Continuous Vetting is the cornerstone effort of the government’s Trusted Workforce reform effort. Moving from episodic investigations to a pattern of continuous vetting has proven effective in helping the government identify and address potential risks sooner, 7 years and 1 month quicker for Secret clearance holders who were previously investigated every 10 years, 2 years and 7 months quicker for the Top Secret population previously investigated every 5 years.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), the nation’s largest security organization, is now beginning to roll out CV across its non-sensitive public trust population, an effort that puts another 1 million individuals into the government’s Trusted Workforce program and helps enable greater reciprocity and transfer of trust throughout government.
In a roundtable conversation with media today, Assistant Director for Personnel Security Dr. Mark A. Livingston and Principal Deputy Assistant Director for Adjudication and Vetting Services Heather Green discussed the effort.
“To put it into scope or comparison, what 9/11 did to aviation safety and security and what COVID did to the workplace, trusted workforce is doing that to the national security workforce,” said Livingston. “It is just monumental. These are shifts in the tectonic plates.” He said the executive branch is really focused on modernizing personnel vetting through its Trusted Workforce initiative and creating a government-wide system of enhanced security.
“Implementation of CV definitely benefits the government and the trusted workforce,” added Green. The ongoing rollout of CV is helping the government identify and manage risks, and also gives it the opportunity to support individuals experiencing problems, she added.
The move to CV aligns with the government’s overall approach of risk mitigation and management, along with risk analysis. Green noted the government has learned a lot over the past several years as its enrolled the national security (security-cleared) population into CV. The phased enrollment of the public trust population takes those lessons learned into account.
The national security population is currently enrolled in a Trusted Workforce 1.5 CV model. The non-sensitive public trust population will first be enrolled in a Trusted Workforce 1.25 model, which checks three data categories.
For the non-sensitive public trust population, which may include professionals in federal law enforcement, finance, or blue collar workers supporting critical systems, a key takeaway is that this isn’t a ‘gotcha’ program, Green noted. CV alerts don’t automatically trigger a revocation of position or hiring action, and often don’t even require a full investigation. They simply create a trigger that allows the government to mitigate and adjudicate – and put trusted workers on a path to retaining their suitability and fitness rather than losing it because a tiny issue snowballed.
Self reporting requirements are less streamlined for the non-sensitive public trust population, but still exist. It’s important for all trusted workers to proactively report potential adverse information, like arrests, or severe financial issues, in order to help mitigate potential flags created through CV.
NBIS and CV
CV enrollment faced delays caused by broader delays in the National Background Investigation Services, but Livingston emphasized the government currently has the resources to support its CV program, and the current rollout into the public trust population. He said the current phased expansion wouldn’t be happening without IT enablement. “Luckily we do have the appropriate IT apparatus to support the CV program,” Livingston added. “We’re able to manage the enrollments.
A phased approach allows the government to roll out CV over time, which creates less strain on technology, but also personnel. Green said her office has conducted several hiring events to help support the program. “It’s key that we’re appropriately resourced to do this, and I believe we are,” she added.
