The agency has completed a few regions in the last few years. This is a VERY COMPRENSIVE DIVE into everything about you, i.e. credit, criminal, medical, family.

As a FEDERAL EMPLOYEE you are required to respond.

Failure to provide ACCURATE information could be grounds for termination.

HINTS:

*Have your credit report ready.

*Have your Passport ready.

*Have names and addresses of family available (deceased included)

*Be Truthful

BACKGROUND:

On July 6, 2015, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) updated Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1400 (5 CFR 1400) requiring reassessment of the position sensitivity designation of all agency position descriptions (PD). Due to our extensive handling of personally identifiable information and Federal Tax Information, Operation’s front line employees (e.g., CSRs, CS, BA, etc.) and many of our other employees who currently have a Public Trust Tier 1 (non-sensitive/low risk) investigation level will be upgraded to Tier 2 (moderate risk). The Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Seattle Regions successfully implemented the updated OPM requirements. The agency is now ready to implement these requirements in the Chicago Region.

INVESTIGATION PROCESS:

The background investigation process is generally handled in two (2) phases: Phase 1 – Fingerprinting; and Phase 2 – Investigative Paperwork. However, due to COVID-19, the fingerprinting phase is temporarily on pause. During the Investigative Paperwork Phase, all employees in an office who require an investigation will go through the process at the same time. Office of Personnel (OPE) is responsible for initiating the investigations, and based on a schedule determined by the region, they will email employees notifying them of the need for investigation and provide instructions for completing the necessary documentation.

Employees must complete the following documents for the reinvestigation:• Fingerprints (temporarily on hold due to COVID-19), • the Declaration for Federal Employment form (OF-306), and• a credit authorization and Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions (SF-85P) completed within eQIP.Once the employee has submitted all of the necessary paperwork, OPE will forward it to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), our investigative service provider, to complete the investigation. Although it is possible that the investigation will identify concerns, OPE anticipates that less than 1% of agency investigations will uncover significant problems. If DCSA identifies problems during the investigation, OPE will mitigate where possible.

WHEN:

(THIS DATE WILL VARY PER OFFICE) is when OPE will begin to send emails DIRECLTY to you to start the investigate process.

The email will come from ^DCHR OPE CSPS 1400PD.

You are authorized to work on the application while on duty.

You will have about two (2) weeks to complete the application.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Here are some resources to help you understand the process

.• 5 CFR 1400 Implementation Site,

• Investigation Forms,

• FAQs,

• CSPS hotline (1-844-874-9940 – available from 8:00am – 6:00pm EST),

• CSPS email ^DCHR OPE CSPS 1400PD, and

• Federal Trade Commission’s website