A Look Ahead
In its second year, OGIS is working to better educate FOIA requesters, implement a comprehensive plan for reviewing agency FOIA policies and procedures, regularly offer dispute resolution skills training, establish a permanent case management system, and develop measures of effectiveness of a fully operational mediation program. Meeting these objectives will help to implement fully OGIS's mission to improve the FOIA process as well as realize President Obama's Open Government Initiative and his January 21, 2009, FOIA Memorandum.
Many individuals who request information from the Government are FOIA savvy; others may be aware they have a right to request information from the Government, but are not sure how to do it. They may not understand the fee structure, or know how to check the progress of their requests, or even know where to send requests. The Department of Justice, along with the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration, publishes "Your Right to Federal Records," a helpful guide to requesting records under FOIA and the Privacy Act. However, the guide does not explain some of the trickier nuances under FOIA; for example, the distinction between a fee category and a fee waiver and how those might be determined. The guide also has not been updated to outline the role and duty of the FOIA Public Liaisons at agencies or to discuss OGIS and the statutory right of agencies and requesters to ask for assistance. A variety of nongovernmental organizations provide information on the FOIA process, including these specific explanations and suggestions, and it makes sense that OGIS as a Government-wide FOIA office provide similar tips to aid requesters and agencies.
OGIS fielded dozens of calls in the first year from FOIA requesters asking for basic information about the law, such as how to make FOIA requests, where to send them, the correct points of contact within an agency, and whether the U.S. Congress or private corporations are subject to FOIA (they are not). OGIS also met more experienced requesters who had questions or misconceptions about FOIA. These calls and interactions show the need for education and training on FOIA processes and procedures for all levels of the requesting public, and as the outward-facing Federal FOIA ombudsman, OGIS is ideal to fill that need.
In its mission of reviewing agency compliance with FOIA, OGIS is creating a comprehensive plan for such review. As previously mentioned in this report, OGIS will consider the FOIA-reporting framework already in existence, and will work to complement, not duplicate, that process.
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OGIS CASE STUDY A requester contacted OGIS seeking to understand what was necessary in a fee waiver appeal to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The letter the requester received did not clearly address how or what a requester must do to file a proper appeal of a fee waiver denial decision. OGIS explained to the requester the fee waiver as well as fee category aspects of FOIA including how to properly appeal those decisions. The requester then filed a fee waiver appeal. Although the agency denied the fee waiver, the FOIA requester was able to understand what is needed in order to obtain a fee waiver as well as the difference between the favorable fee categories and fee waivers. |
OGIS's mission to provide mediation services is inextricably intertwined with the FOIA Public Liaisons' statutory role of helping reduce delays, increase transparency and understand the status of requests, and assist in resolving disputes, 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(h)(3) & (l). Early on, OGIS observed that the duties of FOIA Public Liaisons were unclear. To address that, OGIS committed itself to engaging FOIA Public Liaisons as a community within the 94 departments and agencies, providing regular dispute resolution skills training, and establishing itself as a resource for FOIA Public Liaisons. This fiscally sound approach recognizes that by supporting the work of FOIA Public Liaisons, OGIS is efficiently implementing its statutory mission. One of OGIS's top priorities is to offer regular dispute resolution skills training for FOIA Public Liaisons and for other FOIA professionals. In OGIS's first year, the need for formal mediation to resolve a dispute did not arise. OGIS is considering various mediation program models to determine the most efficient and cost-effective way to establish its mediation program. As a newly created office providing services that have never existed in the Federal Government, OGIS's efforts are complicated by the need to predict many vital factors, including the potential size of the caseload requiring formal mediation, the time required to mediate FOIA disputes, and the logistics of convening geographically dispersed parties. OGIS intends to operate a mediation program that is flexible, efficient, and cost-effective.
With the support of the Archivist of the United States, OGIS is planning to move from the National Archives' College Park, MD, facility to a location in downtown Washington, DC, closer to the Federal departments and agencies with which it works. OGIS hopes to complete this move by the middle of FY 2011.
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