Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): Tamiko N.W. Watkins, Chief FOIA Officer
Agency Received Less Than 50 Requests in Fiscal Year 2016
Narrative Summary
MCC has aligned its FOIA program with the guiding principles underlying the Department of Justice’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines. MCC has a small FOIA Office comprised of 3 employees who are the Chief FOIA Officer, Program Officer, and FOIA Public Liaison. All MCC FOIA professionals actively participate in training to ensure that MCC efficiently and appropriately complies with all FOIA directives. The Chief FOIA Officer attended the DOJ/OIP Advanced FOIA Seminar in May 2016 and the American Society for Access Professional’s Annual Conference in July 2016; and the Program Officer attended the FOIA for Attorneys and Access Professionals course in January 2016. The FOIA Public Liaison position was filled at the beginning of FY17 and it is anticipated that all of the training requirements for this position will be met during this fiscal year. MCC FOIA professionals also participate in self-study and stay up to date with current FOIA regulations.
MCC receives a comparatively small number of FOIA requests that is proportional to the size of the agency. he amount of requests received does not impact MCCs ability to proactively disclose information. MCC proactively discloses information to ensure that it is accessible to the public without the need to submit a FOIA request. All of the MCC Compact and Threshold Programs are listed on the agency website, as well as the core program documentation, and the results of those programs as they progress. MCC proactively publishes a wealth of data and information to allow the public to understand not only how we invest taxpayer dollars, but also how agency decisions are made related to its programs. On a quarterly basis and in open, accessible, and machine-readable formats, MCC posts complete financial and program performance information. MCC’s monitoring and evaluation data, independent evaluations, economic analysis, and country selection information is available on the agency website MCC also publishes all procurement information to the public. During the data and information review process, MCC continually identifies new sources that could be made available to the public.
The MCC FOIA Office frequently communicates with requesters to answer questions and to clarify the nature of requests. If any disputes arise, they are resolved by proactively communicating with the requester through a detailed explanation of the agency’s response and release of applicable documents. Because the MCC FOIA Office engaged in communication with the requesters and efficiently processes requests, MCC did not receive any FOIA appeals in the FY2016 year. To ensure timeliness of our responses, MCC maintains a database that allows the FOIA Program Officer to track the number of days each request has been pending. This has resulted in MCC being able to respond to all but one FOIA request within the twenty (20) day limit. The MCC FOIA Office is proficient in processing requests within a timely manner.