DOJ: “The Office of Information Policy has developed new FOIA resources designed to train all levels of the federal workforce to understand their FOIA responsibilities. These new resources were developed as part of our commitments in the U.S. Second Open Government National Action Plan, as well as the Department’s Open Government Plan 3.0. We are pleased to invite you to a presentation on Thursday, March 12th marking the rollout of these important new tools.  A proper understanding of the FOIA, including the correct application of the statute’s provisions and the President’s and Attorney General Holder’s 2009 FOIA Memoranda, is the first step toward any successful FOIA operation. As a key part of fulfilling our responsibility to encourage government-wide compliance, every year OIP provides and participates in various FOIA training programs across the government. Embracing the importance of FOIA training, many agencies have also reported on their own robust FOIA training efforts in their Chief FOIA Officer Reports. While these training efforts often focus on agency FOIA professionals, it is important that all federal employees have access to resources that help them understand their FOIA responsibilities. As Attorney General Holder emphasized in his 2009 FOIA Guidelines, “FOIA is everyone’s responsibility.”  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 the FOIA, to the FOIA professionals responsible for processing records for disclosure. The new training tools being released include:

• A brief video from the Director of OIP aimed at senior government executives, providing a general overview of the FOIA and emphasizing the importance of their support to their agency’s FOIA program;
• An in-depth e-Learning training module specifically designed for FOIA professionals which addresses all the major procedural and substantive requirements of the law, as well as the importance of customer service;
• A separate e-Learning training module for the everyday federal employee that provides a primer on the FOIA and highlights ways in which they can assist their agency in administering the law; and
• An infographic that can serve as a resource on FOIA basics for all employees new to the federal workforce.”