ACUS is requesting information as part of the ongoing project Frontline Decision Making in the Adjudication of Applications.

The project will examine and identify best practices for frontline decision making in the adjudication of applications for benefits, loans, grants, licenses, and the like in which there is a later opportunity for a hearing before a federal agency adjudicator. Among other topics, the project studies the personnel involved in frontline processes; the processes used to develop records and decide cases prior to the hearing stage; the relationship between frontline and hearing-level proceedings, including how evidence obtained and findings made in frontline proceedings may be used at the hearing level; the development and communication of relevant policies; quality assurance and strategies for promoting timeliness; and interactions between frontline components and other agency components, including those responsible for more formal adjudication and policy development.

Professor Amy Widman (Rutgers Law School) is serving as the consultant for this project.

Commenters should submit responses to info@acus.gov by Friday, June 26, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET.