Federal Daily - March 17, 2010
Workplace Safety Takes Center Stage in Hearing
A House subcommittee hearing on March 16 heard from a variety of voices concerned about the safety of federal employees in the wake of a series of recent attacks on federal facilities.
A number of witnesses offering testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce highlighted understaffing at the Federal Protective Service as a primary security concern. FPS provides physical security at about 9,000 federally owned and leased facilities, and oversees about 15,000 contract personnmel.
David Wright, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 918-Federal Protective Service, said that an ongoing “resource starvation” strategy has brought FPS below the congressionally mandated level of 900 law enforcement positions and 1,200 FPS staff positions. FPS also oversees about 15,000 contract personnel.
“FPS security services have been slashed to the point of ineffectiveness,” Wright said. “No longer do FPS police officers operate on a 24-hour patrol basis—even when protecting Level IV high-security facilities; no longer does the agency have the personnel necessary to adequately oversee private guards.”
New Technologies—At the same time, other witnesses offered testimony on new tools agencies are using to bolster physical security. According to the joint testimony of FPS Director Gary Schenkel and Sue Armstrong, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Infrastructure Protection, FPS has implemented a new risk assessment management program that calculates risks—including weather, geologic, terrorist and criminal risks—measures them against countermeasures, and provides recommendations to each facility’s facility security committee.
And Guy Cottrell, deputy chief inspector-operations of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said the Postal Service is installing a comprehensive computer security system designed to tighten workplace access. The new enterprise physical access control system links the Postal Service’s computerized access control systems nationwide. So, when an employee termination is recorded in one local system, for example, it is reflected nationally, Cottrell said.
In the Bull’s Eye—National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley, whose union represents IRS workers, singled them out for special consideration in her statement.
Kelley said data show that IRS workers as a group are among the most targeted federal employees because of the nature of their work, which often requires close interaction with the public.
Kelley said that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which investigates threats and assaults against IRS personnel, logged more than 1,200 threat and assault cases for investigation between 2001 and 2008, resulting in at least 195 convictions. But Kelley said that at the same time, according to the IRS, only 275 of about 755 IRS facilities nationwide have a security detail, a situation she called “clearly unacceptable.”
To see more, go to: www.house.gov/house/CommitteeWWW.shtml.
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New Foundation Offers Public Service Scholarships
The movement to bring the best and brightest into federal service just got a boost.
The Robertson Foundation for Government, a new nonprofit formed by the heirs to the A&P food chain fortune, said on March 16 that it will offer scholarships and graduate fellowships to students who pledge to serve for at least three years in the government workforce after they graduate from college. The foundation will put special emphasis on those areas of government involved in foreign affairs and international relations. The foundation also will offer financial support for mid-career training programs.
The foundation was established by the family of the late Charles and Marie Robertson, who donated $35 million worth of A&P supermarket stock in 1961 to Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 2002, Robertson heirs sued Princeton, arguing that the university diverted the original donation. The case was settled last year with the university agreeing to pay the heirs $60 million in damages. The new foundation is funded through that settlement.
Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft and ex-Virginia Gov. Charles Robb will serve on the foundation’s advisory board. “If there is one constant I have seen during the many years I have been involved in making and implementing public policy it is the need for fresh ideas, for new perspectives,” Scowcroft said.
To see more, go to: www.rffg.org.
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DoD Widens Family Care Plan Requirements
Military parents with custody of children from a previous relationship are now required under a new DoD policy to file a Family Care Plan designating who will be responsible for care of their dependents while they are away for extended periods, according to information posted March 15 by the American Forces Press Service.
An FCP covers everything from designation of temporary guardianship to arrangements for financial and logistical support, including relocation and medical care. The requirement to file an FCP was already in place for dual military couples and single parents with custody. Such plans, while not legally binding, helped ensure dependents are cared for while the servicemember is away for an extended period for training, deployment or a remote assignment.
DoD decided to expand the requirement after it had seen a spike recently in custody disputes involving blended families, including military parents with custody of children from a previous relationship, officials said. In such disputes, the non-custodial parent often was able to sue to win custody of the children while the military parent was either deployed or in training.
Although the FCP alone will not prevent those disputes, a servicemember generally will be able to take the plan to court and petition for a court order to enforce it, officials said.
To see more, go to: www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58339.
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FMA Elects New President
It’s a changing of the guard at the Federal Managers Association. On March 16, FMA announced the election of Patricia Niehaus, an FMA chapter president, as the association’s national president. She was elected by unanimous consent this week during the association’s national convention.
Niehaus, with more than 27 years in the federal workforce, has held various leadership roles at the association over the past 16 years, most recently as president of FMA Chapter 167 at Travis Air Force Base, where she has served as the base’s labor relations officer since 2000.
“Patricia Niehaus exemplifies the leadership traits necessary to carry FMA and the civil service forward,” said current FMA National President Darryl Perkinson, who vacated his seat March 16. “I look forward to the initiatives Ms. Niehaus will champion in her new role and the direction in which she will guide the association.”
To see more, go to www.fedmanagers.org.
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