FOIA requests are being approved or denied by private contractors.

The next time you submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. government, it may end up in the hands of a company you’ve never heard of. 

At least 25 federal agencies are outsourcing parts of the FOIA process. The contractors, sometimes using workers with security clearances, are building FOIA software, corresponding with requesters, redacting documents and recommending what information should be withheld. 

Chart: U.S. Outsources FOIA Work to Vendors
Since fiscal 2009, the year President Barack Obama took office, spending on FOIA-related contracts has jumped about 40 percent, leaving transparency advocates wondering who’s making the decisions on whether records should be kept secret.

“I’m very troubled by this example of offloading responsibility,” said Paul Light, a public service professor at New York University. “Once you put this in the hands of the contractors, you lose a degree of control in terms of goals like open government. That’s the real downside of it.”

On his first full day in office, Obama ordered federal officials to “usher in a new era of open government” and “act promptly” to make information public. Federal agencies instead have stepped up the use of exemptions to block the release of documents requested through FOIA, which is designed to open the process of government to citizens.

During the first year of the administration, cabinet agencies employed exemptions 466,402 times, a 50 percent jump from the last year of George W. Bush’s presidency. While exemption citations have since been reduced by 21 percent from that high, they still are above the level seen during the Bush administration, according to Justice Department data.
 
With contractors involved, the process becomes more complicated because the companies employing the FOIA workers aren’t directly subject to FOIA laws, said John Wonderlich, policy director at the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based group that pushes to open government records.

“If I was in charge of an agency and wanted to create an unaccountable FOIA process, the first thing I would do is put an outside contractor in charge of it because fewer of our accountability laws apply to them,” Wonderlich said in an interview. “It would just be another layer between me and the public.”

The government has awarded at least 250 FOIA-related contracts to more than 200 vendors since the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2009, according to federal procurement data compiled by Bloomberg. None of the contracting records examined showed that the work was done by foreign-based companies.

Los Angeles-based AECOM Technology Corp. (ACM) has won at least $9.97 million in FOIA contracts, the most of any company, during that time period.

Other companies doing FOIA business have included New York- based Deloitte Consulting LLP, with about $1 million in FOIA- related contracts, and Arlington, Virginia-based CACI International Inc. (CACI), with at least $100,000 in similar contracts.

MS Govern which uses Innoprise Suite software for cities, is another huge vendor. "At MS Govern, we build software solutions specific to the requirements of local government and utilities." "Innoprise stands for the Innovative Enterprise. We take leading-edge technologies and use them to create cost effective solutions to support the needs of our customers."

At least $26.5 million in FOIA contracts were awarded by the government in fiscal 2012, up from $19.1 million in 2009. The 2012 estimate may be conservative because the Defense Department, which typically represents more than two-thirds of U.S. awards, lags behind other agencies in reporting its contracts.

Tracy Russo, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, which is charged with monitoring how federal agencies respond to the open-records requests, didn’t respond to questions about the role of contractors.

Transparency advocates say they’re troubled by the contracting trend because it adds another level of opacity between citizens and their government.

Using contractors to answer FOIA requests falls into a murky area of law, said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Washington-based Project on Government Oversight.

The vendors aren’t allowed to approve agency responses to FOIA requests because the work is considered “inherently governmental,” according to federal acquisition rules. On the other hand, they are permitted to “support” the preparation of responses.

While contractors may suggest what information will be released, redacted or denied, the agency must make the final decision, Amey said.

“They are walking right up to the line,” he said. “It still makes you question the integrity of the system if contractors play such a vital role and merely have their guidance approved.”

“It muddies the chain of accountability,” Light said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-09/transparency-outsourced-as-u-s-hires-vendors-for-disclosure-aid.html

Innoprise Suite deal with city called a "BoonDoggle" and "one of the most frustrating projects I’ve ever observed.”

Manchester, NH -  More than two years after the city entered into a contract with a company to overhaul the computer system it uses for everything from payroll to citizen complaints, a consultant has recommended an immediate halt.  The consultants with BerryDunn, a public accounting firm based in Portland, Maine, reviewed documents and interviewed employees from the Information Technology and other city departments, as well as officials with the software company.

Alderman Patrick Arnold, who had voted against awarding the contract to Innoprise in Sept. 2010, was highly critical of the handling of the deal.

“I don’t know about you Mr. Mayor, but for me this has been one of the most frustrating projects I’ve ever observed,” Arnold said, directing the statement to Mayor Ted Gatsas. “Boondoggle is all I can think of to describe it.”

The contract with Innoprise is estimated to cost $1.5 million. The city has spent around $230,000 on the project so far, according to Finance Director Bill Sanders.

According to the consultant’s report, Innoprise is obligated to perform 8,000 hours of service to the city. Chad Snow, BerryDunn’s project manager, said for the software system to be completed under the new management plan, the city would likely to have to pay for additional time.  Gatsas attributed the problems to inflated claims made by Innoprise’s founder, who announced he was selling the firm to a Canadian company, Harris Computing Solutions, shortly after the deal with the city was signed.

“I think we were sold a bill of goods,” Gatsas said.

But Gatsas said he wanted to work with BerryDunn to develop a management plan to complete the software contract.

“This will give us something to go forward with. We’ll ask Innoprise if they agree to it, and if they say no, we can use the plan to write a new request for proposals,” Gatsas said. The Board of Aldermen voted to accept BerryDunn’s report and to spend another $15,000 for the firm to devise the management plan. Arnold voted against the motion. http://www.unionleader.com/article/20121017/NEWS06/710179913