DHS developed a Freedom of Information Act improvement plan focusing on eliminating its backlog of overdue requests, implementing enhanced training requirements, and deploying more advanced technology, but opportunities exist for DHS to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of FOIA processing across the department, GAO has said.
DHS has the largest backlog of FOIA requests in the federal government. Its privacy office has initiated actions to ensure policy compliance and provide oversight of FOIA operations throughout the department’s component agencies, including developing a department-wide handbook, monitoring monthly data processing statistics, and instituting relevant training for employees.
As a result, DHS has reported reducing its backlog by about 24 percent since implementing its plan, according to GAO-09-260.
It said however that establishing mechanisms for monitoring and oversight of processing efficiency may help reduce the backlog of open requests could help facilitate the processing of information requests at a number of major components.
The report also recommends the following: component-specific training, online status checking for requests, releasing the records electronically, and electronic redaction. GAO said by adopting electronic redaction more broadly, DHS could be able to reduce the staff time otherwise spent manually redacting records, while improving the consistency of its responses to requests.
