Hassle-Free Government?

Imagine the Possibilities...

Imagine a community where "citizen-customers" have access to the government services they want -- when, where, and how they want them: in person, over the telephone, by E-mail, via the Internet, through the mail, or after working hours. All hassle-free.

Under the leadership of Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), Federal agencies in communities across the country have been asking customers for their ideas and suggestions about government products and services. And, together they are responding by building Hassle-Free Communities that deliver government services people want and care about.

Partnerships Make It Happen

The key to building a successful Hassle-Free Community is creating partnerships across Federal, state, and local government agencies that are teamed with educational institutions, service organizations, community groups, local businesses, and customers. Each Hassle-Free Community partnership focuses on the needs and services that are unique to that community.

Bringing Service to the Customer

Across the country, Hassle-Free government teams are taking government services to the customers. A "Hassle-Free Mobile" delivers government services outside a senior citizen center. The next day, the mobile unit visits a college campus to provide information and assistance on student financial aid, employment opportunities, and health issues. The "Hassle-Free Mobile" travels to shopping malls, community centers, veterans' hospitals, and other places, delivering government services to the public.

In Kansas City, the Hassle-Free team is working with the state, local school officials, and community organizations to make it easier for parents to enroll their children in school lunch and children's health insurance programs.

In Dallas, a telephone locator system helps customers locate information at all levels of government by topic, such as health care, housing, or employment. New government service maps in buses and subways mark the locations of community service centers and the nearest transit stops.

The New York Hassle-Free team takes services to English, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese-speaking communities across Manhattan. Customers can get health checkups, Federal and state tax assistance, and reduced fare transit cards in their community centers.

In Oklahoma, new citizens can apply for U.S. passports on the spot following their naturalization ceremony.

Creating Hassle-Free Communities

NPR and its partners are building Hassle-Free Communities nationwide. Watch for them in Atlanta, Boston, Chattanooga, Dallas and Fort Worth, Denver, Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS, Minnesota, Manhattan, Oklahoma, and the San Francisco Bay Area soon. Others will follow. Imagine the possibilities…

For more information, contact Anna Doroshaw at (202) 694-0117. You can also send email to hassle.free@npr.gov or visit Hassle-Free Communities and Hassle-Free Service on the NPR Internet site.