The following post is written by Meredith Doviak, our National Archives colleague who is helping us assess methods agencies use to prepare documents for posting on agency FOIA reading rooms. In the decades since Congress amended FOIA in 1996 to expand the role of the agency FOIA reading room, the expectations and use of Federal … Continue reading Assessing FOIA Reading Rooms
We are happy to announce the publication of our compliance assessment report of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). USPS invited us to conduct this assessment as part of their ongoing efforts to strengthen their FOIA program. OGIS’s agency assessments are based on direct observation and review of USPS’s FOIA case files, analysis of applicable data … Continue reading OGIS Releases Compliance Assessment of U.S. Postal Service FOIA Program
Yesterday we published our analysis and observations of FOIA compliance issues based on the responses to FOIA questions included in the 2017 Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA). This report is the result of our continued collaboration with the Chief Records Officer (CRO) of the United States Government to gather government-wide information about FOIA policies and procedures. … Continue reading 2017 FOIA Compliance Self-Assessment Survey Results Now Available
As we wrote about in our Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Annual Report, our agency compliance assessment process recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to administering FOIA—each agency’s records are unique and as such, management of the FOIA process differs. We have observed that successful FOIA programs share three general characteristics: they manage their resources … Continue reading Five Ways Agencies are Improving FOIA Compliance
Earlier this week we published our FOIA compliance assessment report of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). OGIS has now published assessments of seven (7) component agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – including the three FOIA programs responsible for processing the majority of DHS’s annual share of FOIA requests – USCIS, CBP … Continue reading U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services FOIA Compliance Assessment Report Now Available
We are excited to announce the release of our analysis and observations of FOIA compliance issues based on the responses to FOIA questions included in the 2016 Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA). The RMSA is a sophisticated agency self-assessment program developed and managed by the National Archives and Records Administration Office of the Chief Records Officer … Continue reading OGIS Releases FOIA Compliance Self-Assessment Survey Results
On January 19, 2018 we received a formal response from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to our August 2017 CFPB FOIA Compliance Assessment. Like other agencies that have participated in our agency assessment program, CFPB volunteered to go through the process as part of their ongoing efforts to strengthen its FOIA Program. Our assessment … Continue reading Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Responds to FOIA Compliance Report
Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 is shaping up to be another busy year at OGIS! This week we are happy to announce the release of our FY 2018 Activities Calendar. The calendar shows our tentative schedule for upcoming agency compliance and issue assessments and our popular Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals training sessions. The calendar … Continue reading OGIS Publishes Fiscal Year 2018 Activities Calendar
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) FOIA program in Lee’s Summit, Missouri invited several members of the OGIS staff to visit their facility this week to provide their FOIA staff with training and to facilitate an agency FOIA compliance assessment. OGIS’s training sessions are intended to teach FOIA professionals practical communication skills to … Continue reading OGIS Visits U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
As the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 approaches, we understand that agencies face increased pressure to close old requests and reduce their backlogs. This is also a good time to remind agencies about how to ensure their efforts comply with U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance and best practices. As we have talked about … Continue reading A Reminder on the Use of Still Interested Letters
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