Description
Within the government-to-government relationship, the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides services directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts to 567 Federally recognized tribes with a service population of roughly 1.9 million American Indian and Alaska Natives. Programs administered include an education system consisting of 183 schools for approximately 42,000 students.
Designated Services
Accessing a probate order
Description
Upon the death of a loved one who owned trust assets, family members of the decedent, Tribes or any party that has an interest in the estate contact the BIA to begin a probate hearing and must receive an issued probate order for the distribution of assets.
Why this service was designated
This service upholds the trust responsibilities of the Department of Interior. By ensuring the cases are prepared and submitted accurately and timely, new owners can be maintained keeping ownership to land current and accurate. There are approximately 24,500 cases that need to be prepared for adjudication. Accurate ownership means that the heirs who will inherit can exercise their rights when it comes to making decisions about the land in which they own an interest.
Receiving trust assets
Description
The heirs of the estate, along with any claimants that may be awarded a claim utilize the service upon the issuance of the probate order from the Office of Hearing and Appeals. Once a Probate order is issued, the distribution of assets will allow the heirs to benefit from their new holdings.
Why this service was designated
When the probate process is in its final phase, currently, there are no digital means to obtain a status during this process. Approximately 3,300 cases are awaiting asset distribution. BIA remains committed to improving its service delivery to ensure that assets are distributed to identified heirs; transferring what is rightfully theirs and providing some sense of closure for the passing of a loved one.
Description
Bureau of Trust Funds Administration (BTFA) manages over $8.2 billion in monetary trust assets, and delivers trust funds accounting and management services to Indian trust beneficiaries. BTFA’s trust responsibilities include holding funds for Tribes and funds for individuals (i.e., Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts). Tribal and Other Trust Funds are comprised of approximately 4,100 accounts with monetary assets of approximately $6.8 billion and over 408,000 Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts with monetary assets of approximately $1.4 billion.
Designated Services
Previously-reported Services
Managing Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts
Description
Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accountholder’s have an IIM account established for them by BTFA. An Individual Indian Money (IIM) account is an interest-bearing account managed by BTFA on behalf of an individual who has money or other assets held in trust for them by the Federal government. An Individual Indian often inherits fractional owner interests through either a will or a probate process. Also, trust land ownership can be acquired through a purchase or a gift deed.
Managing IIM accounts usually begins with a compelling beneficiary “life need” to access the monetary assets held in their IIM account to pay for necessities like utilities, housing, food, and medical needs. The beneficiary may engage with BTFA in a few different ways. The beneficiary may check the balance and recent transaction history, update account information with a new address or change disbursement instructions, access the trust funds that have posted into IIM account, make a request for disbursement of funds from their account. The beneficiary may also seek information about their interests in tracts of land so that they can make informed decisions about managing the asset.
Why this service was designated
Ownership of an IIM account is important to an Indian trust beneficiary, especially if they receive trust fund revenue from land/resources managed in trust by the federal government. When a beneficiary relies on trust income, accurate and timely account management services are critically important. BTFA manages approximately 408,000 IIM accounts. BTFA’s Trust Operations – Field division responds to an average of 200,000 beneficiary requests annually.
Quarterly data reported
Q1 2023
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (86), and matched the score for FY22 Q4. The drivers for this high Q1 score were: Employee Helpfulness (82), Employee Effectiveness (83) and Service (82). For Q1, the “Strongly Agree” score for EFFICIENCY increased by 6 points over the FY22 Q4 score; and the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 10 points over the FY22 Q4 score. Importantly, the “Strongly Agree” score for “increased TRUST in BTFA” increased by 8 points over the FY22 Q4 score.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 43181
Surveys offered: 2260
Responses: 42
Q4 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (84), even though it was a 2 point drop from Q3. The drivers for this high Q4 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q4, the “Strongly Agree” score for EFFICIENCY increased by 8 points over the Q3 score; and the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 4 points over Q3. Importantly, the “Strongly Agree” score for “increased TRUST in BTFA” increased by 9 points over the Q3 score.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 39459
Surveys offered: 1911
Responses: 64
Q3 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (86), an increase of 7 points over Q2. The drivers for this high Q3 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q3, the “Strongly Agree” score for Efficiency dropped by 3 points. However, the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 3 points over Q2.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 41162
Surveys offered: 2183
Responses: 81
Q2 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (79). The drivers for this high Q2 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q2, the “Strongly Disagree” score for Efficiency improved by 11 points. Corresponding to this improvement, was a “Strongly Disagree” improvement of 6 points for EASE.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 39635
Surveys offered: 1731
Responses: 70
Accessing "Beneficiary Services"
Description
BTFA establishes IIM accounts for individuals with an interest in trust funds and/or trust or restricted lands on one or more of the approximately 150 Indian Reservations with individually owned trust lands. These funds or fractional owner interests are often inherited by an individual, through either a will or a probate process. Land interests can also be acquired through a gift deed process. Not every individual American Indian is an IIM accountholder.
We interact with our beneficiaries principally through four occasions: when they need current information regarding their trust and monetary assets (balance, recent transaction history, timing of expected payment, etc.), when they need to update their account information, when they have an immediate need to access the trust revenue funds, and when they need information about their interests in tracts of land so that they can make informed decisions related to estate planning, financial planning, gift deeds, consenting to land use, or participating in land consolidation efforts.
Why this service was designated
Beneficiary Services is BTFA’s all-encompassing, customer facing service. Beneficiaries are highly dependent on BTFA to provide a seamless service where all beneficiary requests are met. BTFA is the sole federal entity with the delegated authority to perform Indian trust funds accounting and management duties.
In order to meet our beneficiaries’ needs, BTFA’s business processes must align back office processing and front line transactional tasks. Back Office services include: account maintenance service, safeguarding of trust funds, receipting of revenue and posting of trust funds to the correct account. Front line services include: responding to requests for information about trust assets, financial education, and completing beneficiary service transactions such as address updates and/or a disbursement of funds.
Quarterly data reported
Q1 2023
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (86), and matched the score for FY22 Q4. The drivers for this high Q1 score were: Employee Helpfulness (82), Employee Effectiveness (83) and Service (82). For Q1, the “Strongly Agree” score for EFFICIENCY increased by 6 points over the FY22 Q4 score; and the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 10 points over the FY22 Q4 score. Importantly, the “Strongly Agree” score for “increased TRUST in BTFA” increased by 8 points over the FY22 Q4 score.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 43181
Surveys offered: 2260
Responses: 42
Q4 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (84), even though it was a 2 point drop from Q3. The drivers for this high Q4 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q4, the “Strongly Agree” score for EFFICIENCY increased by 8 points over the Q3 score; and the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 4 points over Q3. Importantly, the “Strongly Agree” score for “increased TRUST in BTFA” increased by 9 points over the Q3 score.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 39459
Surveys offered: 1911
Responses: 64
Q3 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (86), an increase of 7 points over Q2. The drivers for this high Q3 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q3, the “Strongly Agree” score for Efficiency dropped by 3 points. However, the “Strongly Agree” score for EASE increased by 3 points over Q2.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 41162
Surveys offered: 2183
Responses: 81
Q2 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (79). The drivers for this high Q2 score were: Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. For Q2, the “Strongly Disagree” score for Efficiency improved by 11 points. Corresponding to this improvement, was a “Strongly Disagree” improvement of 6 points for EASE.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 39635
Surveys offered: 1731
Responses: 70
Previously-reported Services
Prior to the first service designation exercise in 2022, HISPs were collecting data using methods unique to each agency, resulting in data that was not standardized. This previously-reported data was collected to increase visibility and awareness regarding customer experience through feedback data. Per A-11 guidance, service providers will collect feedback in a more standardized way.
Contacting the Trust Beneficiary contact center
Description
The Trust Beneficiary Call Center (TBCC) plays a critical role in the delivery of trust fund management services to Indian trust beneficiaries. The TBCC provides an easy-to-access primary point of contact for making inquiries about their trust assets. TBCC surveys customers who use the Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
Quarterly data reported
Q1 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
When compared to the FY’21 Q4 satisfaction levels, the Q1 results indicate a sustained high level of satisfaction with the TBCC for: “Trust”, “Ease” and “Employee”. However, Q1 satisfaction with “Efficiency” dropped due to the continued telephone workaround and issues with an external telephone provider while attempting to convert to a VOIP system. Problems included loss of the TBCC toll free telephone number for 24 hours.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: phone
People served: 41976
Surveys offered: 2123
Responses: 121
Q4 2021
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the Q4 survey responses closely mirrored the Q3 responses. The results indicate a sustained level of satisfaction with the TBCC for “trust”, “efficiency” and “ease”; as compared to the Q2 satisfaction levels.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 40381
Surveys offered: 2418
Responses: 109
Q3 2021
What we learned from this quarter's data:
As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score for the TBCC was high (83). Compared to Q2, there was also a 6% increase in Strongly Agree for Trust/ Confidence; and a 10% increase in Strongly Agree for Process Ease. In addition, there was a large drop in dissatisfaction, from Q2, with the time it took to complete a transaction. This is supported by a 13% increase in the Strongly Agree score for this driver
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 37641
Surveys offered: 2518
Responses: 129
Q2 2021
What we learned from this quarter's data:
RESULTS: Surveys: Due to COVID 19 restrictions, the TBCC was not operating under normal business conditions duringQ1 and Q2. Therefore, surveys were suspended because we did not want to burden our Indian trust beneficiaries with responding to surveys. However, we resumed the daily customer satisfaction surveys on March 10, 2021.
Operational Metrics: Unfortunately, the pandemic telework solution and temporary call management queue, that is being used for responding to incoming beneficiary inquiries, did not include the ability to capture performance metrics such as: speed to answer, call handle time and abandoned rate. Therefore, the performance metrics reported under Operational Metrics do not reflect actual performance for Q2.
PAIN POINTS: As expected, the CSI overall satisfaction score was high (84). The drivers for this high score were Service, Transparency, Employee Helpfulness and Employee Effectiveness. Fortunately, TBCC Call Technicians and Agency staff were able to maintain beneficiary satisfaction by continuing to manage beneficiary expectations and providing callers with realistic timeframes for account updates and disbursements. Unexpectedly, for the Satisfaction, Trust, Ease and Efficiency A-11 Required Questions, the ““Strongly Disagree”” response scores were higher than anticipated. These scores may be partially due to the pandemic telework solution and temporary call management queue, that is being used for responding to incoming beneficiary inquiries, which requires that the caller wait for a long period of time before their call is answered. (Sometimes 5 minutes or more). BTFA anticipates deploying a new incoming call management system within the next 30 days.
Service details
Transaction point: Trust Beneficiary Call Center
Channel: automated_phone
People served: 34829
Surveys offered: 1183
Responses: 41
Description
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. It is the only agency in the Federal government whose primary responsibility is the conservation and management of these important natural resources for the American public.
Designated Services
Previously-reported Services
Planning a trip to a national wildlife refuge or public fish hatchery using fws.gov
Description
Customers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website, fws.gov, include families looking for an accessible day trip in nature supported by free-onsite programming, educators seeking outdoor inquiry-based learning opportunities, wildlife enthusiasts seeking out a specific bird or animal sightings, and expedition level adventurers seeking out a once in a lifetime Alaskan hunt, or other wilderness experiences. The fws.gov website offers a range of trip planning tools to ensure that all visitors can be prepared for a safe and positive experience on these unique public lands.
Why this service was designated
The fws.gov website draws 60+ million people each year to national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries, boosting local economies. The current virtual trip planning experience on the website uses outdated technology, and has poor search engine optimization, which means users can often get erroneous or outdated information that can negatively impact a trip they are planning.
Quarterly data reported
Q1 2023
What we learned from this quarter's data:
The Refuge System conducted an analysis of comments submitted by the public. Our users are interested in having access to more printable resources (maps, bird/species lists, )that they can bring into the field where they do not have access to an internet connection. Users are interested in the activities they can participate in on refuges and hatcheries and want faster access to the rules and regulations that apply to those activities. Survey respondents want more information on current conditions on refuges and what species they can expect to see given changing season and migration patterns. Users want to see improved website performance and site-wide search.
Service details
Transaction point: The survey is available on all of our Visit Us pages across FWS.gov
Channel: computer
People served: 1347633
Surveys offered: 1347633
Responses: 32
Q4 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
Our agency has been reviewing feedback from this survey. We put out an RFP for improving customer experience based on our Touchpoints feedback. As part of discovery for that contract we’ll review each of the submissions with the contractors to determine how best to improve the trip planning experience with their development team. Some of the things we see most often are, confusion over whether or not dogs are allowed on particular refuges or trails, and that our users want downloadable maps so they can use them in disconnected environments (interactive web maps don’t work on remote refuges).
Service details
Transaction point: The survey is available on all of our Visit Us pages across FWS.gov
Channel: computer
People served: 10307495
Surveys offered: 719388
Responses: 31
Q3 2022
What we learned from this quarter's data:
We just implemented touchpoints in our new CMS, so this is the first reporting period for which we have data. We don’t have much to compare it against, yet. We have seen some helpful feedback from the public that we’ve responded to on both the content and platform sides of FWS.gov
Service details
Transaction point: Website
Channel: computer
People served: 332376
Surveys offered: 332376
Responses: 18
Previously-reported Services
Prior to the first service designation exercise in 2022, HISPs were collecting data using methods unique to each agency, resulting in data that was not standardized. This previously-reported data was collected to increase visibility and awareness regarding customer experience through feedback data. Per A-11 guidance, service providers will collect feedback in a more standardized way.
Visiting a National Wildlife Refuge
Service url
Description
The National Wildlife Refuge System plays an essential role in providing outdoor recreation opportunities to the American public and the associated economic benefits to local communities. Millions of visitors to National Wildlife Refuges have hunted, fished, observed or photographed wildlife, participated in environmental education or interpretation on a refuge. These activities help National Wildlife Refuges serve as an economic engine for local communities, helping to support thousands of jobs and billions in visitor expenditures as well as providing vital funding for conservation.
Description
The National Park Service manages over 400 national parks covering more than 85 million acres in all 50 states. In 2020, NPS provided refuge from the pandemic with over 200 million park visits.
Designated Services
- Planning trips and exploring National Parks using the NPS Digital Experience
- Discovering and applying to volunteer service opportunities on Volunteer.gov
Planning trips and exploring National Parks using the NPS Digital Experience
Description
Thousands of visitors worldwide plan trips or experience America’s national parks through the NPS digital experience each day. Together, the NPS digital platforms complement each other to provide an experience that encapsulates 420+ national park experiences. This experience weaves together America’s story using a behind-the-scenes thematic framework that connects stories and places through a tagging engine based on customer interests. Readers engage rangers in real-time and experience the grandeur of park landscapes or the wonder of history and culture through engaging posts and conversations on hundreds of NPS social media accounts. Visitors conveniently consume location-aware services such as interpretive tours, maps, and other content during their park visit through the NPS App.
Why this service was designated
At any one time, 4,000-5,000 people may be on NPS.gov developing an itinerary, watching live streaming webcams, exploring photo/video galleries, or researching America’s story as told through their parks and the countless primary source documents available. The website integrates services from recreation.gov to reserve campsites and purchases passes. Customers expect an increasingly sophisticated, integrated, and media-rich digital experience to help plan an in person visit, learn about a park and its resources, and remotely experience places that they may not be able to visit.
NPS recently modernized key elements of our digital experience architecture – including implementing a content tagging engine and API – to alleviate some costs while also improving our ability to agilely respond to these customer expectations. By doing so, NPS was able to deploy the initial version of the NPS App more quickly with very limited additional resource outlay by individual parks. NPS is now in the planning phase to add new features to the app and NPS.gov to further enhance the trip planning and in-park digital experience. These will include the ability for visitors to personalize their experience and more seamlessly move between the two platforms and beyond when new opportunities arise.
Discovering and applying to volunteer service opportunities on Volunteer.gov
Description
Volunteers are members of the public who provide a defined service to the government through a volunteer services agreement. Volunteers serve in nearly every discipline, unit, and career field within NPS. Volunteers can support large one-time events or work side-by-side with NPS staff for weeks and years. Volunteer.gov is a volunteer recruitment platform and is a public-facing digital service that is a high priority system for NPS. The site currently serves approximately 5,000 volunteers a month governmentwide. Volunteer opportunities include services such as being a campground host, removing invasive species, tracking and recording the presence and health of animals or plants, providing interpretive programs, leading guided hikes or educational opportunities, and answering visitor questions in a visitor center.
Why this service was designated
NPS has a significant volunteer program: each year, nearly 300,000 volunteers collectively contribute more than 6.5 million hours of volunteer service with the NPS. As recovery from the pandemic continues, these numbers are expected to grow, making the priority service designation of this program an opportunity to increase its capabilities. Volunteers are a valuable human resource that strengthens the NPS workforce and the shared stewardship provided to the public. Plans to build out the website have been developed to offer complete volunteer management services, such as volunteer onboarding and scheduling. As the platform is further developed, NPS aims for volunteers to save time and effort through reduced manual and redundant volunteer application processes. The end goal is an improved experience for interested volunteers and streamlined operations for NPS.