Security Clearance Jobs Blog

Maryland State Senator Roger Manno and 27 of his Senate colleagues have proposed a State income tax credit for costs incurred to obtain federal security clearances. The bill (SB296) would require “the Governor of Maryland to make a $6,000,000 appropriation in FY2014 and FY21015 for the tax credit, applying the Act to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2011.”

Sounds great, but who would actually benefit from this tax credit. The bill does not define “federal security clearance” and it’s unclear whether the term “security clearance” is being used generically to cover all federal clearances (such as National Security Clearances, Public Trust Clearances, HSPD-12 Credentialing, and Transportation Worker Identity Credentials) or whether only National Security Clearances for access to classified national security information will be covered. Nor does the bill hint at the potential number of Maryland residents who might be able to claim the tax credit or the nature of the clearance-related expenses that will be covered. A call to Senator Manno’s office disclosed that the tax credit is primarily intended to benefit federal contractors and/or their employees, but no specific information was readily available.

The vast majority of federal contractor security clearances are processed by the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), a component of the Defense Security Service (DSS). DOD approved $238.5M in federally appropriated funds for FY2012 to pay for the cost of DSS processing contractor security clearances, and DSS has never charged defense contractors or defense contractor employees for either the cost of personnel security clearances or facility security clearances.

So, the question remains, who will benefit from this tax credit? Will most of the $6M languish in a special fund and be unavailable for other State purposes, or will someone in the Maryland Senate research the subject and either withdraw the bill or rewrite it so it might actually provide some benefit to Maryland workers who are seeking jobs in the defense industry?

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While we often talk broadly about the time it takes to process security clearances, the investigation itself is the heart of security clearance adjudication. After several years of working to prevent duplication of efforts and the lengthy delays in transferring clearances between agencies or reinvestigating previously investigated individuals, the new guidelines seem to take a step backward.

The Office of Personnel Management’s revised standards use a five-tiered system with six types of investigations and two types of reinvestigations. The new standards don’t allow for an easy transition between public trust and national security positions, largely due to different application forms used. Moral of the story? Prepare for perhaps even lengthier delays when transferring between agencies with different clearance applications, or when applying for higher levels of clearance.

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On September 20, 2011 the FAS (Federation of American Scientists) Secrecy News blog reported, “The number of persons who held security clearances for access to classified information last year exceeded 4.2 million — far more than previously estimated — according to a new intelligence community report to Congress.”

Although this report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) failed to provide data on several metrics required by Section 367 of the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act, it gave a clearer picture of the cleared community and a different way of looking at the length of time it takes to get a security clearance.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 642,831 security clearances were granted.  OPM, which reportedly conducts 90% of all security clearance investigations, “provided data for FY 2010 that it had available on 34,029 security clearance determinations across the Federal Government that took longer than one year . . . .”  This suggests that about 5.9% of all cases took over 1 year.

Also of interest was the 7% clearance denial rate reported by the National Security Agency.  For comparison the average denial rate at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals, Department of Navy, and Department of Air Force was about 1% and the denial rate at Department of Army was about 6%.

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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted 4 new Federal Investigations Notices (FIN) on their website all dated August 29, 2011.

FIN 11-04—“Continuous Efforts to Align with Reciprocity Goals and Timeliness Standards.” This FIN fully implements interim adjustments made to National Investigative Standards by a August 2010 joint memorandum issued by OPM and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).  This represents a significant retreat from the 3-tier concept approved in December 2008 and fails implement one of the major purposes of Executive Order 13467.  E.O. 13467 called for a system where “Each successively higher level of investigation and adjudication shall build upon, but not duplicate, the ones below it.”  As long as suitability/fitness investigations are based on an SF85 or SF85P, there is no possibility that these investigations, no matter how current or comprehensive, can be used to grant a national security clearance, which must be based on the submission of an SF86. Continue Reading »

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The Defense Security Service (DSS) announced that effective on August 29, 2011 as part of a Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) release update (version 4.3.0.0), the new 2010 Standard Form 86 (Questionnaire for National Security Positions) will be available for use by federal contractors using JPAS.  A new “Fair Credit Release” form will be required as part of the SF86.

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If you ask around the common perception seems to be that getting a security clearance costs sponsoring companies or agencies a lot of money – this is a case of perception not meshing with reality, however. The cost of investigations is published, with the average cost for OPM investigations at $1,230 per investigation.

The most significant and in many cases difficult to assess cost is in non-productive time while an employer waits for an employee’s clearance to be processed. It’s a key reason why already cleared personnel remain in demand – it’s because they’re easier, and cheaper, to get on the job quickly. That said, as processing time continues to decline even this cost is decreasing.

Read the full article on how much security clearances really cost here.

COMPARE:  Prices of OPM’s investigative products for Fiscal Year 2008.

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The Washington Times is reporting that investigators have falsified hundreds of top secret security clearance investigations, claiming to have conducted research that never took place. Court records showed 170 falsified interviews and more than 1,000 that could not be verified.

Individuals quoted in the Washington Times story report that the push to adjudicate clearances as quickly as possible, as well as the increased outsourcing of investigation specialist positions, contributed to the falsification. Others cited simple greed on the part of investigators who over-promised and weren’t able to deliver completed investigations.

“The monetary loss sustained by the government does not, nor cannot, represent the cost associated with potential compromise of our nation’s security and the trust of the American people in its government’s workforce,” said Kathy L. Dillman, associate director in charge of investigations at the Office of Personnel Management.

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It seems BRAC (the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure) is impacting just about everything these days – and security clearance adjudication hasn’t escaped the hit. At the heart of the matter is personnel – with 10 Department of Defense Central Adjudication Facilities moving to a joint location at Fort Meade, Md., expect some growing pains.

Five CAFs are already located within a 3-mile radius of the Pentagon, and not far from their new facility at Fort Meade. The problem will come from the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO) and the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) personnel transferring from Columbus, Ohio. Many personnel from those facilities won’t move to the Washington, D.C. area and the process for recruiting, hiring, training  and certifying new personnel security specialists can be a lengthy one. As many as 80 percent of DISCO workers aren’t expected to make the move and with a competitive hiring environment in the Fort Meade area (we have hundreds of open positions around Fort Meade posted at ClearanceJobs.com) they face challenges in filling their open positions.

What you can expect is a longer than usual processing time for pending security clearances and additions to the adjudication backlog.

Read the full story here, and tell us if you’ve noticed delays with the adjudication process.

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