Federal Diary Live

The Bush administration is moving to consolidate responsibility for most of the government's background checks at the Office of Personnel Management. About 1,850 investigators and employees of the Defense Department will transfer to OPM on Feb. 20. The shift of the Defense Security Service employees will put OPM in charge of more than 90 percent of the background investigations for security clearances and for sensitive jobs in the government.

Stephen Benowitz, an OPM associate director, joins The Post's Stephen Barr, who writes the Federal Diary column, to discuss background investigations and OPM's new role at noon Dec. 15 on Federal Diary Live.

Benowitz was appointed associate director for human resources products and services at OPM in December 2002. As part of his job, he oversees federal retirement and insurance programs affecting millions of enrollees and family members. Benowitz previously served as director of human resources and director of strategic management planning for the National Institutes of Health. He served at NIH from 1988 to 2002. He is a graduate of Antioch College and received his master's degree from Case Western Reserve University.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Stephen Barr: Thanks to all joining in this discussion today. A special welcome to our guest, Stephen Benowitz of OPM and a longtime expert in personnel and management issues in the federal sector. To start this discussion, Stephen, would you tell us how this merger of investigative functions came about and the near-term plan for implementation? Again, thanks for taking time to join us today.

Stephen Benowitz: Thanks for a great question, Steve. The agreement to transfer the personnel security investigation functions of the Defense Security Service to OPM was initiated by the Department of Defense. OPM Director Kay Coles James agreed to the transfer in principle and recently OPM and DOD completed a detailed memorandum of agreement to effect the transfer. The transfer will combine the vast majority of the Federal government's personnel background investigation process under the same management process and the same procedures. Combined with the new contract resources OPM has developed, the transfer will result in improved capabilities and thus improve the timeliness and effectiveness of the this program.

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Frederick, Md.: Considering the enormous backlog of security clearances pending, do you foresee the need for OPM to hire individual contractors to conduct background investigations? What opportunities will there be for experienced investigators (e.g., retired federal employees) to assist in this effort?

Stephen Benowitz: The national capacity to conduct these investigations has not been sufficient for a number of years. OPM has been very open about this. The capacity simply did not exist. However, OPM is working with private industry to develop this capacity. We have issued contracts with five additional firms, and expect to nearly double the number of contract investigators to 6,000 within 18 months. Combined with the great staff from DSS, we expect that this workforce will be able to meet the current and projected workload in a more timely fashion. Our goal is to complete initial SSBIs in 90 days or less. If experienced investigators are interested in working for one of the contractors, they should contact the firms. If they are interested in working for OPM, please let us know by e-mail.

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Baltimore, Md.: First, How do you expect to reduce the clearance process for Top/Secret to 90 days. Speed is not necessarily a good thing, when National Security is at risk.

Second, question. The OPM clearance system (PIPs) is an old "DOS" based system that is based on entering "code set". Most of the government has moved away from these systems. The paper work reduction act of required the elimination of paper, your system requires the maintenance of VAST amounts of paper. The current DSS operation is not set up for mounds of paper and the requirement to move paper between facilities. Does Congress and the Taxpayer know that your system is generating cost to fax, copy, store and move mounds of paper.

It would also appear that in the interest of National Security - that is not wise. Has anyone thought about what the conseqences would be if those documents were to be lost, stolen or other wise damaged?

It would appear that it would have been better to maintain the DOD modern system or use the system developed by USIS? Why was this not done?

Stephen Benowitz: I just answered the first part of your question, about timeliness. As for the PIPS system, I understand that there are those who may not fully understand its capabilities. The system is not "DOS" (and believe me, I know--they used to call me "DOS man"--but it is a mainframe system that is very powerful and provides extraordinary tools to manage the process. We plan to continue working closely with all employees to make sure they are comfortable using the system. DOD itself made the decision to begin using PIPS, rather than modernizing its own system, and thus avoided over $100 million in costs.

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Washington, D.C.: Sir: Obtaining a federal security clearance--from case initiation to investigation and adjudication to the actual granting of the clearance--typically takes several months often longer. What specific steps will OPM and its workforce take to achieve an overall reduction in the overall clearance process?

Stephen Benowitz: Thanks for the question. Part of the answer is to increase capacity, which I already addressed. The other part is to provide leadership so that all investigators know what we expect. One of our goals is to devlop a set of performance expectations and communicate them to you as soon as possible.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: Looks like OPM is sweeping out middle and upper management out from the old DSS. Is this a way your agency is trying to create a new work culture with the former DSS employees? Also please explain what was wrong with the DSS work culture.

Stephen Benowitz: First, we believe that the field investigation and support staff of DSS is an outstanding group of dedicated public employees and we look forward to welcoming you to Team OPM. All first line supervisors will transfer but it is true that we will be recruiting senior managers (4 Directors for Field Operations and their Deputies, and at the PIC 2 Program Managers and 2 deputies. The field positions are now advertised (see USAJOBS for the announcement).Expect to see the PIC announcements by the end of the week. All DSS who are interested should apply.

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Seattle, Wash.: Why would a personnel/human resources agency such as OPM take over investigations involving National Security? Is it not true that most of the investigations that are done by OPM are for employment pre-screening and they have nothing to do with attempting to identify someone possibly involved in espionage. National Security issues should not be managed by people who would not recognize an espionage indicator if one appeared. This move of DSS to OPM is political and puts our country at risk.

Stephen Benowitz: OPM has been in the national security investigations business for decades. This is not a new function for us...the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 put us into that business. While the majority of cases we process is for public trust positions, we conducted more than 100,000 such cases in 2004 alone.

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Washington, D.C.: Where is the logjam for security clearances? Is it at the investigative or adjudications level?

Stephen Benowitz: Both. We all know the workload in investigations. OPM tracks adjudications for all cases we complete, and works closely with agencies who need to improve the timeliness of their work. We also believe that there is a logjam at the front end, with the submission of cases. The front end is an agency responsibility, and we are hopeful that new e-Clearance tools will help with this process.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I'd been cleared to TS, but my clearance is now inactive (it's been over two years since I left that job). Also, it's been more than five years since my initial investigation (I never had a periodic reinvestigation). I've been at the same address, same credit cards, bank accounts, etc. Is there anything I can do or that a potential employer can do to expedite a "refresh" of my clearance? Thanks! (p.s. You should consider letting individuals apply for, and if necessary - pay for, clearances - even before they have a job that requires a clearance - it would help employers and employees)

Stephen Benowitz: Good question. Fill out the paperwork (update the SF-86) correctly and promptly, and work with the agency through your firm's contact to ensure a smooth process.

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Jacksonville, Fla.: OPM has two weeks investigator's training, and one week training on the software to write the reports of investigation for personnel security clearance investigators.

Previously, Department of Defense personnel security clearance investigators were often military intelligence or criminal investigative agents who were trained at length in intelligence or criminal investigations. When Defense Investigative Service was created, the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations provided a 10 week course for new personnel security clearance investigators. Subsequent to that period, the OSI provided a three week course, and after that DIS took over training, and the course was three weeks. Accordingly, heretofore, DoD PSI investigators were mentored by agents who had extensive training and experience.

The extensive training and mentoring by persons who were themselves extensively trained, measuring in decades, will now not be available at OPM.

How does OPM justify only two weeks of general training, what in-service training will be offered to agents, and by whom, to make up for the significant difference in those mentors, most of whom will retire within five years?

Stephen Benowitz: The two and one week periods are classroom training. New investigators are assigned to very experienced investigators for up to a year to learn the skills necessary. Some, of course, don't succeed. But, for the large number that do, we have some of the best personnel investigators in the world.

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Arlington, Va.: Mr. Benowitz: I was an employee at an area federal courthouse, handling sensitive sealed court documents, and never in the five years there did I have a background investigation done on me. Now, several cases of employees removing sealed documents at courthouses around the country, as well as other mishaps, have come to public light. Will there be any new guidelines coming down the pike for various agencies/branches with this new administration and concentration on homeland security where it should begin---here at home? Thank you.

Stephen Benowitz: All Federal employees are required to have a background investigation based on the nature of the work they perform. You may want to raise with your personnel security office or your human resources office your specific question. We do find at times that the nature of individuals' work changes and that the type of investigation and clearance needed should change.

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Rockville, Md.: How long should it take to get a copy of one's Background Investigation?

Stephen Benowitz: Typically ten working days if OPM conducted the investigation. You can request this through the Privacy Act process.

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Anonymous: To what extent do you see government contractors assisting in security background investigations?

Stephen Benowitz: They play a key, vital role as partners to OPM and DOD. They provide a level of effort to address the flexible capacity demand.

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Arlington, Va.: Mr Benowitz, I am an adjudicator with DOD and have over 2 decades of experience in the field. Currently OPM investigations do not resolve issues approximately 40% and do not meet investigative scope at least 33% of time. These numbers are worse than the Defense Security Service(DSS). Your investigative product is actually worse than DSS on the whole. No one in the DOD adjudicative community expects the OPM take over to be anything but a total disaster. Currently OPM's timeliness is as bad or worse than DSS. The quality of your contract investigators is awful. DSS Special Agents are the most competent investigators in the world when compared to your investigators. Those of us in the DOD adjudications believe the backlogs will get worse before they get better and we will see no improvement or even a return to the status quo until 18-24 mos from now. So, in closing, if you submit your paperwork for a clearance within DOD in next 90 days figure it wil take 24-36 months for OPM to complete the investigation. Stephen Benowitz: Less than 1 percent of completed OPM investigations are returned by our customers for re-work. We have a robust quality assurance program. We also realize that some of investigators are fairly new, and need (and receive) ongoing developmental assistance. I appreciate your concerns, but I don't think they reflect, as you say, the general views of our customers.

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Washington, D.C.: Why does OPM not release results of previous investigations if an investigation for a higher public trust level is open? tried to request previous investigation results, but got denied because of that stated reason.

Stephen Benowitz: Let me explain the process. We don't release pending investigations. We do advance pieces to the requesting agency in the event major issues are discovered. We would release previous investigations as part of a new request, however. Our staff in CFIS would be happy to discuss this further with you.

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Washington, D.C.: Is OPM planning on hiring individual contractors to do investigations and adjudications or will individuals have to work for one of the contract firms currently doing the investigations?

Stephen Benowitz: We have asked DSS to continue to fill vacant investigator positions. I have already responded about our plans to hire additional contractors. OPM does not perform adjudications for agencies--that is their responsibility, so OPM does not have plans to increase the size of the OPM adjudications staff at this time. Each agency must evaluate the staffing needs of their own adjudications requirements.

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St. Paul, Minn.: I have heard that the federal government needs to double the number of investigators to meet current security clearance demands. It seems that to meet the timelines set for doing all initial SSBIs within 90 days something will have to give. It appears that means that deadlines for all other types of investigations will only get longer and longer.

Stephen Benowitz: You are correct that we need to double the number of investigators, which we are doing (see previous response). To achieve the completion of initial SSBIs in 60-90 days, we will focus our staff (employees and contractors) on higher priority work until the work in progress is completed. However, much of the other work we perform, eg, for non-sensitive or low-risk public trust are mostly electronic checks, and will continue without interruption. Once we have achieved the capacity we need, the stakeholders will see the results they expect and deserve.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: From a Neophyte--For someone contemplating seeking a Government or appointed job in D.C., before one submits resumes/background etc., is there a process that's available to obtain some sort of background/security check status BEFOREHAND so that the hiring supervisor knows and is comfortable with the fact that this particlular application/submission has already been vetted to some extent, etc./ie, would represent a "safe hire" based on a preliminary application basis? Or, what's the appropriate step for one who'd contemplating going after a job that might involve an appointee job to get some of the ball rolling on background checking?

Stephen Benowitz: OPM does not require that a Federal agency wait until someone is hired and onboard to request an investigation. the agency can request one for someone under consideration, and many do. Same is true for potential contract employees. However, individuals cannot request background investigations on their own behalf. ONly agencies can request because they have to determine that the invidual in question is a potential or likely hire.

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Maryland: I am a federal security screener. Many, many screeners were terminated long after their hiring by TSA due to background check issues. Some even reported on their applications to NCS Pearson, the hiring contractor, that they had a previous conviction, then were fired after more than a year of service. Recently at BWI a screener was fired for backgound issues even though the information was known prior to hiring. Will TSA continue to use contractors? Does OPM use different rules in terms of fairness and process than TSA? It seems that TSA is exempt from any rule that benefits screeners, including the background investigation process.

Stephen Benowitz: This question should be directed to TSA.

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Virginia: DSS investigators used to have laptops. How came OPM investigators don't?

Stephen Benowitz: Your information is not correct. OPM investigators have and use laptops. DSS investigators transferring to OPM will have the same capabilities.

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Williamsport, Pa.: I was employed as an OPM investigator from 1984 to 1996, at which time I was given a RIF notice when the Investigations Division was privatized and farmed out to a contractor. I chose to remain a federal employee and I transferred to another federal agency, in order to maintain my federal employment status. Am I eligible for any type of reinstatement when the merger between DSS and OPM is fully integrated. Please respond. Thank you.

Stephen Benowitz: We would welcome and encourage you to apply for our vacant positions.

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Frederick, Md.: Thanks for your response. Which firms have been awarded contracts for conducting background investigations?

Stephen Benowitz: USIS, Kroll, CACI, MSM, Omniplex, Sa

Stephen Benowitz: USIS, Omniplex, MSM, CACI, Kroll, and Sa-Tech.

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St. Paul, Minn.: OPMs PIPS-R system for report writing is a step intensive, template driven system. DSS used a system called FIMS that utilized Microsoft Word. Reports were written in an abbreviated or high impact style. PIPS-R is a production killer when compared with FIMS. My personal experience is that I can write up a case in FIMS in a fraction of the time the same case would take in PIPS-R. What plans are there for updating PIPS-R to speed up the report writing process?

Stephen Benowitz: We are continually updating PIPS so that it remains the standard. We have a users group that helps us improve the process, and we believe that the DSS investigators transferring to OPM can provide great input to the process.

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Maryland: There were a lot of articles on government officials with fake diploma mill certificates. Does OPM have a list of diploma mill universities so the investigators can be prepared to spot frauds?

Stephen Benowitz: One of my favorite topics! The Federal government, through the Department of Education, is developing a list of accredited colleges and universities. OPM staff are testing this web-based system now. We have not developed a list of diploma mills because of the constant changes in these companies. Our guidance is to check a known reference for accredited schools (e.g., CHEA.org or when it is available the Department of Education's tool), and then conduct follow-up research on any school that is not on the list.

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Washington, D.C.: I was once contacted by an OPM investigotor. He couldn't go to my office because he did not have the proper DOD clearances while DSS can. Will OPM people have DOD badges?

Stephen Benowitz: We are working with DOD to make sure that investigators will continue to have proper badging to retain access to DOD facilities.

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Virginia: I understand that Dyncorp and ManTech are in the adjudication business. Is that correct? If so, why can't civil servants do this in the name of national security?

Stephen Benowitz: Contractors can support the adjudication process, but ONLY Federal employees can make adjudication decisions. In the event OPM learns that an agency allows a contractor to make the final adjudciation decision, we would conduct a review of that agency's background investigation and adjudication process.

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Washington, D.C.: Given the renewed awareness of the importance of homeland security, would you give us an overview of the key performance elements that are used to measure the quality of the work performed by contractors and their employees? I fear we have too many retired folks who have been hired for tasks that are beyond their skill levels.

Stephen Benowitz: The measure is the national investigative standard and that there is sufficient content for adjudication. The standard is the same for contractors and Federal employees

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Virginia: Can investigators who have Secret security clearances do background checks for Top Secret?

Stephen Benowitz: All investigators for OPM are Top Secret eligible. Contractors and Federal employees alike. Not all have that clearance because they don't need them, but all could have such a clearance if appropriate.

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Arlington, Va.: My security paperwork was started for a TS, SBI in Feb 2003 and had my inteviews were conducted in May 2003. I've recieved no word since. Is there any way to get a current status of my file? It's been almost 22 months now, so what is the average wait time to get this type of clearance?
Thank You

Stephen Benowitz: You should contact your agency personnel security officer if you are a Federal employee. If you are an employee of a contractor, you should contact the individual in your firm who coordinates background investigations and security clearances with the agency holding the contract.

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Reston, Va.: Thanks for taking my question. My paperwork for a TS clearance was submitted 20 months ago. The investigator that I spoke with told me that the investigation was completed in Mar, 04. I'm told by our security department that my status in JPAS is "investigation is pending". How much longer should I expect to wait?

Stephen Benowitz: It appears that you are an employee of a contractor doing business with DOD. I suggest you seek the assistance of your firm's security officer, who is the contact with DOD. If the investigation has been completed, then it is possible that DOD has not completed the adjudication process. Only a contact between your firm and DOD can provide the answer.

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Washington, D.C.: It is true that CIA, FBI and State are the 10 percent who does their own background investigations?

Stephen Benowitz: You are correct. Treasury does some, as do some other agencies for small, targeted groups within their agencies.

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Washington, D.C.: Thanks for doing this. Now, just what is the "national investigative standard" and were does one find that?

Stephen Benowitz: Executive Order 12968 is the basis, and the standards were published by the National Security Council in 1997 or 1998. Suggest you search (Google, etc.) EO 12968.

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Arlington, Va.: Didn't OPM dump its investigative function in the early 1990's and farm it out to the agencies?

Stephen Benowitz: No, we did not. In 1996 OPM outsourced the field investigation function but maintained the oversight (agency and contract) functions. The function was assumed by a private sector firm, known as US Investigations Service.

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Rockville, Md.: Upon completion of a Background Investigation civil servants are afforded the option to that a copy of their Background Investigation be mailed to them. My question is how long is reasonable to expect receipt of the copy of the Background Investigation after a formal request has been made?

Stephen Benowitz: I previously answered this. Investigations are available under the Privacy Act. If OPM conducted the investigation, it takes about 10 working days for us to send the investigation once a request is received. If another agency conducted the investigation you need to contact them for a copy.

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Washington, D.C.: Our company has been requesting background investigations and transfers of clearances through DSS for the past three years. Their responsiveness has been very good lately - 30-45 days on transfers; 90-120 days on SF-86 based clearances. What impact do you you see on timelines and timeliness when OPM takes over this function and further centralizes it?

Stephen Benowitz: This is great to hear. As I responded to another question, we think the DSS staff does a fine job and look forward to welcoming them to our staff. Our goal is to conduct all "national security investigations" within 90 days, and have agencies adjudicate them within 30 days (that's a requirement in the new Intelligence Bill, by the way).

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Washington, D.C.: Sir, How soon do you realistically expect to see OPM completing SSBI's in 60-90 days? Thanks!

Stephen Benowitz: We do many in this time frame now, but our goal of doing this for all innitial SSBIs is during Fiscal Year 2006, which beins October 1, 2005.

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washingtonpost.com: Once again, we've run out of time, with questions still arriving. Thanks to Stephen Benowitz of OPM for taking time from his busy schedule, and thanks to all of you who have read the transcript. We'll be back here at noon next Wednesday for a last round before we break for the holidays. See you then!

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