Security Clearance Jobs Blog

A February 17, 2010 article at Government Computer News reported that:

“The Homeland Security Department is nearly three years behind in getting Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards for its employees and contractors, according to a new report from DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner.”

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (August 2004), Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, mandated that federal agencies issue secure federal ID cards by October 2008. As of September 2009, only 15,567, of the approximately 250,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees and contractors, had been issued PIV cards. The January 2010 DHS Inspector General’s report outlined 15 recommendations to improve the department’s implementation of HSPD-12.

Other federal agencies have also had problems implementing the PIV card requirement.  According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of December 2009 only a handful of federal agencies had met the October 2008 PIV card implementation requirements of OMB Memorandum M-05-24. A February 2008 article at nextgov.com provides a good overview of the program and its problems.

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A May 2009 report, The DHS Personnel Security Process, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that:

“Department of Homeland Security personnel security offices are performing similar functions but use different policies throughout the personnel security process. Across the department, components strive to provide quality results in a timely manner but often are delayed by applicants, overwhelmed by customer service requests, restricted by database functions, and limited by information availability.”

The report made 20 recommendations to improve the Department of Homeland Security’s personnel security process, including some recommendations to consolidate security functions. As of November 2008 DHS was phasing in the use of a new department-wide web-based system to manage investigations and clearances to replace the 9 separate systems used by component agencies. Currently about half the components of DHS have authority to conduct their own clearance investigations. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Custom Enforcement contract for background investigations with several private companies. US Coast Guard and DHS Headquarters use a mix of investigative services provided by contractors and the Office of Personnel Management. The Secret Service uses internal investigative resources.

The report also contained investigative and adjudicative elapse times by departmental components. For 2008 average investigative times ranged from 30 to 96 days and average adjudicative times ranged from 17 to 147 days.

Related Article: DHS to Streamline Security Clearance Process

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Score one for the bureaucracy: Mule drivers at an eastern Pennsylvania historical park need the same federal security clearance as port workers. The Homeland Security Department has refused to grant an exemption to workers who operate a mule-pulled boat at the National Canal Museum in Easton.

This excerpt from a March 24, 2008 Associated Press article appearing in a number of Pennsylvania newspapers including the York Daily Record went on to report that each of the 4 mule drivers at the small museum will be required to have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. The cost of processing these credentials will be $420, and the museum may have to increase their price for a canal ride.

These are not the same as the security clearances discussed on this blog, but the price of the identification credential appears to be equal to the cost of 4 NACIs (National Agency Check with Inquiries), the type of investigation needed for Personal Identity Verification Cards issued in compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12).

Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory obtained a court injunction against the HSPD-12 background investigation requirement on the grounds that it is an unconstitutional violation of their privacy, but not so for mule drivers at a museum.

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