SSBI-PR Source Yield: An Examination of Sources Contacted During the SSBI-PP

Abstract : A six-person team of highly experienced personnel security adjudicators and investigators reviewed 4,721 case files at four agencies routinely conducting the Single-Scope Background Investigation-Periodic Reinvestigation (SSBI-PR): Department of Defense (DoD), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Information was obtained regarding subjects' backgrounds, the sources that were included in the PRs, whether sources provided issue and/or mitigating information, and the type and adjudicative value of the information that was provided. Information yield was shown to differ dramatically across sources, and differences in source productivity were consistent across organizations. SF-86/SPHSs, Subject Interviews and Credit Reports consistently yielded issue and mitigating information most frequently. The majority of SSBI-PRs did not contain 'Issue-Relevant Information' and less than 5% of the SSBI-PRs resulted in 'actionable' outcomes by the participating organizations. These and other findings provide a foundation for designing an improved SSBI-PR process. Using data from this study, a second PERSEREC report, A New Approach to the SSBI-PR: Assessment of a Phased Reinvestigation, demonstrates how a phased approach to the SSBI-PR adjudicative process could achieve a more effective periodic reinvestigation program on a community-wide scale.