APPENDIX VI

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Office of the Director
Washington, DC 20534

November 18, 1999

MEMORANDUM FOR    MARY W. DEMORY
                                         ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR INSPECTIONS

FROM:                             Hawk Sawyer, Director
                                         Federal Bureau of Prisons

SUBJECT:                        OIG’s Inspection of the Bureau of Prisons' Background
                                         Investigation and Reinvestigation Program.

The Bureau of Prisons appreciates the opportunity to formally respond to the Office of the Inspector General’s draft report on the Inspection of the Bureau of Prisons’ Background Investigation and Reinvestigation Program. The Bureau concurs with the report and offers the following comments.

In March 1999 a decision was made to consolidate the personnel security program at the national level. The Security and Background Investigation Section (SBIS) has been delegated responsibility for the entire adjudicative process of background investigations. The first phase of the consolidated program began October 1, 1999. The target completion date of October 1, 2000, has been established for the consolidation. We believe this consolidation will enable us to eliminate duplicate review steps, reduce the number of investigations exceeding 90 days to clear, while maintaining adequate and consistent adjudicative standards.

• Recommendation #1 - Instruct institutions to complete all pre-employment suitability reviews set forth in BOP PS 3000.02 before employees enter on duty.

  Response: We concur with this recommendation. The Assistant Director for the Human Resource Management Division (HRMD) will issue a memorandum to all wardens and human resource managers emphasizing the importance of following established policy in this regard. This memorandum will be issued by November 30, 1999.

• Recommendation #2 - Develop procedures requiring that preemployment steps are reported on warden certifications and that documentation from these steps is included in the security files. Develop procedures requiring that derogatory issues revealed by the pre-employment steps are recorded on the warden certification memorandum and that supporting documentation used to resolve these issues is included in the security files.

  Response: We concur with this recommendation. As addressed earlier, the Bureau is implementing a national consolidation of the personnel security program. We are confident this will enhance the overall program and provide oversight for the pre-employment screening performed at the institution level. In conjunction with the consolidation of the personnel security program, the Bureau’s personnel security policy is being rewritten. This policy will specifically address all pre-employment resolution documentation in the security file. Additionally, steps will be developed to provide a checklist either on the warden certification or as a stand-alone check sheet.

• Recommendation #3 - Instruct the Regional Office and institution staff to document resolution of financial issues and comply with BOP’s “Guidelines of Acceptability” for recommending waivers.

  Response: We concur with this recommendation. The narrative supporting this recommendation reveals there have been occasions when the applicant revealed information considered outside the Guidelines of Acceptability; however, no waiver was obtained prior to employment. HRMD will review notification procedures when it is determined that a waiver was warranted but not requested. In addition, the HRMD Assistant Director will issue a memorandum to all wardens and human resource managers emphasizing the importance of strict adherence to the Guidelines of Acceptability and the waiver provisions. This will be included in the memorandum discussed in Recommendation #1.

• Recommendation #4- Instruct the PSUs to more closely monitor the BI status of probationary employees to ensure. that the employees’ BIs are adjudicated within one year of their entry-on-duty dates.
  
  
• Recommendation #5 - Implement procedures to ensure that adjudication activities at each level of review are recorded in each security file.

• Recommendation #6 - Consider delegating to PSUs the authority to grant final adjudications on BIs and RIs coded by OPM as having no derogatory issues.

  Response: As previously addressed, national consolidation of the personnel security program addresses the concerns expressed in these three recommendations (#4, #5, and #6). The SBIS will perform the full range of adjudication and will monitor the status of the adjudication with regard to the probationary year. Regional Personnel Security Units will be nonexistent under this consolidation.

• Recommendation #7 - Conduct periodic file audits and compare the SBIS database to other personnel security databases, to increase the accuracy of its database.

  Response: We concur with this recommendation. In the spring of 1999, the SBIS began an intensive effort to audit all previously unaudited cases. With the exception of those cases recently received and pending adjudication, all cases have now been audited. As investigations are adjudicated, and as cases on former employees are destroyed, the database information is reviewed against the physical file for accuracy. The Office of Personnel Management’s database, PIPS, is another resource that will be used to verify our database information.

• Recommendation #8 - Review BOP policies and consider accepting employees’ previous BIs that conform to the criteria in DOJ Order 2610.2A.

  Response: We concur with this recommendation. Drafting of the new policy has begun, and issuance is anticipated within the fiscal year. Specific language will be included in the new policy for accepting employees ‘ previous background investigations that conform to the criteria in DOJ Order 2610.2A.

If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact Michael W. Garrett, Senior Deputy Assistant Director, Program Review Division, at (202) 616-2099.

APPENDIX VII

Office of the Inspector General’s
Analysis of Management’s Response

On October 18, 1999, the Inspections Division sent copies of the draft report to the Director, Bureau of Prisons. We addressed eight recommendations to the BOP concerning its background investigation and reinvestigation program. Our analysis of BOP management’s November 18, 1999, response to the draft report follows.

Recommendation Number:

1. Resolved-Open. The BOP concurred with the recommendation to instruct institutions to complete all pre-employment suitability reviews set forth in BOP PS 3000.02 before employees enter on duty. BOP responded that the Assistant Director for the Human Resource Management Division (HRMD) will issue a memorandum to all wardens and human resource managers emphasizing the importance of following established policy regarding the completion of all pre-employment suitability reviews before employees enter on duty. The memorandum was to be issued by November 30, 1999. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us a copy of the memorandum issued by the Human Resource Management Division.
   
   
2. Resolved-Open. The BOP concurred with the recommendation to develop procedures requiring that pre-employment steps be reported on warden certifications and that documentation from these steps be included in the personnel security files. BOP responded that the personnel security program was being consolidated at the national level and that the consolidation will result in the Security and Background Investigation Section (SBIS) having responsibility for the entire adjudicative process of background investigations. According to BOP the first phase of the consolidated program began October 1, 1999. The target completion date for the consolidation is October 1, 2000. BOP believes the consolidation of its personnel security program will enhance the overall program and provide oversight for applicant pre-employment screening. In conjunction with the consolidation of the personnel security program, BOP responded it is rewriting its personnel security policy and that the revised policy will specifically address all pre-employment resolution documentation in the personnel security file. BOP responded it would also develop steps to provide a checklist either on the warden certification or as a stand-alone check sheet. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us with a progress report concerning implementation of the consolidation plan within ninety days of the date of this final report and a copy of the checklist or stand-alone check sheet developed for use in the personnel security files.
   
   
3. Resolved-Open. The BOP concurred with the recommendation to instruct the regional office and institution staff to document resolution of financial issues and comply with BOP’s Guidelines of Acceptability for recommending waivers. BOP noted that its HRMD would review notification procedures when it was determined that a waiver of the Guidelines of Acceptability was warranted but not requested. BOP said the HRMD Assistant Director would issue a memorandum to all wardens and human resource mangers emphasizing the importance of strict adherence to the Guidelines of Acceptability and the waiver provisions. This direction was to be included in the memorandum discussed in recommendation number one. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us a copy of the memorandum issued by the Human Resource Management Division.
   
   
4. Resolved-Open. BOP responded that the national consolidation of the personnel security program mentioned in recommendation number two addressed the concerns expressed in this recommendation, which was to instruct the Personnel Security Units (PSU) to more closely monitor the background investigation status of probationary employees to ensure that the employees’ background investigations are adjudicated within one year of their entry-on-duty dates. BOP noted that SBIS “will perform the full range of adjudication,“ and will monitor the status of the adjudication with regard to the probationary year. BOP also noted that the PSUs will be nonexistent under the consolidation. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us with a progress report concerning implementation of the consolidation plan within ninety days of the date of this final report.
   
   
5. Resolved-Open. BOP responded that the national consolidation of the personnel security program addressed the concerns expressed in this recommendation, which was to implement procedures to ensure that adjudication activities at each level of review are recorded in each security file. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us with a progress report concerning implementation of the consolidation plan within ninety days of the date of this final report.
   
   
6. Resolved-Open. BOP responded that the national consolidation of the personnel security program also addressed the concerns expressed in this recommendation, which was to consider delegating to PSUs the authority to grant final adjudications on background investigations and reinvestigations coded by the Office of Personnel Management as having no derogatory issues. BOP noted that the PSUs will be nonexistent under the consolidation. We agree with the proposed corrective action. Please provide us with a progress report concerning implementation of the consolidation plan within ninety days of the date of this final report.
   
   
7. Resolved-Closed. BOP concurred with the recommendation to conduct periodic file audits and compare the SBIS database to other personnel security databases to increase the accuracy of its database. BOP responded that SBIS began an intensive effort to audit all previously unaudited cases in the spring of 1999, and that, with the exception of recently received cases and those pending adjudication, “all cases have now been audited.” BOP said that as investigations are adjudicated, and as cases on former employees are destroyed, the database information is reviewed against physical files for accuracy. BOP also said the Office of Personnel Management’s database is another resource that will be used to verify BOP’s database information. We believe BOP has made progress in its efforts to conduct periodic file audits and increase the accuracy of its database. No further action is required for this recommendation.
   
   
8. Resolved-Open. BOP concurred with the recommendation to review BOP policies and consider accepting employees’ previous background investigations that conform to the criteria in DOJ Order 2610.2A. BOP responded that it had begun drafting a new policy with issuance anticipated “within the fiscal year.” BOP noted specific language will be included in the new policy for accepting employees’ previous background investigations. Please provide us with a copy of the new policy that addresses the acceptance of employees’ previous background investigations.

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