#FOIAsurvey update re: FOIAonline

Our efforts to survey federal agencies (@sgichris, #FOIAsurvey) about FOIAonline are starting to bear fruit. We have put out feelers to most of the forty agencies and departments responsible for over 99% of FOIA requests each year, and we can identify some trends:

• There is definitely more interest. We had expected as much, since the FOIAonline portal offers distinct benefits for individual agencies and requesters, as well as members of each group in the aggregate, but it’s nice to have this recognized by additional agency FOIA personnel.
• There are plenty of existing contracts. Which is how things should be; we’re glad agencies have invested in their FOIA-processing systems. We’d just like to see agencies consider FOIAonline as an option when the opportunity arises.
• There is a lot of voicemail. Given the chronic laments of both FOIA requesters and agency staff, that a lack of resources prevents agencies from responding to FOIA requests and related questions as quickly as they’d like to, this is not a surprise. (We hope the people whose numbers we called were busy helping other callers at the time.)
• There is some confusion. We did have one agency respond that FOIAonline is for agencies which don’t have an electronic processing system. To which we’d say, (1) We certainly hope any non-electronic agency at least investigates FOIAonline; (2) Even an agency with an electronic processing system may benefit from joining FOIAonline; and (3) We hope that nobody thinks “We’ve already got an electronic system so we shouldn’t even check out FOIAonline.”
• Talking about these issues will help FOIAonline evolve. The EPA, Department of Commerce, and OGIS/NARA have developed FOIAonline through a thorough process, continuing to refine the system and reach out to stakeholders, and while they have summarized some of their most frequent answers, we think our survey can provide additional information and perspective.

While none of the above items may be a complete surprise, the first round of responses does make us optimistic that agencies are aware of FOIAonline, that they are aware of the benefits it is capable of offering, and that the current scope of agency involvement is a function of its recent development. One agency FOIA staffer explained that while the agency wasn’t ready to commit to FOIAonline yet, it did seem like it was the future.

So, we want to make sure it’s the best, most comprehensive and efficient future we can build.

Sunshine in Government Award honors innovation in FOIA, Senator who defended news coverage

In honor of Sunshine Week, the Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI) is pleased to recognize three leaders in government who will receive SGI’s Sunshine in Government Award (“Sunshine Award”) for their commitment and work to strengthen open government.

Can you give 5 minutes for FOIA Online?

For Sunshine Week 2013, SGI member groups are surveying federal agencies to help promote FOIA Online, a system to make, process, and view FOIA requests – and we need your help!

Take your FOIA requester to work day?

FOIA officers: I’d like to see what you do all day.  Really.

A while ago I had the opportunity to talk with about 100 FOIA officers in the federal government about FOIA from the requester perspective.  I mentioned that the determined, distrustful and demanding face of many FOIA requesters hides a lack of understanding about what FOIA officers within agencies go through to respond to requests.  And I made an offer:  I’d like to follow a FOIA officer at any agency around for a day to see what FOIA officers need to do every day to push FOIA responses out the door.  Do they spend their day on the phone tracking down which offices may hold relevant information?  Do they hunch over desks redacting documents?  Do they badger government employees to go through their files and find documents, or convince reluctant employees that disclosing information upon request is not only lawful but required?  Once a response is ready to go out the door, do they consume energy filing reports to log their efforts for the annual reports?  I’d really like to know, and I’m willing to relay my experience to the public through this blog.  This is not a hit job — I promise no gotcha journalism.  I just want to know what it’s like to respond to FOIA requests, reduce backlogs, avoid unnecessary delays, and make sound decisions to disclose or withhold.

Are relationships with requesters really as bad as the stereotypical image of yelling, demanding requesters? Or is my hunch right that mostly callers are respectful if a little perplexed and uneducated about the reviews and steps necessary before a response goes out?

So this is a genuine appeal to FOIA officers everywhere to help me understand how your day goes.  Maybe you don’t want me hanging around all day.  A half day might work. Or even a one-hour call. I’m flexible. Let’s talk.

House panel’s pointed letter to Justice sends impatient message on #FOIA

In a renewed and welcome spirit of bipartisanship, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier this week sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) asking pointed questions about OIP’s actions to encourage agencies to comply with FOIA by reducing backlogs, reigning in the use of statutory exemptions and updating FOIA regulations.  We’re especially appreciative that Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) mentioned a database of the statutory exemptions to FOIA that we compiled and ProPublica published a while ago.

This is a great time for FOIA because so much has evolved since Congress enacted the 2007 FOIA amendments (pdf) five years ago. FOIA Online is now a realistic option for agencies to go digital with their FOIA operations while realizing huge savings for the federal government, an important aspect to getting any legislation through Congress.

Congress could mandate that agencies move to FOIA Online as their current contracts for FOIA processing expire, invest the savings from the move to a shared service to improving FOIA.  Improvements could include developing further the FOIA Online system, targeting efforts to improve FOIA processing and reduce backlogs and delays, and quickly convening a FOIA Delays Commission to compile and identify other areas for improvements.

There are many problems with FOIA administration today and many areas for improvement.  Some require executive branch action while others would require legislation.  Any legislative actions around FOIA will have attract the support of Senate and House leaders, a growing number of whom want to see the Freedom of Information Act inform the American public while protecting what deserves protection and serve as a dependable tool for obtaining from government vital information in a timely, efficient and impartial manner.

Freedom (of Information) isn’t free; pay it forward by citing FOIA in reporting

As part of our efforts to support improved administration of the federal Freedom of Information Act, we make stories based in part on FOIA easy to find in our “FOIA Files” database. But we’re only able to collect those stories effectively and efficiently when journalists and editors cite FOIA by name, spelled-out or as an acronym, so that the stories turn up when we conduct searches.

While it’s true that allusions to access to “federal records,” and references to documents being “obtained,” can provide hints about the source of the documents, we can only include stories in our database if the reporter indicates that he or she used FOIA. (Reporters: we also take emails at sgi@sunshineingovernment.org.) And the average reader may not realize the role, and value, of FOIA if journalists don’t highlight it. We realize that filing FOIA requests can be frustrating and feel futile, but when those efforts elicit information, we like to focus attention on those stories as examples of the system working, for journalists, FOIA officers, and the public.

FOIA Online goes live; new tool to track FOIA requests, responses

Journalists who regularly use the federal FOIA will complain bitterly about lost requests, long delays and agency responses that give no indication whether and when the agency will actually turn over documents.  But a new system that went live October 1 promises to make it easier on agencies and requesters alike to keep track of requests and make the FOIA process more efficient.

The new system, called FOIA Online, allows anyone to search pending FOIA requests and documents already released as the result of previous FOIA requests, submit a new FOIA request to an agency, track requests, see the status of any request and receive agency correspondence and documents all within the new system. And for FOIA geeks like us, it provides anyone the ability to search the tracking data, identify trends and keep tabs on how well (or poorly) any agency is fulfilling its obligations under FOIA.  We also hope it’s a useful tool for government folks responsible for keeping the FOIA responses flowing to find and fix the bottlenecks that slow FOIA responses.

Prospects for mediation at OGIS

The OPEN Government Act of 2007, which amended the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), set out two tasks for the fledgling agency in the new section (h). First, OGIS is expected to review administrative agencies’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policies, procedures, and compliance – and use what it learns to propose policy changes to Congress and the President. (As we blogged about last month.)

Second, and central to this analysis, OGIS is expected to “offer mediation services… as a non-exclusive alternative to [FOIA] litigation.” Mediation services, as OGIS explained, includes “a range of services within that spectrum. Both mediation and facilitation are forms of ‘mediation services.’.” During its first year, OGIS reported that facilitation succeeded fully in about 82% of cases (68/83).

For OGIS, road to recommendations reveals not enough independence

When the Office of Management and Budget cleared the FOIA Ombudsman to issue its recommendations for improving FOIA operations, it was a win in the battle for open government.  However, the difficult process, in which we and others made a stink and Congress had to become involved, has made clear that the Office of Government Information Services does not yet have the independence that Congress considered so crucial for it to succeed.

OGIS & OMB decide not to make recommendations to Congress

We are deeply disappointed and concerned that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) — the FOIA Ombudsman — will not be transmitting its recommendations to Congress for improving FOIA.

OGIS Director Miriam Nisbet sent a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Ranking Member Charles Grassley noting that OGIS sent draft recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and after consulting with them decided not to send recommendations to Congress.