Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Last month, agency FOIA professionals and representatives from the FOIA requester community gathered together at OIP for the most recent FOIA Requester Roundtable.  The topic of this meeting was how agencies provide estimated dates of completion to FOIA requesters.  The roundtable focused on the statutory requirements of the FOIA to assign tracking numbers to requests and provide status information to requesters, including:

• Subsection (a)(7)(A) – requiring agencies to assign an individualized tracking number to requests that will take longer than ten days to process, and
• Subsection (a)(7)(B) – requiring agencies to establish a telephone line or Internet service that requesters can use to inquire about the status of their requests using the request’s assigned tracking number. 

After discussing the legal requirements of these provisions during the meeting, attendees shared a number of best practices for calculating estimated dates of completions, methods for providing this information to requesters, and the importance of good communication between agencies and the requester. OIP has previously issued guidance to agencies on the FOIA’s requirements to assign tracking numbers and provide status information for requests and today, OIP is issuing an updated version of that guidance.  This guidance further clarifies agencies’ responsibilities under these statutory provisions, and can be found on the Guidance page of our website.

For further information about training and outreach opportunities from OIP, please visit our Training page.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Over the last five years, agency Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer Reports have provided detailed descriptions of agency efforts to improve FOIA administration in five key areas addressed by Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines.  As part of a series which started during Sunshine Week 2014, OIP continues to highlight some of the successes in these five key areas as reported by agencies in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports. 

Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of the President’s FOIA Memorandum is the call for agencies to “use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government.”  In response to this directive, agencies have utilized advanced technology to not only make more information available online and improve their websites, but also to assist in their overall administration of the FOIA.  Each year, OIP asks agencies to describe in their Chief FOIA Officer Reports the steps they have taken to greater utilize technology in their FOIA administration. 

As a part of the first Chief FOIA Officer Reports, submitted in 2010, agencies were surveyed to determine the extent to which they were using technology to receive, track, and process requests, and to prepare their Annual FOIA Reports.  As has been done for each section of the Chief FOIA Officer Report, every year OIP has refined the questions for this section as the use of technology in FOIA has matured.  For 2014, agencies were asked to report on whether they provide requesters the ability to track the status of their requests online, and if so, to provide details regarding the functionality of such online services.   Agencies were also asked to report on the extent to which they are using more advanced technologies to assist with the processing of requests.  Finally, agencies were asked whether there were any additional tools that would be helpful to achieving further efficiencies at their agency.

Over a quarter of the agencies reported offering requesters the ability to track the status of requests online, with decentralized agencies like the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Interior offering such services for all of their components.  The form and functionality of the online tracking provided by these agencies varies.  For example, a number of agencies reported providing tracking through online portals, while some other agencies explained that they regularly post updated request logs with status information on their websites.  In addition to providing online tracking, some agencies reported that they provide requesters estimated dates of completion through these services.  Of the agencies that do not currently provide online tracking, about half reported that they were taking steps to establish this capability.  For those agencies that do not plan to establish online tracking at this time, many reported that such services would not provide a substantial public benefit given the small number of requests they receive and their short processing times.

The use of technology to reduce the time and labor needed to process requests, such as technology that can sort and de-duplicate documents, provide shared platforms to facilitate consultations, or improve search capabilities, has great potential for improving agencies’ FOIA administration.  For 2014, many agencies once again reported that they are taking steps to utilize more advanced technology to assist with the processing of requests.  For example:

• The Privacy Office and fifteen of the Department of Homeland Security‘s (DHS) components deployed a new web-based tracking application that includes a number of features for the agency’s FOIA professionals including new search capabilities and the ability to share documents across offices for consultations and referrals.  Additionally, DHS added a new de-duplication capability that allows FOIA staff to upload e-mail correspondence files and de-duplicate the correspondence based on a comparison process performed by the application.

• The Department of State is updating its records archive, the State Archiving System, with new tools to assist its FOIA staff in conducting searches in response to FOIA requests.  The agency plans further improvements to this custom-built system, including the ability to search across document formats, streamlining the process of identifying duplicate messages, and adding a 25-year review enhancement for classified material.

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of implementing an advanced document review module which utilizes logarithmic record analysis capabilities to de-duplicate voluminous record sets, which will reduce the processing time for large volume requests. 

A number of agencies reported that they could benefit from the types of tools described above that provide shared platforms for consultations and that would assist with the search, de-duplication, and review of large volumes of records.  As agencies continue to acquire such tools for use in their FOIA operations, they can expect to see greater efficiencies in their overall FOIA administration.  As the Chief FOIA Officer Reports continue to illustrate, agencies are eager to use more advanced technology to streamline their FOIA administration. This is just a brief summary of agencies’ use of technology in FOIA as reported in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.  OIP encourages both agencies and the public to review the individual 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports issued by agencies for even more examples. Be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for more information on the Department’s continuing efforts to improve both transparency and understanding of the FOIA.

You can read previous posts in this series on FOIA Post (Part I, Part II, Part III).

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Over the last five years, agency Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer Reports have provided detailed descriptions of agency efforts to improve FOIA administration in five key areas addressed by Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines.  As part of a five-part series which started during Sunshine Week 2014, OIP continues to highlight some of the successes in these five key areas as reported by agencies in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports. 

Improving Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reducing Backlogs

Both the President and the Attorney General have emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in responding to requests.  In his FOIA Memorandum issued on his first full day in office, President Obama directed agencies to “act promptly” when responding to requests.  Attorney General Holder similarly emphasized in his FOIA Guidelines that “[t]imely disclosure of information is an essential component of transparency . . . [and that] [l]ong delays should not be viewed as an inevitable and insurmountable consequence of high demand.”  For the 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, agencies were asked to provide detailed information on their average processing times for simple requests and their efforts to reduce backlogs and close their ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations.  Those agencies that had a request backlog of over 1,000, and did not reduce that backlog, were also required to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in the year ahead.  Likewise, agencies that did not close their ten oldest requests, appeals, or consultations were required to describe their plans for closing those requests, appeals or consultations by the next fiscal year. 

Because of the strong correlation between the type of request that is made and the ability of the agency to respond to that request more quickly, in 2012, OIP established a milestone that addresses whether the agency overall responded to requests in its simple track within an average of twenty working days or less.  Agencies were once again required to report on this metric in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.  Sixty-three agencies, including seven of the fifteen cabinet level agencies, reported that they were either able to process their simple-track requests in an average of twenty-working days or less, or if they did not utilize multi-track processing, they were able to process all of their non-expedited requests within that average timeframe. 

With regard to request backlogs, fifty-five agencies reported that they were either able to reduce the number of requests in their backlog at the end of Fiscal Year 2013 or they had no backlog to reduce.  Additionally, four agencies reported no change in their request backlog, and twelve agencies reported a slight increase of up to five backlogged requests.  Twenty-eight agencies experienced a backlog increase of more than five requests.  Notably, however, seventy-three agencies were able to maintain a small request backlog of 100 requests or less, with twenty-nine of these agencies reporting no backlog at all.

For administrative FOIA appeals, seventy-three agencies reported that they were either able to reduce the number of appeals in their backlog at the end of Fiscal Year 2013 or they had no backlog to reduce.  Three agencies had no change in their appeals backlog, and fifteen agencies reported a slight increase of up to five backlogged appeals.  While eight agencies reported a backlog increase of over five appeals, a total of eighty-two agencies maintained a backlog of twenty or less appeals.

As with previous years, agencies that experienced an increase in their request or appeal backlogs explained the causes that contributed to those increases in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports. Some of the common factors reported by agencies included an increase in the number of incoming requests, loss of FOIA staff, and an increase in the complexity of the requests or appeals received by the agency.   

A critical element of the government’s efforts to reduce backlogs and answer the President’s and Attorney General’s call to provide timely disclosures of information is closing the ten oldest pending requests, appeals, and consultations at each agency every year.  Sixty-eight agencies reported that they were either able to close all ten of their oldest requests from Fiscal Year 2012 by the end of Fiscal Year 2013, or they had no ten oldest to close.  With regard to appeals, eighty agencies were either able to close their ten oldest pending appeals or they had no ten oldest to close.  Finally, ninety-three agencies were able to close their ten oldest pending consultations or they continued to maintain no pending consultations at the end of the fiscal year. 

Agencies were also asked to report in their 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports on whether they have a system in place for providing requesters substantive interim responses when appropriate.  In the spirit of providing more timely disclosures of information, OIP issued guidance in 2010 to agencies encouraging the use of interim releases whenever a request involves a voluminous amount of material or a search in multiple locations is required.  The vast majority of agencies reported that they did have a process in place for making interim responses.  Additionally, each agency reported an estimate of the number of cases in their backlog for which an interim response was provided. 

This is just a snapshot of agencies’ efforts to improve timeliness and reduce backlogs.  OIP encourages both agencies and the public to review the individual 2014 Chief FOIA Officer Reports issued by agencies for a more comprehensive view of agency progress in this area. 

As with previous years, this summer OIP will once again publish its assessment of agencies’ implementation of the President’s and Attorney General’s FOIA Memoranda based on agency Annual and Chief FOIA Officer Reports.  Be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for more information on the Department’s continuing efforts to improve both transparency and understanding of the FOIA.

You can read previous posts in this series on FOIA Post (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV).  

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

OIP’s Requester Roundtable series picks up again this summer, once again providing an open forum for the FOIA requester community and agency personal to discuss various topics in FOIA administration.

Originally scheduled for January 22, 2014 (cancelled due to inclement weather), the June meeting will focus on how agencies provide estimated dates of completion to FOIA requesters.  Hosted in conjunction with the Office of Government Information Services, participants at this upcoming meeting will discuss agency implementation of this statutory requirement and will build off both agency best practices and OIP’s guidance regarding the importance of good communication with requesters.  Specifically, the meeting will highlight the various ways agencies provide estimated dates of completion to requesters and the experience of requesters in requesting and receiving such information from agencies. The details for this meeting are:

FOIA Requester Roundtable Meeting
Providing Estimated Dates of Completion
Department of Justice – Office of Information Policy
1425 New York Avenue, NW – Suite 11050
June 17, 2014, 10:00 – 11:00 am

This meeting, like all Requester Roundtable meetings, is open to the public as well as to all interested agency personnel.  We hope that you can join us for this discussion. 

If you are interested in attending, please e-mail your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov with the subject line “June Requester Roundtable.”  As space for this meeting is limited, registration is required to attend, and please remember that you will need a picture ID to enter the building.  If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact OIP’s Training Officer at (202) 514-3642.  

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today OIP held the first of what will be an ongoing series of Best Practices Workshops designed to showcase successes achieved by agencies in FOIA administration.  OIP committed to conducting this workshop series as part of our efforts in fulfilling the Administration’s commitments to the Open Government Partnership, as detailed in the second National Action Plan.  The goal of the Best Practices Workshops is to improve FOIA processes across the government by sharing successful strategies and approaches to a wide range of FOIA issues.  The workshops provide a forum for agencies to learn from one another.   

The topic for the kickoff session was Reducing Backlogs and Improving Timeliness.  As the Attorney General stated in his FOIA Guidelines:  “Timely disclosure of information is an essential component of transparency.  Long delays should not be viewed as an inevitable and insurmountable consequence of high demand.”  Given the importance of this topic, which lies at the heart of any successful FOIA operation, it was chosen to be the topic for the inaugural session of this Best Practices Workshop series. 

Today’s panel featured five speakers, from agencies both large and small.  These speakers had all demonstrated notable success in improving timeliness and reducing backlogs at their respective offices.  The speakers were Michael Marquis, from HHS, Thomas Cioppa, from USCIS at DHS, Richard  Frank, from the Army Corps of Engineers, DOD, Lisa Babcock, from the SBA, and Cindy Cafaro, from the Department of the Interior.   During the session each speaker briefed the audience on the challenges they faced and described the many, varied approaches they had taken to achieve real success in reducing processing times, closing their ten oldest requests, and reducing backlogs.  During the session there was also an active exchange with the audience as questions were raised and comments were addressed. 

While the speakers had each devised their own individualized approaches to meeting the challenges of improving timeliness at their own offices, what was striking about listening to the panel was their extraordinarily high level of engagement on these issues.  One after another, each speaker detailed a series of actions they had taken, all designed to work in concert, to bring about reforms that would improve performance.  It was clear from listening to these speakers that they were very actively engaged in finding ways to help their offices improve timeliness and reduce backlogs. 

There were also common elements to the approaches taken at the five agencies.  The speakers addressed the importance of: 

• Obtaining leadership support – to obtain personnel and resources, to get buy-in from program offices, to increase awareness, to spread responsibility and ensure greater accountability
• Routinely reviewing processing metrics – to ensure oldest cases are handled each year, to make changes as needed during the course of the year, to identify common requests and trends as part of “Intelligent Case Management,” to troubleshoot
• Ensuring accountability – to motivate and reward personnel, to engage all members of the agency with a role in the process
• Engaging with FOIA staff – to train and encourage, to answer questions, to simplify processes and improve quality as well as quantity  

The speakers also stressed the benefits of using multi-track processing and explained how they had created new tracks and ensured that requests were properly assigned to the proper track so that simple requests did not get caught behind far more complicated ones. Several speakers mentioned that they used the first quarter of the fiscal year to focus on their ten oldest requests. The speakers highlighted the benefits and improvements that technology afforded and stressed how they were constantly looking for ways to use technology to simplify the process. 

At the conclusion of the panel many audience members conveyed that they had gotten a lot of good ideas that they would take back to their own agencies.  That is the goal of these workshops – to provide agency personnel with a forum to hear from others who have faced the same challenges and learn how they overcame those challenges to achieve success and see real improvement in their FOIA operations. 

Our next Best Practices Workshop will be held July 17, 2014, and will address the topic of Proactive Disclosures and Making Online Information More Useful.   Be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for more information about these series of events.