Federal Register Notice Seeks Comments about Partner Vetting System to OMB by Feb. 17, 2012

On Feb.18, 2012 the Department of State posted a new Federal Register Notice on the Partner Vetting System (PVS).  It seeks the Office of Management and Budget's approval for the State Department to collect personal information about its grantees' "key personnel" to be screened against government intelligence databases. The notice is the next step in State's process for launching a pilot PVS this year. 

Like the Federal Register notices published by State and USAID in 2011, there is very little detail or explanation. The notice says that supplementary information can be obtained by emailing a request to an official at State. The Charity & Security Network made the request and received a timely response that included the following:

• A "Supporting Statement" that gives State's response to public comments filed in December 2011
   
• The legal authorities State is relying on to seek approval for collecting the information on grantees' key officials
   
• The form State intends to use to collect the information (DS-4184).  State did not make any changes based on the comments it received to the draft form.
   
• A Paperwork Reduction Act form giving State's estimates of the burden PVS will create. (The file for this does not open, and State is working on re-formatting it. In the meantime, you can ask State to fax you a copy

Charity & Security Network staff is still reviewing this information. Summaries and analysis will be posted on this website soon.