The Justice Department's Office of Information Policy is introducing a new suite of tools to train feds on Freedom of Information Act procedures. The new training is suitable for all federal employees, not just FOIA officials.
The tools — to be released later this week — will include a brief video introduction to FOIA by OIP Director Melanie Ann Pustay; separate online training modules for FOIA-centric positions and general employees; and a quick-reference infographic targeted to new federal employees.
OIP offers several training seminars each year, but they often focus on agency FOIA professionals, according to a post on justice.gov announcing the new training initiative. "OIP's new collection of training tools are designed to help ensure that these important resources are available for all federal employees — from the senior executive, to the everyday employee whose records might become subject to FOIA, to the FOIA professionals responsible for processing records for disclosure."
Agency officials and members of the public can learn about the new training resources at a rollout event scheduled for Thursday, March 12, in the great hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Building. The conference starts at 10 a.m. and is set to run for one hour.
Interested persons can register by sending an email with name and phone number to doj.oip.foia@usdoj.gov with the subject line "FOIA Training Resources Rollout."
Justice OIP also has special training days coming up: March 25 for employees not specializing in FOIA law; April 15 for FOIA professionals and agency legal advisors.
More: Yearly FOIA training seminars
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
