Memoranda of Understanding
From Fall 1995Volume II, Number 3
The first half of this year, the United States Department of Transportation
(DOT) signed four important memoranda of understanding that should enhance
effective collaboration for traffic safety at the federal level.
The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control (NCIPC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(United States Department of Health and Human Services). This MOU identifies
areas in which NCIPC and NHTSA have mutual concern, including improved surveillance
and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data systems; research on biomechanics,
human factors, the economic costs of injury, and the effectiveness of injury
control programs; program development, implementation, and evaluation; increased
communication with the medical and public health communities; bicycle safety;
training; innovative technologies; information dissemination; and staff
exchanges. NHTSA and NCIPC will conduct joint research and program initiatives;
seek one another's input on their research agendas and programs; participate
in joint projects; and utilize one another's expertise. The departments
will also share yearly program briefings and serve on each other's advisory
committees.
The Department of Transportation signed three other MOUs during the Moving
Kids Safely Conference, held this past June in Virginia.
On June 1, DOT Secretary Federico Peña and Department of Education
Secretary Richard Riley signed a Statement of Commitment to help reduce
transportation injuries among school-age children. Under this agreement,
the two departments will develop materials and policies to help safeguard
children on their way to and from school (whether by foot, bicycle, car,
bus, or public transportation); develop an injury prevention module for
classroom use; develop unified policies on alcohol and drug use; and work
together to disseminate safety information through mechanisms such as the
Department of Education's Read*Write*Now program.
The following day, Secretary Peña and Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala signed two memoranda of understanding. The first of these
will result in recommendations for joint projects based on the priorities
set out in Injury Control in the 1990s: A National Plan for Action (issued
by NCIPC in May 1993). The second will coordinate EMS programs and activities
through a process of interagency planning. An interagency committee will
begin meeting in October to identify the possibility of joint activities
and explore the use of innovative technologies to facilitate communications
between the agencies.
For information on the agreement with NCIPC, contact Maria Vegega at (202)
366-1755. Additional information on the Department of Education MOU is available
from Susan Gorcowski at (202) 366-2712. For information on the agreement
with Health and Human Services, contact Barbara Faigin at (202) 366-2585.
Susan Ryan, who can be reached at (202) 366-5440, is the contact for the
EMS MOU.
|
Building Bridges Home Page |
http://www.edc.org/HHD/csn/buildbridges/bb2.3/Memoranda.html
Revised: October 22, 1996
