1.3: Government‐wide FOIA Training and Guidance

Train other federal agencies on how to implement the new presumption of openness and issue guidance to agencies on implementing the Attorney General’s Guidelines.

Other Information:

The Department of Justice takes its leadership role in FOIA seriously. Immediately after President Obama issued his order on the FOIA, the Department’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) began training other federal agencies on how they could implement the new presumption of openness, and began working with representatives of the FOIA requester community. OIP also issued written guidance to agencies on implementing the Attorney General’s Guidelines and included a thorough discussion of them in The Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act. These training efforts will continue in 2010. OIP will publish a report summarizing the Chief FOIA Officer Reports submitted by the other federal agencies, so that agencies and stakeholders alike can see where and how progress has been made and where there are areas in need of improvement. Based on those findings, OIP will tailor additional training seminars designed to address those issues and will issue written guidance as appropriate. The Department will also host an inter‐agency working group to discuss the use of technology in administering the FOIA, a factor on which extensive cross‐government information was being collected in the Chief FOIA Officer Reports. This group will be able to share best practices on the important issue of technology.

Stakeholder(s):

• FOIA Requester Community


• Federal Agencies


• Office of Information Policy (OIP)


• Chief FOIA Officers

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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