DCSA - Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency
10/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/01/2024 09:25
DCSA announces conversion of Adjudication and Vetting Services to the Working Capital Fund
QUANTICO, Va. - DCSA Adjudication and Vetting Services (AVS) is scheduled to convert its current appropriated funded program to a fee-for-service program under the agency's Working Capital Fund (WCF) starting Oct. 1, 2024.
The conversion - supporting DCSA efforts to optimize delivery of its Personnel Security products and services to DOD and other federal agencies - is the result of the agency's collaboration with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Intelligence and Security (I&S) and OUSD (Comptroller). The move to a WCF fee-for-service program will provide a full-cost recovery financial operating model designed to increase business efficiency by facilitating optimal resource management.
The transition standardizes the funding model in which Personnel Security components operate and ultimately allows for more operational efficiency, technology investments and innovation, program cost savings, streamlined and synergistic financial processing, flexibility and transparency into tracking and validating product and service-related costs.
In January, DCSA Financial Operations Chief Jack Jibilian and his team contacted AVS customers to notify them of the upcoming changes and provide guidance related to the transition to WCF in seven months. As AVS delivers informed and timely adjudicative decisions supporting a continuously vetted and trusted workforce to enable operational readiness and risk management, Jibilian and his financial operations team are engaged to ensure their customers are apprised and ready for the transition to WCF in seven months.
"We are providing high-level updates on a quarterly basis to our personnel security partners and a dedicated AVS WCF transition mailbox is available for their questions and ad hoc discussions at any time," said Jibilian. "The comprehensive information we provide to our stakeholders about the AVS transition will enable them to assess the impact on their operations, make necessary adjustments to their workflows, effectively allocate resources, and make changes to their respective agencies' budgeting, invoicing and financial processes."
In addition to optimized funding, a working capital funded AVS is expected to boost operational efficiency by aligning customer demand while increasing transparency into tracking and validating product and service-related costs.
"It will promote consistent operational and financial processing across the federal government through a unified service approach," said Jibilian. "The working capital fund program will provide valuable insights with detailed financial reporting that can reduce our overall program costs."
A reduced budgetary risk due to improved management of services is also anticipated due to the WCF model, which fosters flexibility within budget cycles to account for changes in supply and demand. Consequently, AVS continuity of operations will be enabled across fiscal years, overcoming appropriation limitations.
Moreover, the WCF model supports the prospect of future adjudications service offerings to more federal agencies while improving reciprocity and decreasing per-adjudication case costs.
"The efficiencies of a single WCF model versus multiple ones (general fund and WCF) and its optimization potential will provide us with opportunities to ultimately reduce program costs and avoid new expenses resulting in savings we can pass on to our customers," said Jibilian. "
As the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and fourth estate entities responsible for personnel security navigate changes and prepare for the upcoming AVS transition to WCF, they will need to budget for it as they will have to start reimbursing DCSA for AVS products and services. OUSD Comptroller will redistribute fiscal year 2025 AVS funding - originally planned for appropriation to DCSA - to the military departments and DOD agencies.
"The allocation of redistributed funds was derived through analysis of historical adjudication workload by each component," said Jibilian. "DCSA's end-to-end personnel security services provided under the standardized fee-for-service WCF model best supports the federal government's move toward Trusted Workforce 2.0, as it enables more efficient pricing coordination, improves the resulting AVS costs covered by bundled and subscription products associated with background investigations and continuous vetting, and creates demand-driven resources for improved program investments."
For reference, fiscal year 2024 and planned fiscal year 2025 products and pricing are available in the latest Federal Investigations Notice (FIN) (23-03), published in September 2023. This year's FIN, released on Sept. 5, 2024, provides fiscal year 2025 and planned fiscal year 2026 products and pricing. For legacy and Trusted Workforce tiered background investigative products, prices in the FIN will include the investigation and adjudication bundled in a single price.
DCSA is the primary personnel security service provider, conducting 95% of all background investigations for over 100 agencies and industry partners and 70% of the federal government's adjudicative determinations. The agency's end-to-end personnel security services spans submissions, investigations, adjudications and continuous vetting to safeguard the integrity and trustworthiness of the federal and contractor workforce. As a shared service provider, DCSA is charged with implementing and executing a significant amount of Trusted Workforce 2.0, the federal government's latest reform to the personnel security process.
The conversion - supporting DCSA efforts to optimize delivery of its Personnel Security products and services to DOD and other federal agencies - is the result of the agency's collaboration with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Intelligence and Security (I&S) and OUSD (Comptroller). The move to a WCF fee-for-service program will provide a full-cost recovery financial operating model designed to increase business efficiency by facilitating optimal resource management.
The transition standardizes the funding model in which Personnel Security components operate and ultimately allows for more operational efficiency, technology investments and innovation, program cost savings, streamlined and synergistic financial processing, flexibility and transparency into tracking and validating product and service-related costs.
In January, DCSA Financial Operations Chief Jack Jibilian and his team contacted AVS customers to notify them of the upcoming changes and provide guidance related to the transition to WCF in seven months. As AVS delivers informed and timely adjudicative decisions supporting a continuously vetted and trusted workforce to enable operational readiness and risk management, Jibilian and his financial operations team are engaged to ensure their customers are apprised and ready for the transition to WCF in seven months.
"We are providing high-level updates on a quarterly basis to our personnel security partners and a dedicated AVS WCF transition mailbox is available for their questions and ad hoc discussions at any time," said Jibilian. "The comprehensive information we provide to our stakeholders about the AVS transition will enable them to assess the impact on their operations, make necessary adjustments to their workflows, effectively allocate resources, and make changes to their respective agencies' budgeting, invoicing and financial processes."
In addition to optimized funding, a working capital funded AVS is expected to boost operational efficiency by aligning customer demand while increasing transparency into tracking and validating product and service-related costs.
"It will promote consistent operational and financial processing across the federal government through a unified service approach," said Jibilian. "The working capital fund program will provide valuable insights with detailed financial reporting that can reduce our overall program costs."
A reduced budgetary risk due to improved management of services is also anticipated due to the WCF model, which fosters flexibility within budget cycles to account for changes in supply and demand. Consequently, AVS continuity of operations will be enabled across fiscal years, overcoming appropriation limitations.
Moreover, the WCF model supports the prospect of future adjudications service offerings to more federal agencies while improving reciprocity and decreasing per-adjudication case costs.
"The efficiencies of a single WCF model versus multiple ones (general fund and WCF) and its optimization potential will provide us with opportunities to ultimately reduce program costs and avoid new expenses resulting in savings we can pass on to our customers," said Jibilian. "
As the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and fourth estate entities responsible for personnel security navigate changes and prepare for the upcoming AVS transition to WCF, they will need to budget for it as they will have to start reimbursing DCSA for AVS products and services. OUSD Comptroller will redistribute fiscal year 2025 AVS funding - originally planned for appropriation to DCSA - to the military departments and DOD agencies.
"The allocation of redistributed funds was derived through analysis of historical adjudication workload by each component," said Jibilian. "DCSA's end-to-end personnel security services provided under the standardized fee-for-service WCF model best supports the federal government's move toward Trusted Workforce 2.0, as it enables more efficient pricing coordination, improves the resulting AVS costs covered by bundled and subscription products associated with background investigations and continuous vetting, and creates demand-driven resources for improved program investments."
For reference, fiscal year 2024 and planned fiscal year 2025 products and pricing are available in the latest Federal Investigations Notice (FIN) (23-03), published in September 2023. This year's FIN, released on Sept. 5, 2024, provides fiscal year 2025 and planned fiscal year 2026 products and pricing. For legacy and Trusted Workforce tiered background investigative products, prices in the FIN will include the investigation and adjudication bundled in a single price.
DCSA is the primary personnel security service provider, conducting 95% of all background investigations for over 100 agencies and industry partners and 70% of the federal government's adjudicative determinations. The agency's end-to-end personnel security services spans submissions, investigations, adjudications and continuous vetting to safeguard the integrity and trustworthiness of the federal and contractor workforce. As a shared service provider, DCSA is charged with implementing and executing a significant amount of Trusted Workforce 2.0, the federal government's latest reform to the personnel security process.