Fairfax County creates transparency, efficiency, accountability with Dynamics 365 ’VFOIA‘ Tracker

Developing an automated tracking solution

Kastl and “data wizard” Molly Shannon, Office of Public Affairs at Fairfax County, began scoping an automated FOIA tracking solution for everyone to use in a consistent way, with the goals of more open government, accountability to residents, and compliance with applicable laws. As technical project manager, Shannon first identified the system’s business requirements and mapped the myriad ways FOIAs were being processed throughout Fairfax County.

Following the principle of “seek first to understand, then to be understood,” the two joined forces with Felecia Pickett, Project Manager, Department of Information Technology at Fairfax County, to determine the optimum solution for central tracking of FOIA requests from beginning to end. “It’s very important, with all the options that are out there, to listen and then be able to understand and present what we believe is the solution that fits within the county’s high standards,” says Pickett.

Meeting goals with VFOIA Tracker

The team produced a tracking system built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Dynamics CRM). After a pilot that ran July–December 2017, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) Tracker rolled out in January 2018. “Dynamics 365 was the solution of choice; it is accessible seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” Pickett explains. Other Dynamics 365 advantages included ease of use and employee familiarity with Microsoft apps, helping to minimize the learning curve. Underscoring how simple it is for non-data experts to enter and retrieve VFOIA Tracker information, Pickett calls it “the ATM experience,” Kastl likens it to Fisher-Price toys, and Shannon uses the 101-class analogy.

After assessing other FOIA tools on the market, the team found the Dynamics 365 platform enabled greater flexibility, configuration, and customization to achieve their goals and meet Fairfax County’s specific FOIA compliance requirements. “We made our own box versus somebody putting us in a box and having to change our process to fit it,” Shannon adds. “Microsoft gave a us a tool that’s agile … there’s never been a point where we hit a wall and could not do something. It’s a great tool for information sharing.”

During the pilot, the team thoroughly tested and challenged the new system, coming up with ways to break the VFOIA Tracker—and then figuring out how to fix it.

Producing ‘jam-packed’ VFOIA annual reports

The VFOIA Tracker’s data produces a variety of FOIA metrics, including number of requests, average response times, redacting level, and typical fees and waivers. “The VFOIA Tracker allowed us to track FOIA requests in ways like never before,” notes Kastl.

Since an internal dashboard makes the Tracker’s information available for senior county leaders to review anytime, the comprehensive, countywide FOIA data also provides the basis of an annual public report. The initial 2018 report showed that the county fielded 9,329 FOIA requests, each taking an average of three days, despite the state of Virginia allowing up to five days. While VFOIA requests grew in 2019 to 11,762, average response times were reduced to just two days. “The annual report is one of the best examples of how the VFOIA Tracker was mutually beneficial to the county and the public,” says Kastl. The Virginia Coalition for Open Government acknowledged Fairfax County’s VFOIA annual report in its 2019 Sunshine Report, calling it “jam-packed with graphics, factoids, and statistics tracking the FOIA process in that county,” and reinforcing that “Everyone can do what Fairfax has done.”

More recently, the VFOIA Tracker’s value accelerated during the COVID-19 health crisis. Whether employees were at their work site or teleworking from the dining table, they could continue to input their FOIA-related information into the Tracker. “The county didn’t have to pause on consolidating requests and generating the time-sensitive responses required,” explains Kastl.

Reputation for transparency

The Fairfax Countywide FOIA Office and VFOIA Tracker were honored in 2018 with a Virginia Governor's Technology Award for developing a process described as “much faster, much cheaper, and more accurate … adding to the county’s reputation for transparency.” In addition to accepting the award at the 2018 Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium, Kastl and Pickett participated in a panel discussion. “Our FOIA panel room was filled,” Kastl recalls, with CIOs, programmers, compliance officers, auditors, and others in attendance. “People wanted to know more about this tool and how it could benefit them in their process, especially given the ever-increasing number and complexity of FOIA requests.”

Kastl attributes the significant interest in the VFOIA Tracker to a common public-sector perception. “For government employees, responding to FOIAs is a unique challenge because the required response time is so tight and, generally, those addressing FOIAs are also busy providing other government services,” she says. With the VFOIA Tracker automating the process, “Our team can focus on the more important parts of FOIA, which is really reaching our residents and giving them the information they need,” she adds. Despite the transformation empowered by the VFOIA Tracker, Kastl points to an even bigger impact: “I think our definition of transparency has been transformed because we now have metrics to support and actually measure it.”