Federal Daily - March 3, 2008

OPM Cuts Security Clearance Processing Backlog

With the addition of more staff this year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said it has been able to eliminate a backlog of workplace security clearance investigations, as well as significantly cut overall clearance processing times. Kathy L. Dillaman, associate director of OPM’s Federal Investigative Services Division, testified about the process Feb. 27 at a House Intelligence subcommittee. With the addition of 9,400 federal and contract employees, there is no longer a backlog of initial clearance investigations due to insufficient manpower, Dillaman said. In fact, the staff increase has resulted in a substantial decrease in the time it takes to complete the majority of the background checks submitted to OPM, she said. Of the 586,569 initial clearance investigations OPM received during Fiscal Year 2007, 80 percent were completed in an average of 67 days (92 days for 64,722 Top Secret investigations and 63 days for 404,534 Secret/Confidential investigations). By way of comparison, during October 2006, there were over 98,000 pending initial clearance investigations that were over 180 days in process. As of Feb. 16, OPM only had 20,118 pending investigations over 180 days in process, she said. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/News_Events/congress/testimony/110thCongress/02_27_2008.asp.

:: Back to Top ::

NTEU Applauds Telework Bill Passage by Panel

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) applauded a measure adopted by a House panel that would expand and strengthen federal employee telework programs. The bill, H.R. 4106, introduced by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., was approved Feb. 28 by a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. The bill would allow more federal employees to participate in telework programs and create a reliable method to measure and track federal agencies’ progress in opening up telework opportunities, said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. The bill is necessary because institutional barriers to telework across government are high, Kelley said. Recent information from the Office of Personnel Management indicates that only 6.6 percent of the federal workforce participates in any sort of telework program, Kelley said. “Despite telework’s benefits, it continues to be unevenly implemented,” Kelley said. “Telework has proven benefits. It can bring about increased productivity due to uninterrupted time for employees to plan work, reduce tension levels and improve quality of life.” To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1224.

:: Back to Top ::

VA Says Vet Center Expansion Ahead of Schedule

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary James Peake announced on Feb. 27 that the agency is well ahead of its schedule to add 23 new Vet Centers—which provide readjustment counseling and outreach services—by 2009. In February 2007, VA announced it would open 23 new centers within the subsequent 24 months. Peake said that of those planned centers, 15 are already operational, and five others are seeing patients in temporary facilities while finalizing their leases. The other three facilities will begin operations later this year, he said. Also, VA’s Vet Centers have hired 100 combat veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan as outreach specialists, often placing them near military processing stations, he said. The 15 new Vet Centers that are open in permanent locations are in Binghamton, N.Y.; Middletown, N.Y.; Watertown, N.Y.; Hyannis, Mass.; DuBois, Pa.; Gainesville, Fla.; Melbourne, Fla.; Macon, Ga.; Manhattan, Kansas; Escanaba, Mich.; Saginaw, Mich.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Baton Rouge, La., Killeen, Texas; and Las Cruces, N.M. To see more, go to:  http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1456.

:: Back to Top ::