Who is responsible for continuous evaluation (ce) and reinvestigations

In a significant change to personnel security policy, agencies are being encouraged to enroll all applicants for security clearances into continuous vetting and eliminate periodic reinvestigations. The move is an effort to create a clearance system that’s agile and better able to identify risks as they occur, not at 5-year or 10-year intervals.

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Security Clearance Reevaluation Process
How the Continuous Evaluation Program Currently Affects You
Obtain the Support of an Experienced National Security Attorney

In the spring of 2018, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced Trusted Workforce 2.0—a comprehensive, interagency effort to redefine a “trusted worker” in the face of 21st century threats. Executive correspondence issued last month now lays out the framework for ending periodic reinvestigations in favor of continuous vetting of all cleared personnel.

“The goal is pretty simple,” said Brian Dunbar, assistant director, National Counterintelligence and Security Center, in an interview with ClearanceJobs: “To better support the mission with better vetting, faster investigation timelines and enhanced mobility.”

To that end, Trusted Workforce 2.0 has already accomplished the first, critical aspect of its mission, eliminating the security clearance backlog, which was at a high of 725,000 cases when Trusted Workforce 2.0 rolled out. With the backlog busted, focus has shifted to continuous vetting and updates to the federal investigative standards and adjudicative criteria.

“To me, the most important element of Trusted Workforce 2.0 is this: transitioning away from a traditional periodic reinvestigation to what we call continuous vetting, those individuals currently enrolled in continuous evaluation,” said Mark Frownfelter deputy assistant director at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Special Security Directorate.

The executive correspondence, “Transforming Federal Personnel Vetting: Measures to Expedite Reform and Further Reduce the Federal Government’s Background Investigation Inventory,” was signed by the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management on February 3. Departments and agencies have received additional guidance about the implementation of the EC, a policy shift one administration official described as one of the most significant changes to security clearance policy of the past two decades.

The EC lays out the minimum standards criteria for continuous vetting, and allows agencies in compliance with those criteria to move forward in eliminating periodic reinvestigations in favor of the continuous vetting model, a process that allows for a more efficient security clearance vetting process, but more significantly, a more secure one.

“It’s good from both a security and safety standpoint; we can intervene earlier,” noted Dunbar. “We can facilitate timely employee return from a personal crisis, for issues that under previous models wouldn’t be discovered until a [periodic reinvestigation].” Dunbar noted the system also helps the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency maintain its steady state inventory, reducing influxes of the reinvestigations.

‘Crawl, Walk, Run’

Dunbar noted the security clearance process is focused on a crawl, walk, run approach to implementing Workforce 2.0. Previously issued EC helped codify efficiencies to eliminate the backlog. February’s EC codifies the full implementation of continuous vetting. The run portion of Trusted Workforce 2.0 will come into fruition later this year, with the issuance of new federal investigative standards and adjudicative guidelines.

The elimination of periodic reinvestigations transitions security clearance eligibility from a date driven system, where the focus was on periodic reinvestigation or initial investigation dates, to a risk-based system. The focus will be less on whether or not applicants are “in scope” and instead, on when they were last enrolled, and what, if any issues, were present at that time.

“[Periodic reinvestigation] dates will become a thing of the past,” said Dunbar. “We’re moving to a mobility, transfer of trust scenario.” That system depends heavily on education and training, and represents a huge cultural change, noted Dunbar.

The good news, Office of the Director of National Intelligence officials note, is this policy takes a pull versus push approach—ODNI has worked across departments and agencies to establish needs and priorities. They’ve pulled in that feedback, and the result is an approach agencies are asking for and prepared to implement.

“What we’re anticipating, and what we’ve heard, particularly within the IC, is they believe they possess these capabilities,” said Dunbar. Once they’ve verified they meet the criteria with ODNI, they’re able to eliminate periodic reinvestigations and enroll candidates into continuous vetting. For that reason, Trusted Workforce 1.5—what the current EC is being dubbed—should result in rapid enrollment of new candidates into continuous vetting, just as Trusted Workforce 1.0 saw the rapid decline (and eventual elimination) of the clearance backlog.

The automated records checks, laid out in policy through Security Executive Agent Directive 6, are the lynchpin of current transformation activities, noted Dunbar. ODNI has been responsible for designing and building a national continuous evaluation system—a major technology undertaking, rolling in data across seven categories, and for 29 separate departments. ODNI is working in partnership with the Defense Department’s continuous evaluation program, and considers itself a service provider into the Defense continuous evaluation system.

SEAD 6 went into effect January 2018. In the two years since, ODNI has gathered information to help it improve the continuous vetting of personnel—lessons it’s incorporating into the recently released executive correspondence, which notes “revisions to investigative flags for financial delinquencies and traffic fine violations in certain cases.” Dunbar said this is a direct example of seeing what has been flagged in continuous vetting thus far, and that a $50 traffic violation may not be the best metric for trustworthiness.

“This is data driven policy development,” noted one senior official. “It’s a really exciting place to be in personnel security reform.”

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The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) serves as the Security Executive Agent (SecEA) for the Federal Government. In the DNI's responsibilities, the Continuous Evaluation (CE) Program is established within the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC). The CE policy was established on January 12, 2018, outlined in the Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) - 6.

CE, a personnel security investigative process, is part of the security clearance reform effort to modernize personnel security processes and increase the timeliness of information reviewed between periodic reinvestigation cycles. CE supplements and enhances, but does not replace, established personnel security processes by leveraging automated records checks to assist in the ongoing review of an individual’s eligibility for access to classified information or to hold a sensitive position.

The OSY Assistant Director for Security, Information and Personnel Security Division (IPSD), is responsible for the implementation of CE within the Department in coordination with authorized Departmental Personnel Security Programs.

Resources

DOC Memo for Implementation of SEAD 3 Reporting Requirements - January 27, 2021 (Commerce Personnel Only)

Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) - 6 Continuous Evaluation

Continuous Evaluation FAQs

Continuous Evaluation (CE) is an ongoing screening process to review the background of an individual who is assigned to a sensitive position or has access to classified information or material. It exists to ensure that the individual should continue to retain a security clearance or the assignment to sensitive duties. CE leverages a set of automated record checks and business rules to assist in the ongoing assessment of an individual’s continued eligibility. For more information on CE, see Executive Order (EO) 13467, as amended by EO 13741 and EO 13764.

This month the Department of Defense’s Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency will be taking responsibility for the background investigations for United States government personnel, including contractors. Previously, the Office of Personnel Management carries out these investigations through the National Background Investigations Bureau, who conducts the background assessments of over 100 federal agencies. Language depicted in the National Defense Authorization Act of the 2017 fiscal year, however, has directed the responsibility to the investigations to be carried out by the Department of Defense.

Security Clearance Reevaluation Process

The Department of Defense’s Continuous Evaluation program will process periodic reinvestigations of national security clearance holders. Prior to this change, top security clearance holders were reinvestigated every five years. Holders of secret clearance were reinvestigated every 10 years, and individuals that hold confidential clearances were reinvestigated every 15 years. Under the Continuous Evaluation program, the Department of Defense seeks to assess clearance holders on an ongoing basis. This will apply to anyone holding a clearance.

Proponents of the new changes claim that previous reinvestigations were far too time consuming and contributed to the buildup of investigations that has overwhelmed federal agencies for many years. The accumulation of cases has grown from 190,000 in 2014 to over 695,000 cases as of November 2018.

Several years ago, the Department of Defense had pilot tested the process and examined the effectiveness and value of the Automated Continuous Evaluation System and was satisfied with the results. The evaluation system had sampled approximately 3,400 Army service members, contractors, and civilian employees. According to the pilot review, the system identified that about 22% of the tested participants had a previous unreported derogatory information, which developed since the last investigation. Approximately 3% of the derogatory information involved issues such as financial, domestic abuse charges, or illicit drug abuse. These findings resulted in the suspension or revocation of the security clearance of those individuals.

Through the ongoing evaluation process, diverse forms of automated data checking will be performed by using different sources such as social media, credit report checking, self-reporting records, and personnel records. The main objective is to identify relevant material that would prompt a review of the security clearance holder’s file. It is also set to enable federal agencies the opportunity to prioritize their efforts on individuals who appear to pose a risk. This criteria that will be used for assessing individuals can be found under the National Security Adjudicative Guidelines.

How the Continuous Evaluation Program Currently Affects You

If you are a national security clearance holder, the Continuous Evaluations program will review your background and determine if you continue to be eligible for access to national classified information or if you are eligible to hold a sensitive position. The program will leverage technology in order to perform automated checks for personnel on a frequent basis.

The Continuous Evaluation program will use commercial databases, federal government databases, or other platforms of information that are legally available to security officials. Information that is collected in the Continuous Evaluation program is not set to replace traditional methods; rather, the program will supplement the traditional and periodic investigations. All privacy protections that were previously applicable to personnel will continue to apply under the Continuous Evaluation program.

Presently, if you are part of the following list, you will be subject to the Continuous Evaluation program:

Executive Branch personnel, including detailees, employees and contractors,
Have been pre-determined to have eligibility to access classified information, or
Hold a sensitive employment position

By signing the Standard Form 86, you have contested your authorization to the release of personal information or submission to periodic background investigations for the purpose of acquiring a security clearance. Here, you grant the United States government the authority to conduct background checks, reinvestigations, or continuous evaluations.

Obtain the Support of an Experienced National Security Attorney

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has taken over a majority of national security clearances and has also implemented a Continuous Evaluation program in effort of minimizing federal agencies massive backlog of investigative personnel information.

While the program is set to aid the productivity of federal agencies, the frequent investigations have the potential to affect your national security clearance. If you have recently been affected by these investigations, seek the legal support of a qualified attorney who will advocate on your behalf.

Attorney Brett O’Brien has many years of dedicated experience in the field of national security clearance. If your security clearance has been halted, your employment could be at risk; seek the support of an attorney who will aggressively advocate on your behalf today.