OPM is insourcing the quality review for background investigations, the first significant policy update to follow the recent announcement of fraudulent practices by private contracting security clearance investigation firms.
In January the Department of Justice filed a new complaint against security clearance investigation firm USIS. The filing accuses the company of filing incomplete investigations approximately 40 percent of the time, at least 665,000 cases. USIS has been under fire in recent months, as congress steps up efforts to reform the security clearance process and improve security clearance background checks.
“Today, I have directed that the background investigations quality review process conducted by OPM be fully federalized,” said OPM Director Katherine Archuleta in a statement released yesterday. “Effective February 24, only federal employees will be conducting the final quality review before the investigative product is sent to the agency for review and adjudication.”
The approximately 50 USIS employees currently conducting quality reviews will be replaced by OPM employees. About 300 OPM employees will take on the work through overtime, and staff reassignments.
“Since arriving at OPM three months ago, I have taken steps to assess the efficacy of the processes we use to deliver investigative products and services,” Archuleta said in the statement. “In our ongoing assessment and review, it is clear that the overriding performance criteria must be quality. This decision acts as an internal quality control preventing any contractor from performing the final quality review of its own work.”
OPM did not announce plans to cancel USIS’ existing contracts, and the company continues to conduct a variety of federal background investigations. The policy update simply ensures that contract investigators aren’t reviewing the work of other contractor investigators. The quality review will be conducted before the files are submitted for final adjudication.
The move is the first in a series of expected reforms. The Security Clearance Reform and Oversight Enhancement Act is currently in committee on Capitol Hill. The White House is awaiting the results of an internal investigation, but has vowed to take steps to ensure the effectiveness of the security clearance investigation process.
