Corporation for National and Community Service

2021 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Section 1: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of 

openness.

Please answer the following questions in order to describe the steps your agency has 

taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions 

involving the FOIA. You may also include any additional information that illustrates 

how your agency is working to apply the presumption of openness.

A. FOIA Leadership

1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior 

official at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018). Is 

your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at this level? 

Yes.

2. Please provide the name and title of your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer.

Fernando Laguarda, General Counsel

B. FOIA Training

3. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered 

to agency personnel. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F). Please describe the efforts your 

agency has undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by 

agency personnel.

CNCS FOIA staff take advantage of the training offered by the Department of 

Justice.

4. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA 

responsibilities attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period such as 

that provided by the Department of Justice?

Yes.

5. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted 

and the topics covered.

Staff participated in DOJ virtual training on FOIA privacy exemptions and the 

Privacy Act.
6. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff 

with FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this 

reporting period.

100% of staff with primary FOIA responsibilities attended training.

7. OIP has directed agencies to “take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals 

attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year.” If your response to 

the previous question is that less than 80% of your FOIA professionals attended 

training, please explain your agency’s plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive 

or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.

N/A.

C. Outreach

8. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue with the requester 

community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA? 

Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples 

of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency’s FOIA administration.

CNCS did not engage in outreach or dialogue with the requester community.

D. Other Initiatives

9. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of 

their obligations under the FOIA. In particular, please describe how often and in what 

formats your agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff.

CNCS provided FOIA training to the agency’s CEO Immediate Office, provided 

training on FOIA considerations to the staff who are working with our agency 

transition team, and simplified the “FOIA Basics for All Employees” guidance 

posted on our internal website to make the information easier to understand.

10. Optional – If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure 

that the presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.

N/A.

Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System 

in Place for Responding to Requests

DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines emphasize that “[a]pplication of the proper disclosure standard 

is only one part of ensuring transparency. Open government requires not just a 

presumption of disclosure, but also an effective system for responding to FOIA 

requests.” It is essential that agencies effectively manage their FOIA program.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to 

ensure that the management of your FOIA program is effective and efficient. You should 
also include any additional information that that describes your agency's efforts in this 

area.

1. For Fiscal Year 2020, what was the average number of days your agency reported for 

adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII.A. of your 

agency's Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report.

CNCS averaged 19 days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing.

2. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited 

processing was above ten calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency's 

Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to 

ensure that requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days 

or less.

The average of 19 represents a single request that was responded to directly by 

the agency’s Office of Inspector General. In future, the FOIA staff will 

coordinate more closely with that office to emphasize communication with 

requesters.

3. During the reporting period, did your agency conduct a self-assessment of its FOIA 

program? If so, please describe the methods used, such as reviewing Annual Report or 

raw data, using active workflows and track management, reviewing and updating 

processing procedures, etc.

Note: In September 2017, OIP released a FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit as a resource for 

agencies conducting a self-assessment of their FOIA program. The Toolkit is available 

on OIP’s website for all agencies to use.

CNCS uses its Annual Report data to monitor any weaknesses in its FOIA 

program, but did not conduct a formal assessment. 

4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Having SOPs can improve the consistency 

and quality of an agency’s FOIA process. In addition, describing an agency’s standard 

practices for handling FOIA requests on agency FOIA websites can help requesters 

better understand how their request will be handled.

a) Does your agency have SOPs that outline general processes for handling FOIA 

requests and appeals?

Yes, the agency has a “FOIA procedures” document that the FOIA officer follows.

b) If not, does your agency have plans to create FOIA SOPs?

N/A.

c) If yes, how often are they reviewed/updated to account for changes in law, best 

practices, and technology?
The FOIA program updates processes as the law changes and monitors USDOJ’s 

online FOIA information for new recommendations in best practices.

d) In addition to having SOPs, does your agency post or otherwise describe your 

standard processes for handling requests on your website?

CNCS’s FOIA regulations, §§ 2507.5-2507.11, describe FOIA processing at the 

agency, and are posted on our public website.

5. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters 

about the services provided by the agency’s FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an 

estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency’s FOIA 

Public Liaison during FY 2020 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the 

number).

Requesters sought assistance from CNCS’s FOIA Public Liaison approximately 

five times.

6. Does your agency frequently receive common categories of first-party requests? If so, 

please describe the types of requests and if your agency has explored establishing 

alternative means of access to these records outside of the FOIA process?

Relatively frequently, the agency receives requests from former members of the 

National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), one of our AmeriCorps programs, 

for the medical records they submitted upon application to the program, or for 

their records of service. We have explored ways for the NCCC program staff to

provide the records. However, those records sometimes contain sensitive 

information, so the agency has deemed it more prudent to continue to provide 

the records through the FOIA/Privacy Act process, which operate jointly at 

CNCS.

7. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 required all agencies to update their FOIA 

regulations within 180 days. Has your agency updated its FOIA regulations in 

accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016? If not, what is your agency's plan 

to update your regulations?

CNCS has not updated its FOIA regulations. We have drafted revised 

regulations; these are listed on the agency’s Unified Agenda for publication in 

FY 2021.

8. Please explain how your agency worked to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 

pandemic on FOIA processing. Examples could include, but are not limited to: altering 

workflows, implementing new technology, providing notices and instructions or 

otherwise communicating directly with requesters.

Because CNCS had a robust remote work program in place, the pandemic had 

little impact on FOIA processing. Communication across the agency to obtain 

requested records was essentially uninterrupted. Even copies of paper records 
were attainable, as a small number of agency staff were going to their offices 

under careful conditions. When extended discussions about records were 

needed, we relied on Microsoft Teams, which was already in place.

Even before the pandemic, nearly every FOIA request came to the agency either 

through its dedicated email address or the National FOIA Portal. However, the 

FOIA officer received permission to go twice weekly to the office to check for 

paper mail. One paper FOIA request has come in during the pandemic 

restrictions.

9. Optional – Please describe:

• Best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently and 

effectively

o CNCS has a single FOIA officer, which promotes efficiency.

o The FOIA email inbox is monitored throughout each workday.

o FOIA requests are tracked on a color-coded, detailed spreadsheet to aid 

in monitoring the process of request fulfillment.

o FOIA record filing is highly organized and regularly maintained.

o The agency has made significant efforts to make as many records 

electronic as possible, which simplifies records retrieval. 

o The agency FOIA officer works in close collaboration with agency lead 

staff to optimize requests and identify and collect records

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

N/A

Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

The Department of Justice has long focused on the need for agencies to work proactively 

to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to 

increase the amount of material that is available on your agency websites. In addition to 

the questions below, you should also describe any additional steps taken by your agency 

to make and improve proactive disclosures of information.

1. Provide examples of any material that your agency has proactively disclosed during 

the past reporting year, including records that have been requested and released 

three or more times in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D). Please include links 

to these materials as well.

Examples of new information CNCS posted to support national service members, 

grantees, and volunteers include:
• AmeriCorps fact sheets: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom/communicationresources/fact-sheets

• Strengthening our brand information: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/about/transformation-andsustainability-plan/strengthening-our-brand including Brand resources: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/about-cncs/transformation-andsustainability-plan/strengthening-our-brand/americorps-brand-resources

• Recruitment resource hub: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/resources/recruitment-resource-hub

• News articles about our agency and programs: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom

• Blog articles about our agency and programs: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/blogs

• COVID-19 FAQs and resources: 

https://www.nationalservice.gov/about/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19

2. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted 

information more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals 

who regularly access your agency’s website?

Yes, the agency web team continually looks for ways to improve the usability of our 

websites. 

3. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please describe 

steps your agency is taking to post information in open, machine-readable, and 

machine-actionable formats, to the extent feasible. If not posting in open formats, 

please explain why and note any challenges.

• In 2020, CNCS launched a project to redesign our primary website under the 

new domain AmeriCorps.gov and move the platform from Drupal 7 to Drupal 

8. In September 2020, AmeriCorps launched a website lite (4-page brochure 

site) under the AmeriCorps.gov domain (https://americorps.gov/) and in 

January 2021, AmeriCorps launched a full site on the AmeriCorps.gov domain 

(same URL). As the agency scales up AmeriCorps.gov, they will scale down 

NationalService.gov. NationalService.gov (https://www.nationalservice.gov/) 

will sunset completely in June 2021.

• The AmeriCorps.gov site has overall improved functionality and security due to 

the improvements from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. Additionally, the site was built in 

a more intuitive, text-light, format. Further details of improvements will appear 

in next year’s report.

3. Optional – Please describe:
• Best practices used to improve proactive disclosures

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

Most pages on our public website are maintained by staff whose primary job is 

not related to agency digital media. This spreads the workload, but also spreads 

the points of contact for addressing and encouraging proactive disclosure. 

However, this is mitigated to a large extent by the interest all CNCS offices 

share in keeping the public well informed.

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information more 

accessible. In addition to using the internet to make proactive disclosures, agencies 

should also be exploring ways to utilize technology in responding to requests.

Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is utilizing 

technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to 

information. You should also include any additional information that that describes 

your agency's efforts in this area.

1. Please briefly describe the types of technology your agency uses to support your FOIA 

program. In addition, please highlight if your agency is leveraging or exploring any new 

technology that you have not previously reported. If so, please describe the type of 

technology. 

• The agency maintains its files on SharePoint, which allows offices to easily

share records responsive to FOIA requests.

• CNCS uses an Excel spreadsheet to track requests.

• FOIA written communication with requesters, including sending responsive 

records, is done entirely via its dedicated FOIA email address.

• CNCS has a presence on the National FOIA Portal at FOIA.gov, and uses the 

FOIA.gov software to compile the agency’s Annual FOIA Report.

• All CNCS offices have the responsibility and capacity to post their information 

on the agency’s public website. This allows the FOIA officer to routinely post 

FOIA materials, including quarterly and annual reports, monthly logs, and 

other materials on the site’s FOIA pages.

• CNCS is considering the purchase of e-discovery software and saw several 

demonstrations in 2020.

2. OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA 

websites to ensure that they contain essential resources, and are informative and userfriendly. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to 

ensure it addresses the elements noted in the guidance?
The FOIA pages were reviewed, streamlined, and made more user-friendly as part 

of the agency’s website comprehensive redesign in late 2020 and early 2021.

4. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2020?

Yes, all four quarterly reports were posted on time.

5. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information 

appearing on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency’s plan for 

ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2021.

N/A.

6. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical 

data used to compile their Annual FOIA Reports. Please provide the link to this 

posting for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2019 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for 

your agency’s Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report.

FY 2019 raw data link: https://www.nationalservice.gov/documents/2020/2019-

annual-foia-report-raw-data 

The data for 2020 are pending posting.

7. Optional – Please describe:

• Best practices used in greater utilizing technology

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests 

and Reducing Backlogs

The Department of Justice has emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in 

responding to requests. This section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report addresses both 

time limits and backlog reduction. Backlog reduction is measured both in terms of 

numbers of backlogged requests or appeals and by looking at whether agencies closed 

their ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations.

For the figures required in this Section, please use the numbers contained in the 

specified sections of your agency’s FY 2019 and 2020 Annual FOIA Reports.

A. Simple Track

Section VII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled "FOIA Requests –

Response Time for All Processed Requests," includes figures that show your agency's 

average response times for processed requests. For agencies utilizing a multi-track 

system to process requests, there is a category for "simple" requests, which are those 

requests that are placed in the agency’s fastest (non-expedited) track, based on the low 

volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.
1. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests? 

Yes.

2. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA 

Report section VII.A, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple 

requests twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2020?

CNCS’s average processing time for simple requests was 12.6 days.

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 

2020 that were placed in your simple track. Please use the following calculation based 

on the data from your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section 

VII.C.1) divided by (requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100.

Simple requests were 74% of all processed requests.

4. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of 

days to process all non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer?

N/A.

B. Backlogs

Section XII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled "Backlogs of FOIA 

Requests and Administrative Appeals" shows the numbers of any backlogged requests 

or appeals from the fiscal year. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual 

FOIA Reports for both Fiscal Year 2019 and Fiscal Year 2020 when completing this 

section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2020, according to 

Annual FOIA Report Section XII.A, did that backlog decrease as compared with the 

backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2019?

Yes; CNCS had a backlog of three requests at the end of FY 2019 and one request 

at the end of FY 2020.

6. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section V.A, did your agency process more 

requests during Fiscal Year 2020 than it did during Fiscal Year 2019?

N/A.

7. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2020, please explain 

why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its 

backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing 

factors:
• An increase in the number of incoming requests.

• A loss of staff.

• An increase in the complexity of the requests received. If possible, please provide 

examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your 

backlog increase.

• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.

N/A.

8. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up 

the backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 

2020. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA 

Report: (backlogged requests from Section XII.A) divided by (requests received from 

Section V.A) x 100. If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with “N/A.”

The backlog was 2% of all processed requests.

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2020, according to 

Section XII.A of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with 

the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2019?

The backlog remained the same – zero.

10. If not, according to section VI.A of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency 

process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2020 than it did during Fiscal Year 2019?

N/A.

11. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2020, please explain 

why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its 

backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing 

factors:

• An increase in the number of incoming appeals.

• A loss of staff.

• An increase in the complexity of the requests received. If possible, please provide 

examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your 

backlog increase.

• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.

N/A.

12. If you had an appeal backlog please report the percentage of appeals that make up 

the backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 

2020. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA 

Report: (backlogged appeals from Section XII.A) divided by (appeals received from 
Section VI.A) x 100. If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2020 

and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

N/A.

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2020 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of 

over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2019 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog 

reduction in the year ahead. Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last 

year? If so, describe your agency’s efforts in implementing this plan and note if your 

agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2020?

Our backlog from FY 2019 was three requests, and we closed them all in FY 

2020.

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2020, please 

explain your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2021.

N/A.

D. Status of Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations

Section VII.E, entitled "Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests," Section 

VI.C.(5), entitled "Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals," and Section XII.C., 

entitled "Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from 

Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency," show the ten oldest pending requests, 

appeals, and consultations. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA 

Reports for both Fiscal Year 2019 and Fiscal Year 2020 when completing this section of 

your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2020, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests 

that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes, all reported pending requests from 2019 were closed in FY 2020.

16. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by 

the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual 

FOIA Report. If you had fewer than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate 

that.

CNCS closed 8 of 8 pending perfected requests from FY 2019.

17. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took 

to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.

N/A.
TEN OLDEST APPEALS

18. In Fiscal Year 2020, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported 

pending in Section VII.C.5. of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual FOIA Report?

CNCS had no pending appeals at the end of FY 2019.

19. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by 

the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual 

FOIA Report. If you had fewer than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate 

that.

N/A.

20. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took 

to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals.

N/A.

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

21. In Fiscal Year 2020, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were 

reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual FOIA Report?

CNCS had no consultations from other agencies in FY 2019.

22. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close 

by the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2019 Annual 

FOIA Report. If you had fewer than ten total oldest consultations to close, please 

indicate that.

N/A.

E. Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and 

Consultations & Plans

23. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest requests, 

appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2019.

CNCS had eight pending requests at the end of FY 2019 and did not encounter 

obstacles in closing them. The agency had no pending appeals or consultations 

at the end of FY 2019.

24. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests because you were 

waiting to hear back from other agencies on consultations you sent, please provide the 

date the request was initially received by your agency, the date when your agency sent 

the consultation, and the date when you last contacted the agency where the 

consultation was pending.
N/A.

25. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or 

consultations, please provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those 

“ten oldest” requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2021.

N/A.

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2020 to increase 

transparency and improve FOIA administration, please briefly describe here at least one 

success story that you would like to highlight as emblematic of your agency’s 

efforts. The success story can come from any one of the five key areas, but should not be 

something that you have reported in a prior year. As noted above, OIP will highlight 

these agency success stories during Sunshine Week. To facilitate this process, all 

agencies should use bullets to describe their success story and limit their text to a half 

page. The success story is designed to be a quick summary of key achievements. A 

complete description of all your efforts will be contained in the body of your Chief FOIA 

Officer Report.

CNCS undertook a major revision of its public website during the reporting period, 

enhancing the agency’s proactive disclosures. The revision was driven by the agency’s 

re-branding as AmeriCorps (although the agency retains its legal name, Corporation 

for National and Community Service), which in turn arose from a desire to make the 

agency’s mission of service – and the opportunities it provides for service – better 

known by the public. The effort to revise the agency’s digital face engaged every office 

at the agency. It removed outdated material, streamlined presentation of information 

about the agency, and made it easier for the public to learn what CNCS does, how the 

agency operates, and how the public can benefit from our mission.