As we have discussed, the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires that agencies inform FOIA requesters that they can ask for assistance from OGIS and an agency’s FOIA Public Liaison (FPL) throughout the request process. But what kind of help can requesters expect to receive from FPLs and OGIS? While FOIA gives both OGIS and … Continue reading Help Me FOIA. Help, Help Me FOIA.
We are happy to announce that registration is now open for the October 18 session of our popular Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals training. The free day-long session will be at the National Archives in downtown Washington, DC, location. During our training sessions, we help FOIA professionals develop a working knowledge of Alternative Dispute … Continue reading Reserve a Seat for Dispute Resolutions Skills Training Session
Note: This entry is another in our series of occasional blog posts updating our efforts to implement new provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) signed into law by President Obama on June 30, 2016. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQid2EtDDsA The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires that agencies review and update their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) … Continue reading FOIA Improvement: Updating FOIA Regulations
As the Archivist of the United States announced earlier this week, you can now review and comment on the National Archives and Records Administration’s Open Government Plan 4.0 on Github. The plan covers steps the National Archives intends to take over the next two years to strengthen open government within our agency and across the … Continue reading National Archives’ Open Government Plan 4.0 Open for Comment
At its September 15, 2016, meeting, the Chief FOIA Officers Council will continue discussing the implementation of a “release to one, release to all” Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy, which calls for agencies to post copies of all records released under FOIA on their websites. The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) … Continue reading Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting Scheduled for September 15
Conventional wisdom holds that one strategy for improving the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process is to routinely publish agency records that might be of interest to the public. The term of art FOIA enthusiasts use for publishing agency information before anyone makes a FOIA request is proactive disclosure. We at OGIS make it a … Continue reading OGIS Embraces Transparency
As summer winds down and pictures of kids on their first day of school fill up our social media feeds, we thought it might be a good time for a pop quiz on OGIS’s training program. Test your knowledge with the true/false statements below. Statement 1: OGIS recently launched its training program. Answer 1: False. … Continue reading The ABC’s of OGIS Training
Last month we received an update from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regarding changes it has made to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program since we issued our assessment of the program earlier this year. We are happy to hear that TSA has taken a number of positive steps in response to our recommendations. … Continue reading Improvements to TSA FOIA Program
FOIA Public Liaisons and the professionals who staff FOIA requester service centers play a key role in the FOIA process—they provide valuable assistance with a process that can confuse requesters. The recently passed FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 expands the role that these professionals play, requiring agencies to notify requesters about FOIA Public Liaisons and … Continue reading Upcoming Training Opportunity for FOIA Professionals
Today we are releasing a report on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program at the United States Secret Service (USSS), the fifth in our series of assessments of FOIA programs at components of the Department of Homeland Security. Like other OGIS reports on agency FOIA program assessments, the report includes findings and recommendations about … Continue reading OGIS Releases Assessment of Secret Service FOIA Program
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