I am a FOIA Officer and Hate It

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought GS 9s went through all the FOIA requests and just asked attorneys for advice. I'm pretty shocked people actively look into doing FOIA as a career, seems both boring and overwhelming.

NP. Agencies process FOIA differently. Some agencies really only get easy FOIAs like "I want my medical records" or "I want my service records"- those should be GS9s. Others get FOIAed on our rules and regulations. No way could a GS 9 do my job. It's really detail oriented, a ton of reading, and you need to be knowledgeable in our subject area. Attorneys are only involved at the end, our FOIA processors do all of the work. When I'm hiring, so many FOIA processors just say that attorneys tell them what to do and they don't have to read the material or redact deliberative material themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d kill to have your job

Why? What do you think my job is like? I literally receive at least 50 requests per month. Many of them ask for emails and large batches of records - think 100s of pages. It is like doing doc review. I read until my eyes glaze over, redact and on to the next one. I am usually responding beyond deadline which means I have the threat of litigation hanging over my head. Plus I do this job for an agency full of attorneys and every attorney has an opinion about the records they provide me and what is exempt/not exempt even though none of them have any experience. I can't imagine why someone would ever want this job. I have NO staff so it is only me. My brain is fried.

I do doc review. I’m tired of being ashamed of my work

OMG doc review guy. Stop trolling on this thread and make your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What else can I do? I'm overwhelmed, we are understaffed and everyone hates me when I ask for their records. The public is constantly harassing me about responses and records. I'm an attorney but don't want to litigate.

I work as in-house counsel for a government contractor and your perception of your role is spot on. Please find something more rewarding to do. You could even go in-house to advise government contractors on the FOIA process and how best to prepare responses. You do have value just not in the role you are currently in.

[Anonymous]

I started in government as a contractor hired to do FOIA. I am not an attorney (my boss was). The agency I worked for had a huge backlog, thus the hiring of contractors. The agency had regulatory and enforcement roles, so the requests were all over the place. Part of the routine requests were automated, ie docs scanned and software created redact. That was the mind-numbing part of the job. The fascinating part of the job were the more complex requests were I got to go around to various offices asking for documents. I really got to know how the entire agency worked, made a lot of connections and got asked to put in for jobs. Which I did and have had a really interesting career since. Maybe start reaching out and establishing some connections with the folks you deal with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What else can I do? I'm overwhelmed, we are understaffed and everyone hates me when I ask for their records. The public is constantly harassing me about responses and records. I'm an attorney but don't want to litigate.

lol. Isn't this the whole crux of your job??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started in government as a contractor hired to do FOIA. I am not an attorney (my boss was). The agency I worked for had a huge backlog, thus the hiring of contractors. The agency had regulatory and enforcement roles, so the requests were all over the place. Part of the routine requests were automated, ie docs scanned and software created redact. That was the mind-numbing part of the job. The fascinating part of the job were the more complex requests were I got to go around to various offices asking for documents. I really got to know how the entire agency worked, made a lot of connections and got asked to put in for jobs. Which I did and have had a really interesting career since. Maybe start reaching out and establishing some connections with the folks you deal with?
[/quote

I have a friend who does this as a contractor and he loves it. He does some Boolean searching. Aren't they hiring librarians for this role, as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FOIA officer or FOIA processor? I'm a FOIA officer and absolutely love what I do. I manage it for my agency so I really do have the power to make changes, get AI, discovery software, staffing needs, mandate better records. I run a tight ship and we have pretty much no backlog whatsoever.

I will say that FOIA is a sinking ship. I totally understand that you get requests for thousands and thousands of pages, people pay absolutely $0, and then sue you when you don't release 100,000 pages in 20 days. It's ridiculous and out of control. Lawsuits are out of control government wide. Unmanaged email systems are really killing us. It pains me when requesters are just doing bogus searches on vague terms like "climate change" or something and don't have an article they're writing. I believe in government transparency and my mission, but we're swamped!

I often wish I had the ability to speak with other FOIA officers at other agencies.

I was very specific. I said FOIA OFFICER.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FOIA officer or FOIA processor? I'm a FOIA officer and absolutely love what I do. I manage it for my agency so I really do have the power to make changes, get AI, discovery software, staffing needs, mandate better records. I run a tight ship and we have pretty much no backlog whatsoever.

I will say that FOIA is a sinking ship. I totally understand that you get requests for thousands and thousands of pages, people pay absolutely $0, and then sue you when you don't release 100,000 pages in 20 days. It's ridiculous and out of control. Lawsuits are out of control government wide. Unmanaged email systems are really killing us. It pains me when requesters are just doing bogus searches on vague terms like "climate change" or something and don't have an article they're writing. I believe in government transparency and my mission, but we're swamped!

I often wish I had the ability to speak with other FOIA officers at other agencies.

I was very specific. I said FOIA OFFICER.

And since we have no staff, I also process ALL of the FOIA requests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FOIA officer or FOIA processor? I'm a FOIA officer and absolutely love what I do. I manage it for my agency so I really do have the power to make changes, get AI, discovery software, staffing needs, mandate better records. I run a tight ship and we have pretty much no backlog whatsoever.

I will say that FOIA is a sinking ship. I totally understand that you get requests for thousands and thousands of pages, people pay absolutely $0, and then sue you when you don't release 100,000 pages in 20 days. It's ridiculous and out of control. Lawsuits are out of control government wide. Unmanaged email systems are really killing us. It pains me when requesters are just doing bogus searches on vague terms like "climate change" or something and don't have an article they're writing. I believe in government transparency and my mission, but we're swamped!

I often wish I had the ability to speak with other FOIA officers at other agencies.

This is OP. Are you a member of ASAP? https://www.accesspro.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FOIA officer or FOIA processor? I'm a FOIA officer and absolutely love what I do. I manage it for my agency so I really do have the power to make changes, get AI, discovery software, staffing needs, mandate better records. I run a tight ship and we have pretty much no backlog whatsoever.

I will say that FOIA is a sinking ship. I totally understand that you get requests for thousands and thousands of pages, people pay absolutely $0, and then sue you when you don't release 100,000 pages in 20 days. It's ridiculous and out of control. Lawsuits are out of control government wide. Unmanaged email systems are really killing us. It pains me when requesters are just doing bogus searches on vague terms like "climate change" or something and don't have an article they're writing. I believe in government transparency and my mission, but we're swamped!

I often wish I had the ability to speak with other FOIA officers at other agencies.

I was very specific. I said FOIA OFFICER.

And since we have no staff, I also process ALL of the FOIA requests.

Then work with the head of your agency to make changes, get more staff and work with records too. Advocate for your program. Make sure they're following the DOJ recommendations. I get very few easy or normal FOIAs, so processing 50 FOIAs a month would need a bigger staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FOIA officer or FOIA processor? I'm a FOIA officer and absolutely love what I do. I manage it for my agency so I really do have the power to make changes, get AI, discovery software, staffing needs, mandate better records. I run a tight ship and we have pretty much no backlog whatsoever.

I will say that FOIA is a sinking ship. I totally understand that you get requests for thousands and thousands of pages, people pay absolutely $0, and then sue you when you don't release 100,000 pages in 20 days. It's ridiculous and out of control. Lawsuits are out of control government wide. Unmanaged email systems are really killing us. It pains me when requesters are just doing bogus searches on vague terms like "climate change" or something and don't have an article they're writing. I believe in government transparency and my mission, but we're swamped!

I often wish I had the ability to speak with other FOIA officers at other agencies.

This is OP. Are you a member of ASAP? https://www.accesspro.org

No. I have been to the conferences, but they're expensive and beginner level. They also focus too much on privacy act which we don't work with.

[Anonymous]

This job sounds like one where your spouse spaces out and finishes their drink when you talk about it at dinner.

[Anonymous]

Why do I keep seeing contractor postings for "FOIA Analyst" jobs. Is this the same thing? Department of State and other agencies employ these analysts. What is the pay range?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do I keep seeing contractor postings for "FOIA Analyst" jobs. Is this the same thing? Department of State and other agencies employ these analysts. What is the pay range?

NP. FOIA analyst or government information specialists work for FOIA Officers. FOIA Officers are usually supervisors.

Pay range depends on the difficulty of the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This job sounds like one where your spouse spaces out and finishes their drink when you talk about it at dinner.

Only if you work at the bad agencies.