Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration

The Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines provide that “[e]nsuring fair and effective FOIA administration requires . . . proper training, and a full understanding of FOIA obligations by the entire agency workforce.”  The Guidelines reinforce longstanding guidance to “work with FOIA requesters in a spirit of cooperation.”  The Attorney General also “urge[s] agency Chief FOIA Officers to undertake comprehensive review of all aspects of their agency’s FOIA administration” as part of ensuring fair and effective FOIA administration.   

A. FOIA Training

1. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to agency personnel.  See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F).  Please describe the efforts your agency has undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel.

All HHS FOIA Offices encourage FOIA staff to attend trainings that are provided by DOJ or other third-party organizations.  Below is a summary of training activities by OpDiv:

  • The OS FOIA Program advised HHS FOIA Offices of DOJ FOIA classes and third-party FOIA training opportunities such as the classes offered by the American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP). OS FOIA also provided internal trainings on a regular basis to FOIA and non-FOIA staff. FOIA Training is also available to all employees through the HHS learning portal and required for all staff in OS’s Public Affairs Divisions. 

    OS FOIA provided live FOIA training as part of the bi-weekly New Employee Orientation, for all new employees. Additionally, OS FOIA provided numerous trainings to OS Program Offices and other HHS FOIA Offices. These sessions covered a wide range of subjects including an overview of FOIA and the HHS FOIA program; FOIA search procedures; key FOIA exemptions; Executive Order 12600 and the pre-disclosure notification process; and the FOIA intake, appeals, and litigation process. 

    OS FOIA both conducted and attended live FOIA training at the American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) National Training Conference as well as its FOIA/Privacy Act Workshop.
  • ACF provided FOIA training to individual program offices and an agency-wide training that was made available to all agency staff.
  • ARPA-H ensured that new staff received a comprehensive FOIA briefing during the onboarding process.  This briefing covered the presumption of openness, as well as the Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines, the HHS FOIA regulations, caselaw, and codified FOIA requirements.  ARPA-H also made self-guided FOIA training available to staff members through the Department’s learning management system.  
  • CDC met regularly with different centers, institutes, and offices across CDC to provide an overview on FOIA and reinforce the principle that FOIA is everyone’s responsibility.
  • CMS employees attended DOJ/OIP trainings and actively participated in FOIA working groups.  The CMS FOIA Officer and two division directors also attended the 3-day in-person ASAP National Training Conference held in June 2024.
  • FDA provided its FOIA professionals with an Advanced FOIA Training that covered topics related to Exemption 5, FOIA Best Practices, and a caselaw update.  FDA FOIA professionals also participated in a monthly “Lunch and Learn” training series that covered topics such as Exemption 4 and FOIA Fees.  Additionally, FDA offered an annual FOIA training to all non-FOIA professionals.  The training slides and materials associated with that training are made available to agency personnel on the FOIA Office’s SharePoint website.
  • HRSA met with five different program offices to provide FOIA training on various topics including the statutory requirement of FOIA, “FOIA Do’s and Don’ts,” the Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines, and HHS Deputy Agency Chief FOIA Officer guidance documents.  HRSA also provided internal trainings to its FOIA professionals on subjects such as FOIA processing fees, acknowledgment letters, requests for clarification, application of FOIA Exemptions, automated acknowledgment letters, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for intake actions, inadvertent releases, consultations (SOP/Tracker), non-Exemption versus administrative closures, processing requests for records of HRSA’s Provider Relief Bureau, the HHS FOIA delegation of authority, and HHS Deputy Agency Chief FOIA Officer guidance documents.  Finally, HRSA’s FOIA Officer attended the 2024 National Training Workshop in hosted by ASAP and shared the training materials with his staff.
  • IHS conducted one-on-one training with non-FOIA professionals who assisted the FOIA Office with the search and review of records responsive to FOIA requests.  IHS also included FOIA training presentations and materials on its FOIA website to assist agency personnel with the FOIA process.
  • NIH used training videos to bring FOIA professionals up to speed on FOIA processes and how to use FOIA-related software.  In addition, NIH provided updates to FOIA professionals on the latest developments in FOIA caselaw and answered questions from FOIA professionals about FOIA policies and procedures during monthly meetings.
  • OIG provided FOIA training to its individual components.
  • SAMHSA employees supported by the agency’s National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory attended ASAP Conferences in 2024.

All HHS FOIA Offices encourage their FOIA staff to attend trainings that are provided by DOJ or other third-party organizations such as ASAP.      

2. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period such as that provided by the Department of Justice?

Yes.

3. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the topics covered.

All HHS FOIA Offices encourage FOIA staff to attend trainings that are provided by DOJ or other third-party organizations such as ASAP.  Below is a summary of training activities by OpDiv:

  • The OS FOIA Program conducted several internal trainings with its FOIA professionals, including many newly hired and temporarily assigned employees on detail, during 2024.
  • These trainings covered topics such as the FOIA intake process; the structure of FOIA at HHS; the FOIA appeals process; litigation; referrals and consultations; FOIA Exemptions 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; Executive Order 12600 and the pre-disclosure notification process; the interrelationship between FOIA and the Privacy Act.  Internal FOIA trainings within the OS FOIA Office are scheduled monthly and an additional fifteen minutes of the office’s monthly division meetings are dedicated to training.
  • The OS FOIA Program also provided training to its program offices, other HHS FOIA Offices, and the broader FOIA community.  Topics covered included an overview of FOIA and the HHS FOIA program; FOIA search procedures; key FOIA exemptions; Executive Order 12600 and the pre-disclosure notification process; and the FOIA intake, appeals, and litigation process.  Additionally, OS FOIA professionals attended the ASAP National Training Conference and the following FOIA trainings offered by DOJ: FOIA Processing a FOIA Request from Start to Finish; Procedural Requirements, and Fee and Fee Waivers Training; Privacy Considerations Training; Continuing FOIA Education Training; Best Practices Workshop an Backlog Reduction Plans; Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training; Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training; Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service; Advanced FOIA Training; Annual FOIA Report Refresher and Quarterly FOIA Report Training; and Chief FOIA Officer Report Refresher Training.
  • ACF FOIA professionals attended the following DOJ FOIA trainings in 2024: Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training; Procedural Requirements, and Fees Training; Continuing FOIA Education Training; Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service; and Litigation Training.
  • ARPA-H FOIA professionals attended DOJ’s Advanced FOIA and Privacy Considerations trainings in 2024 and the ARPA-H FOIA Officer attended the Chief FOIA Officer Report Training.
  • CDC FOIA professionals attended the following DOJ FOIA trainings in 2024: Advanced FOIA Training; Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance and Customer Service Training; Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training; Continuing FOIA Education; New Guidance and Resources; Significant New Decisions; Procedural Requirements, and Fees and Fee Waivers Training; and Litigation Training. 
  • CMS held an all-FOIA staff two-day training in August 2024 on topics such as Exemptions 5 and 6 and Exemptions 7(A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F); the FOIA Life Cycle; and FOIA Search Parameters.  This training also included an overview of significant system automation updates to auto-generate timely acknowledgement letters, flag delinquent fees, calculate fee estimates, and track tolling and other deadlines through the incorporation of a Smart Timer. CMS FOIA provided training to the agency’s major program offices on topics such as FOIA roles and responsibilities, the foreseeable harm standard, and congressional access to records under FOIA. Finally, CMS FOIA leadership attended training offered by DOJ including the Chief FOIA Officer Report Refresher Training, the Litigation Seminar, the Annual FOIA Report Refresher and Quarterly FOIA Report Training, Exemption 4 and 5 Training, and the Privacy Considerations Training.
  • FDA FOIA professionals attended internal FOIA trainings on Exemption 4, Exemption 5, FOIA Best Practices, FOIA fees, and a caselaw update.  Additionally, many FDA FOIA professionals attended FOIA trainings hosted by DOJ and ASAP.
  • The HRSA FOIA Officer attended the ASAP National Training Conference and HRSA FOIA professionals attended an internal training on grants.
  • IHS FOIA professionals attended the following DOJ FOIA trainings in 2024: Procedural Requirements, and Fee and Fee Waivers; Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training; Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training; Privacy Considerations Training; Advanced FOIA Training; Processing from Start to Finish Workshop; Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance and Customer Service Training; and Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act.
  • NIH FOIA professionals attended the ASAP semiannual training on the fundamentals of FOIA.
  • OIG FOIA professionals attended FOIA trainings hosted by DOJ.
  • SAMHSA FOIA professionals attended the following DOJ FOIA trainings in 2024: Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance and Customer Service Training; Chief FOIA Officer Report Refresher Training; Privacy Considerations Training; Procedural Requirements, and Fee and Fee Waivers Training; and the Litigation Training.  Additionally, SAMHSA FOIA professionals attended the NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase 2.0 and meetings held by the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee.

4. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

Approximately 91% of the Department’s FOIA professionals attended FOIA training during 2024.

5.  OIP has directed agencies to “take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year.” If your response to the previous question is that less than 80% of your FOIA professionals attended training, please explain your agency’s plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.

N/A

6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of their obligations under the FOIA.  In particular, please describe how often and in what formats your agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your agency received a briefing on your agency’s FOIA resources, obligations and expectations during the FOIA process?

OS FOIA regularly provided trainings to Departmental Leadership, program offices, and program office FOIA points of contact that reinforced the principle that all employees are responsible for FOIA.  Topics covered during these trainings included: an overview of FOIA and the HHS FOIA program; FOIA search procedures; key FOIA exemptions; Executive Order 12600 and the pre-disclosure notification process; and the FOIA intake, appeals, and litigation process.  OS FOIA also provided a brief overview of FOIA during bi-weekly new employee orientation sessions.  In addition, HHS’s Deputy Agency Chief FOIA Officer issued Department-wide policy guidance on key FOIA Exemptions (Exemption 5 and Exemption 6) and applying the foreseeable harm standard in 2024. While the primary audience for these documents is FOIA professionals who implement the FOIA full-time, these documents have also been shared with non-FOIA staff within the Department to foster consistency in the implementation of FOIA throughout the Department and to provide clarity on the use of key FOIA exemptions and foreseeable harm statements.

ACF provided its program offices with trainings and held an agency-wide training on FOIA that was made available to all agency staff.

ACL FOIA professionals engaged with agency personnel to inform them of their obligations under the FOIA.  ACL’s FOIA Officer is a member of the agency’s senior leadership team and briefs members of the leadership team during weekly leadership team meetings as FOIA relevant matters emerge.  ACL FOIA professionals use staff meetings at various levels to discuss FOIA obligations. ACL reviewed and updated Standard Operating Procedures which were distributed to all staff. In addition, as FOIA requests involve ACL offices and centers, FOIA professionals take the opportunity to remind agency personnel of processes, procedures, and obligations.  These reminders generally focus on the search procedures, and Exemption 4 and the pre-disclosure notification process.

ARPA-H provided tailored FOIA briefings to FOIA Points of Contact, Agency Program Managers, and the agency’s senior leadership team. Additionally, ARPA-H FOIA developed in-depth guidance documents for agency staff -- including items such as knowledge-based documents, guidance documents on FOIA exemptions and how they apply to ARPA-H records; and additional datasheets, tips, and other items to ensure that ARPA-H staff have the tools, guidance, and information needed to fully understand the agency’s obligations under FOIA.

CDC FOIA personnel regularly met with various centers, institutes, and offices across CDC to inform them about the requirements of FOIA and their responsibilities under the Act. Furthermore, CDC FOIA professionals provided FOIA briefings to newly hired agency executives and a FOIA presentation at bi-weekly new employee orientations.

CMS routinely engaged with agency leadership, management, and non-FOIA staff to coordinate FOIA requests within their program components, including to communicate changes in processes and new improvements.  During the relevant reporting period, CMS FOIA developed and disseminated a FOIA Tip Sheet to CMS senior leadership across Centers and Offices that reinforced key concepts, instructions, shared responsibilities, and the importance of prioritizing the processing of FOIA requests across CMS. Center and Office directors subsequently shared the FOIA Tip Sheet with their leadership teams, supervisors, and staff to educate and train them on FOIA’s relevance to their job duties and responsibilities.  CMS FOIA also continued to brief senior staff within the Office of the Administrator, the Center for Medicare, and the Office of Legislation about their obligations under the FOIA and provided specific guidance about processing records developed during the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act with an emphasis on the foreseeable harm standard and Exemptions 4 and 5.  Finally, CMS FOIA conducted significant outreach to regional leadership and staff with the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality’s Survey & Operations Group and the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight to train and clarify FOIA processing requirements, conduct targeted reviews of caseloads, and provide quality assurance reviews and audits to improve timeliness and responsiveness and mitigate litigation risks and costs.

FDA offers training on a yearly basis to all non-FOIA professionals and incorporated FOIA into the agency’s mandatory records management training for all agency personnel in 2024.  FDA FOIA also offers FOIA training upon request to any office seeking additional information on FOIA.

HRSA provided FOIA overviews to five different program offices.  These overviews consisted of presentations covering the statutory requirement of FOIA, “FOIA Do’s and Don’ts,” the Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines, and HHS Deputy Agency Chief FOIA Officer guidance documents.

IHS provided one-on-one guidance to non-FOIA professionals at its headquarters and regional offices on questions related to search requirements and the use of FOIA exemptions. Additionally, IHS FOIA includes presentations and links to FOIA resources on its FOIA website to assist non-FOIA professionals with the FOIA process.

NIH provides trainings to non-FOIA professionals on FOIA-related topics on a quarterly basis.

OIG provides training to non-FOIA professionals on an ad hoc basis and provides individualized training for agency personnel who are new to the FOIA process.

SAMHSA provided briefings to the SAMHSA Executive Leadership Team (ELT), the Office of Communication, and the Center for Mental Health Services. These briefings reviewed the steps involved in receiving, processing, and fulfilling FOIA requests, as well as the legal exemptions and timelines for compliance. During these briefings, the roles and responsibilities of leadership to implement FOIA were emphasized, including the need for leadership to ensure that their individual office or center is properly maintaining records and adhering to deadlines to avoid legal or reputational risks. The briefings covered common challenges, such as request volume and resource management, and outlined best practices for efficient compliance. Furthermore, the briefings focused on recent changes to the FOIA, along with a call to action for leadership to ensure the agency remains compliant and responsive to requests. SAMHSA FOIA tailored each briefing to its audience.  For example, in its briefing to the Office of Communications, SAMHSA FOIA focused on the nuances of receiving and responding to FOIA requests from the news media. 

B. Outreach

7. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly?  Please describe any such outreach or dialogue and, if applicable, any specific examples.

As part of the standard request process, HHS FOIA professionals reached out to requesters to provide them with guidance on how to submit perfected requests or to clarify the scope of complex or voluminous requests.  HHS FOIA professionals worked with requesters to better understand their requests and locate the responsive documents. FOIA Offices offered requesters previously released records or summarized versions of the requested records to satisfy a request either in whole or part.  Successful efforts to narrow the scope of a requests often allow an agency to place requests in the “simple” request track for faster processing. Overall, these efforts reduced response times and the administrative burden on FOIA offices.

An example of successful efforts to narrow the scope of complex or voluminous requests includes OIG FOIA successfully narrowing the scope of voluminous requests for investigatory files.  Requesters frequently seek the entire investigation file for an OIG Office of Investigation case, which typically involves a large volume of material. For these types of requests, OIG FOIA has on multiple occasions successfully narrowed the scope of the request from the entire investigation file to the investigative memorandums or the report of investigation.  As a result, OIG FOIA has been able to respond to those requests in a timelier manner while simultaneously reducing the administrative burden on its office.   

8. Outside of the standard request process or routine FOIA Liaison or FOIA Requester Service Center interactions, did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, with the requester community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA?  For example, did you proactively contact frequent requesters, host FOIA-related conference calls with open government groups, or provide FOIA training to members of the public?  Please describe any such outreach or dialogue and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency’s FOIA administration.

All HHS FOIA Offices work with requesters to explain their agency’s record sets and the process for submitting a perfected request. FOIA personnel from NIH and FDA served as members of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee.  As members of the Committee, FOIA our NIH and FDA colleagues partnered with members of the FOIA requester community to develop consensus recommendations for improving FOIA administration across the government.  Additionally, HHS FOIA Officers provided FOIA training and interacted with members of the FOIA requester community at FOIA events, such as the ASAP National Training Conference, that are open to the public.

Some other examples of outreach across HHS include:

CMS FOIA proactively reached out to a frequent requester that had submitted multiple FOIA requests and appeals. The requester provides support and advocacy for individuals who suffer from brain injuries. Through outreach and oral communications, CMS was better able to understand the nature of the requests and determine that CMS possessed only approximately 10% of the responsive records.  Moreover, CMS was able to share contact information to ultimately assist the requester in obtaining the information sought and close out the multiple FOIA requests and appeals.

FDA FOIA worked directly with a frequent requester who is building a database of inspection records. Through discussions with the requester, FDA FOIA has encouraged the requester to review the FDA’s publicly posted FOIA logs and list of closed requests to help determine which inspection records have already been processed under FOIA.  Because the requester has focused his requests on records that have already been processed, the requester has been able to receive thousands of pages of inspection records in a timely manner, while paying minimal fees.

IHS FOIA coordinated a meeting with a frequent requester, who had sought IHS employee email records, to help that requester draft perfected requests that included enough detail to allow IHS to find responsive records.  IHS encouraged the requester to include search terms and date ranges in their requests.  Subsequently, the requester submitted several perfected FOIA requests with detailed descriptions.

9.  The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the services provided by the agency’s FOIA Public Liaison.  Please provide an estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency’s FOIA Public Liaison during Fiscal Year 2024 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number for the agency overall).

HHS FOIA requesters sought assistance from the HHS FOIA Public Liaison approximately 800 times during FY 2024 and from all other agency FOIA Public Liaisons approximately 1,341 times.

C. Other Initiatives

10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?  If so, please describe what changes your agency has or will implement.

All HHS FOIA Requester Service Centers have evaluated the allocation of agency personnel and resources needed to respond to current and anticipated demands.  Overall, HHS slightly increased the number of full-time (or the equivalent of full-time) employees dedicated to FOIA in FY 2024.

OS FOIA established a new blanket purchase agreement with a vendor to enhance its FOIA operations.  The blanket purchase agreement will provide a simplified method for fulfilling FOIA resource needs and its flexibility allows other FOIA RSCs in the Department to use it to buttress their own staffing needs. OS FOIA will use the blanket purchase agreement to reduce the existing backlog of FOIA requests and appeals, process litigation, and establish a centralized FOIA organization structure. OS FOIA plans to begin issuing task orders under the blanket purchase agreement starting in 2025.  In addition to the blanket purchase agreement, OS FOIA actively addressed resource needs over the reporting period through the addition of one new federal employee, six new contractors, and four employees on detail from the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals.  These additional resources have helped offset the loss of personnel who departed during the reporting period and have assisted the FOIA program with intake, processing, appeals, and litigation.     

ACF FOIA provided a grade increase to an incumbent FOIA analyst, upgraded the grade level on a vacant FOIA position, and added money to an existing contract vehicle to upgrade the experience level of a FOIA contractor.  These actions served to reward analysts for their hard work and to improve the agency’s ability to recruit and retain experienced FOIA analysts.  ACF FOIA also extended the term of an intern through the Pathways Program who is dedicated to supporting the ACF FOIA program. Additionally, ACF hired a new director of the Office of Communications.  The new director has previous FOIA experience and has brought greater consistency and accountability to the ACF FOIA program.  ACF FOIA is a division of the Office of Communications and reports to the director of the Office of Communications.

ARPA-H FOIA hired an additional FOIA contractor to assist the FOIA program in all facets of the program’s administration, including FOIA processing and training.

CMS FOIA added six additional federal staff through recruitment actions.  CMS FOIA also obtained five additional staff members on detail through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals.  Those employees who are on detail from the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals have legal backgrounds or previous FOIA experience and have assisted CMS FOIA with disclosure analysis for initial requests and litigation.  Furthermore, CMS FOIA enhanced its management and organizational structure to better manage and improve workflow, operations, and ensure continuous process improvements.  CMS FOIA achieved these improvements through the hiring of a new deputy director and two new division directors. The deputy director performs a deeper dive on policy, develops training, and defends against litigation and appeals, while CMS’s FOIA Director focuses on operational effectiveness and improving efficiencies across the FOIA program.

FDA spent approximately $3.5 million on additional contract resources to meet obligations associated with FOIA litigations.  FDA has also shifted resources to focus on FOIA litigations.

HRSA FOIA intends to hire one or more contractors using the OS FOIA blanket purchase agreement for FOIA support. HRSA FOIA also hired an intern through the Pathways Program to help process FOIA requests and develop internal guidance.  In addition, HRSA FOIA received approval to hire two full-time equivalent FOIA analysts and advertise a reimbursable detail position.

NIH received approval for an increase in FOIA staff and hired additional analysts in FY ’24.

SAMHSA FOIA intends to increase the size of its FOIA staff in early 2025.

11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of your FOIA workload?  For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used.

HHS FOIA Offices use various data/processing metrics to ensure efficient management of FOIA workload.  Each office uses cases management and staff processing statistics to track performance and align resources.

Some examples include:

  • OS FOIA tracked processing statistics related to initial requests, appeals, and litigations and presented these statistics to leadership on a regular basis and the FOIA staff during monthly meetings. FOIA processing statistics were updated on a regular basis to ensure that annual processing goals were being met and that analyst workloads were balanced. The office continued to use case management reports to track progress on the ten oldest backlogged requests and appeals and used request for document reports to track the status of FOIA requests pending with OS’s program offices.  OS FOIA also used a litigation tracker to track the status of the office’s litigations and litigation consults.  This tracker included detailed information on production schedules and page counts for each litigation.  In addition, OS FOIA maintained the Department’s weekly significant FOIA activity report, which kept Senior Departmental Officials informed about any significant requests received or releases issued by the Department.  This report was revamped in 2024 to ensure coordination and consistency across all HHS FOIA Offices.
  • CMS FOIA utilized an internal request intake and workflow management system to efficiently enter, process, manage, and monitor the FOIA workload. Weekly, monthly, annual, and ad hoc reports are created, shared, and reviewed among FOIA managers, staff, and contract personnel to measure productivity, monitor backlogs, and assess needs for strategic changes.  Internal systems are reviewed at least semi-annually to explore opportunities for enhancements, particularly in data analysis and reporting. For FY ‘24, CMS FOIA made several significant enhancements to its workflow management system including updates to the user interface for enhanced navigation and search functionality; the addition of a customizable dashboard to help the end user better visualize and prioritize work, improved reporting functionality to better breakdown and track data on the types of FOIA requests processed; the inclusion of an automated display of delinquent payment information from CMS’s payment system; the incorporation of a Smart Timer functionality that tracks FOIA requests; and the addition of features that prompt staff to take specific FOIA processing actions, automate case closures (where appropriate), and create auto-generated acknowledgement emails for FOIA requests.
  • FDA FOIA used weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports to ensure efficient management of its workload. FDA FOIA’s current tracking system allows for a variety of reports at the agency, component, and employee level that show how many requests have been processed during a specific timeframe, as well as the processing queue designation for those requests. In 2025, FDA FOIA will transition to a new tracking system, which will offer enhanced performance metrics.
  • HRSA FOIA prepared monthly and quarterly reports that analyzed the FOIA program, processing bottlenecks, team member processing metrics, volume of requests processed, volume of pages processed, the average number of processing days, the average number of search time, and any other relevant data points.  HRSA FOIA distributed monthly reports to agency leadership and quarterly reports to the Department.
  • IHS FOIA produced weekly leadership FOIA reports that identify staff workload.  This included an analysis of open, closed, withdrawn, appealed and litigated cases.
  • NIH FOIA used its case management system to generate reports on operational division performance, as well as the overall performance of its FOIA program.  NIH FOIA leveraged these reports when preparing declarations in the context of FOIA litigation.
  • OIG FOIA used its FOIA case management system to ensure efficient management of its FOIA workload. OIG’s FOIA case management system allows for the generation of reports such as monthly interval reports that include the number of requests received and the status of those requests. The data and metrics are used to assign and distribute work.
  • SAMHSA FOIA reported weekly metrics to office leadership and quarterly metrics to agency leadership. Reported metrics included incoming caseload, closed cases, backlog, and average processing time. Reports also focused on the ten (10) oldest cases.

12. The federal FOIA Advisory Committee, comprised of agency representative and member of the public, was created to foster dialogue between agencies and the requester community, solicit public comments, and develop recommendations for improving FOIA administration.  Since 2020, the FOIA Advisory Committee has issued a number of recommendations.  Please answer the below questions:

  • Is your agency familiar with the FOIA Advisory Committee and its recommendations?
  • Has your agency implemented any of its recommendations or found them to be helpful?  If so, which ones?

HHS FOIA RSCs are familiar with the FOIA Advisory Committee and its recommendations.  In fact, two HHS employees are currently serving on the Committee and several other HHS FOIA staff members have previously served on the Committee. Below is a summary of FOIA Advisory Committee recommendations that HHS FOIA RSCs have either implemented or found helpful:

  • OS FOIA is in the process of posting its FOIA logs to its FOIA website in Excel format in accordance with FOIA Advisory Committee recommendation 2022-10.  As part of this process, the OS FOIA Office has taken steps to make posting its FOIA logs more efficient through the addition of public FOIA log description for each request.  This should help reduce the amount of time needed to review FOIA logs prior to posting to ensure that they do not contain personal privacy information protected by a FOIA Exemption.
  • CDC FOIA has implemented three FOIA Advisory Committee recommendations and has found these recommendations to be helpful.  These recommendations include: (1) that agencies provide for the dissemination of information outside of FOIA, including in online databases where members of the public may access commonly requested types of documents (Recommendation 2020-15); (2) that agencies review their FOIA-related technological and staffing capabilities within two years to identify the resources needed to respond to current and anticipated future FOIA demands (Recommendation 2020-13); and (3) that agencies publicly release FOIA documents on their FOIA websites and portals in open, legible, machine-readable and machine-actionable formats, to the extent feasible (Recommendation 2020-12).
  • FDA FOIA has implemented FOIA Advisory Committee recommendations including the recommendation to post FOIA logs to the agency’s FOIA website in Excel format in accordance with FOIA Advisory Committee recommendation 2022-10.
  • HRSA FOIA has made three process improvements a part of its standard practice based on FOIA Advisory Committee recommendations that the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) issue guidance on certain FOIA process improvements.  While OIP is still in the process of issuing finalized guidance on these FOIA process improvements, HRSA FOIA has already implemented the following ideas:  (1) that whenever an agency withholds information pursuant to Exemption 5, the agency should identify the corresponding privilege(s) invoked; [and] if the withholding takes the form of a redaction; the identification (Recommendation 2023-01); (2) that agencies should proactively offer requesters the opportunity to discuss their request with an agency representative (Recommendation 2024-02); and (3) that agencies should encourage the option of providing requesters an interim response consisting of a small sample of documents found as the result of searches conducted and subsequently reviewed for partial or full withholding (Recommendation 2024-03).
  • IHS FOIA has implemented three FOIA Advisory Committee recommendations and has found these recommendations to be helpful.  These recommendations include: (1) working toward the goal of collecting, describing, and giving access to FOIA-released records in one or more central repositories, and on agency websites (Recommendation 2020-03); making commonly requested documents available outside of the FOIA process, including in publicly accessible online databases (Recommendation 2020-15); and endeavoring to provide regular and proactive online publication of searchable FOIA logs containing certain information in Excel/CSV (comma-separated values) format.  IHS followed these recommendations by posting records to its FOIA webpage, referring requester to health care coding information on the agency’s website, and proactively posting FOIA logs for the three most recent fiscal years.
  • In response to the committee's recommendation on increasing proactive disclosures, SAMHSA FOIA has taken steps to improve the accessibility of key records by posting reports and other relevant documents on its website (Recommendation 2022-07).  SAMHSA FOIA is also working to relaunch a dedicated FOIA reading room, as recommended by the committee.  SAMHSA FOIA is working to address the challenges associated with this recommendation by developing a clearer strategy for the reading room’s content and accessibility.

13. Optional -- If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.

All HHS FOIA RSCs have taken steps to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration.

Some examples include: 

  • CMS FOIA developed and introduced a new automated Smart Timer feature in its FOIA workload management system that tracks important FOIA milestones and deadlines.  CMS FOIA used the new feature to significantly reduce the average time to adjudicate a fee waiver from 71 days in FY 2023 to 9 days in FY 2024.  Also, to ensure fair and effective administration, CMS FOIA conducted a deep dive for all its staff during its annual training in August on the FOIA life cycle, focusing particularly on subjects identified in DOJ’s FOIA Assessment Tool.
  • SAMHSA FOIA has undertaken several initiatives to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration. These include:
    • Process Streamlining: SAMHSA FOIA implemented new workflows, particularly for handling grant application requests, to improve efficiency and reduce processing times.
    • Staff Expansion and Training: To better manage the volume of requests, SAMHSA FOIA has added additional staff and provided specialized training on FOIA procedures to enhance the expertise and responsiveness of our team.
    • Technology Improvements: SAMHSA FOIA has invested in technology to assist with record retrieval, organization, and tracking of requests, which has helped reduce delays and improve the accuracy of responses.
    • Clearer Communication: SAMHSA FOIA has worked to improve communication with requesters by providing clearer instructions on submitting FOIA requests, setting realistic timelines, and updating requesters on the status of their submissions.
Content created by Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Division
Content last reviewed