President Bush outlines new quicker plan for background investigations

By STEPHEN BARR
The Washington Post

Bush administration officials before leaving office hope to resolve one of the government’s most vexing problems — the slow pace of obtaining security clearances for federal employees and contract workers. President Bush, in a recent memo to agency heads, directed key officials to submit a plan by the end of April for speeding up and improving the process. New government employees undergo background investigations to ensure they are suitable for federal employment and, depending on the nature of their job, an investigation to determine whether they can receive secret, top secret or other security clearance.

Federal job applicants and contract workers have complained for years that their employment prospects or job assignments fall into limbo because background investigations take too long — frequently more than a year. With the system seemingly broke, companies that do business with the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies have offered luxury cars and signing bonuses of up to $20,000 for people holding clearances.Posted on Mon, Mar. 24, 2008
Federal Diary: Security checks to be streamlined
By STEPHEN BARR
The Washington Post
Bush administration officials before leaving office hope to resolve one of the government’s most vexing problems — the slow pace of obtaining security clearances for federal employees and contract workers.

President Bush, in a recent memo to agency heads, directed key officials to submit a plan by the end of April for speeding up and improving the process.

New government employees undergo background checks to ensure they are suitable for federal employment and, depending on the nature of their job, an investigation to determine whether they can receive secret, top secret or other security clearance.

Federal job applicants and contract workers have complained for years that their employment prospects or job assignments fall into limbo because background checks take too long — frequently more than a year. With the system seemingly broke, companies that do business with the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies have offered luxury cars and signing bonuses of up to $20,000 for people holding clearances.

Congress also has pushed to speed up clearances. The 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act requires that 80 percent of all security clearances be completed in an average of 120 days.

Last April, Linda Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management, and Stephen Hadley, assistant to the president for national security affairs, developed recommendations for improving the security clearance process. In June, Pentagon and intelligence officials began their own review of the clearance process, with an eye to enhancing operations in spy agencies.

When officials became aware of each other’s initiatives, they decided to join efforts, Springer said.

About 90 percent of the government’s background investigations, nearly 2 million each year, are conducted by the Office of Personnel Management.

Springer said the office was steadily reducing the time it takes for the background checks. Most investigations for top secret and secret clearances are being completed in 199 days, on average, she said. That is from the time the job applicant completes a form for the investigation to the date that an agency decides to either grant or deny the clearance.

The president’s memo recommends the government develop a common method for conducting background investigations. Once basic investigations have been completed, any future inquiries, required when people change jobs or move to new security levels, should avoid duplicating the previous background checks.

Congress also has pushed to speed up clearances. The 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act requires that 80 percent of all security clearances be completed in an average of 120 days.

Last April, Linda Springer, director of the Office of Personel Management, and Stephen Hadley, assistant to the president for national security affairs, developed recommendations for improving the security clearance process. In June, Pentagon and intelligence officials began their own review of the clearance process, with an eye to enhancing operations in spy agencies. When officials became aware of each other’s initiatives, they decided to join efforts, Springer said.

About 90 percent of the government’s background investigations, nearly 2 million each year, are conducted by the Office of Personnel Management.
Springer said the office was steadily reducing the time it takes for the background investigations. Most investigations for top secret and secret clearances are being completed in 199 days, on average, she said. That is from the time the job applicant completes a form for the investigation to the date that an agency decides to either grant or deny the clearance.

The president’s memo recommends the government develop a common method for conducting background investigations. Once basic background investigations have been completed, any future inquiries, required when people change jobs or move to new security levels, should avoid duplicating the previous background investigations.

Palm Springs Cerebral Palsy Center closed after lack of background investigations discovered

State officials said Monday that a series of health and safety code violations, uncovered during the investigation of a autistic girl's death, forced the closure of the United Cerebral Palsy Dennis James Center in Cathedral City.

The California Department of Social Services shut down the center Friday. The move followed an investigation prompted by the death of 5-year-old Anyah Raven Glossinger.

A public safety report filed Friday alleges that the center employed a number of unqualified staff members to work with disabled Coachella Valley children.

Anyah drowned in January while participating in hydrotherapy at an indoor mineral pool in Desert Hot Springs run by Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation Inc. She was under the supervision of three United Cerebral Palsy employees.

A notice of the suspension was mailed to parents and guardians whose children attend the center, said state department spokeswoman Shirley Washington.

Anyah's mother, Emily Wereschagin, said she was notified of the action Friday by phone.

"There is definitely a little comfort in this," Wereschagin said. "It's not something that can be fixed or something that'll go away. We're absolutely heartbroken, but it is comforting that people do recognize the severity of the situation and the importance of keeping disabled children safe."

The report alleges the United Cerebral Palsy Dennis James Center:

Failed to provide care and supervision necessary to meet the needs of Anyah on Jan. 23.

Failed to obtain required criminal clearances on or before March 12 for 10 facility staff prior to the date of their employment.

Employed seven unqualified staff persons who did not meet "training and educational background requirements to be teachers in a child care center."

Failed to employ a qualified child care center director.

Failed to comply with staff personnel requirements for three staff members, "including health screening documentation to show these staff persons are in good health and physically and mentally capable of performing assigned tasks."

United Cerebral Palsy Dennis James Center officials have 15 days to appeal the suspension. An administrative hearing would then be held within 90 days, Washington said.

"This will go through a lengthy process," Washington said, "and the facility will remain closed until an administrative law judge administers a decision."

The Desert Sun was unable to reach a representatives of the United Cerebral Palsy Dennis James Center on Monday, but according to a voicemail message, center CEO Jeff Snyder is expected back in the office March 24.

"It's the first step in a long fight, and we appreciate the state's involvement and all the investigating agencies," Wereschagin said.

Other probes related to Anyah's death are continuing.

An investigation of the United Cerebral Palsy Dennis James Center by the California Department of Developmental Services is ongoing.

A criminal investigation also is being conducted by the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Police have deemed the death accidental, but Det. Sgt. Radames Gil said investigators are looking into whether negligence played a part.

And an investigation of the Angel View facility by the Riverside County Environmental Health Department is continuing.

Background Investigation fails to keep murder suspect out of National Guard

The Tennessee Army National Guard is investigating whether a clerical blunder allowed Rusty "Bo" Rumley Jr. to slip through its enlistment screening process last year.

A federal firearms conviction could have been enough to keep him out of the Guard. But there are loopholes in some of the Guard’s background investigations.

For example, the Guard usually reserves federal criminal background investigations for recruits without any previous military experience, officials confirmed Friday. Only a statewide background investigation is done for recruits with a military background.

In theory, the recruit’s federal records would have been checked the first time he joined.

"You’ve been in the service, you’ve been in the system. ... " National Guard spokesman Emanuel Pacheco said. "There’s no real reason to doubt you’re ... good to go."

Bo Rumley’s military background could have endangered law enforcement officers Wednesday when they pursued him into Carter County, Tenn., woods after the killings of four people at Edgemont Towers in Bristol, Tenn.

Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes considered how lucky authorities were when they corralled Bo Rumley.

They knew the man blamed for the killings was armed. What they didn’t realize was that he was ready to ambush them.

He had a .45-caliber handgun, three magazines filled with seven rounds apiece and 12 loose rounds piled up next to him, according to a report by the Herald Courier’s broadcast partner, WJHL-TV News Channel 11. Bo Rumley even fashioned his belt into a tourniquet so he could stop any bleeding if shot.

"That’s common military belief that if you get shot [and] you’ve got bleeding, you can put that on and continue to fight," Mathes said.

Instead of taking on authorities, Bo Rumley took his own life.

"For whatever reason, we’re very blessed," Mathes told WJHL."It could’ve been a lot worse had he decided to take us on in the traditional suicide-by-cop scenario."

Bo Rumley, 26, of Watauga, Tenn., had on his federal record a two-year prison stay in 2002-2004 for conspiring to sell stolen firearms."That alone should of been a red flag to any background investigator." said Tyra Hearns the President of background investigation firm Pebi Services.

He and a friend stole 28 guns from a home in Abingdon, Va., in late 2001, then trekked to Tennessee to trade and sell the weapons for drugs, court records show.
The Guard’s background investigation policy might have allowed someone like Bo Rumley, who joined the Guard last October with a previous stint in the U.S. Army already under his belt, to hide any federal crimes committed between enlistments.

Or he might have used a moral waiver policy that the military has used for decades when trying to increase recruitment. It allows some felony and misdemeanor charges to be overlooked.

While someone with a misdemeanor domestic assault background is banned from joining the Guard, an applicant previously convicted of conspiring to sell firearms, like Bo Rumley, might get in, confirmed Tennessee Guard spokesman Randy Harris.

If Bo Rumley used a moral-waiver when he joined in October, it means that he just missed the moratorium the Guard placed on the waiver policy in December. It turns out that the Guard has exceeded its nationwide enrollment quota of 350,000 soldiers, allowing it to be more picky when accepting applicants.

Guard officials could not confirm Friday if Bo Rumley used a waiver to join the ranks.

Other military branches still use moral-waivers. In fact, about 30 percent of military recruits need a waiver, according to a November study by The Associated Press.