trauma of their imprisonment.
+
+Some additional metrics:
+* Over 350 U.S. government volunteers provided onsite support through the task force.
+* Over 650 calls were fielded or placed through the Operations Center for family reunification and support.
+* Parolees’ place of initial settlement included 25 states and Costa Rica.
+
+<div class="blog-quote-box">
+ <em>“[T]here are not that many moments when you can really say and see directly that something you have done has actually changed someone’s life and changed it for the better.  There are usually too many points of connection along the way to really see it and really feel it, but the experience that each of you has had – in this instance, I hope really makes that connection, makes it powerful, and is something that you’ll take with you throughout your careers and throughout your lives no matter what you do going forward.  It’s simply the most powerful thing that we occasionally have an opportunity to do, and it really is worth reflecting on.”</em>
+<br>
+<br>
+<strong><em>- Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken thanking State Department employees (<a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-antony-j-blinken-at-an-event-thanking-members-of-the-state-department-workforce-who-helped-welcome-222-political-prisoners-from-nicaragua/">link</a>)</em></strong>
+</div>