Mental Health General Counsel

Elaine Marie Phillips

Professional Summary:

• Senior FOIA Analyst with experience in redacting information from FOIA documents for discovery and trials purposes and raining in FOIAXpress Version 10.

• Reviewed large FOIA documents for specific client requests and redacted Exemptions (b)5 and 6 in the General Counsel Office.

• Utilized FOIAXpress to login to new requests to review and redact documents for accidents involving trains, planes, helicopters, and vehicles for victims, deceased, and safety rules and regulations.

• Analyzed public document management systems against received requested documents to eliminate copies. Enter request Intakes in FOIAXpress and clarify request descriptions from requesters.

• Expertise in completing FOIA requests to the VA Mental Health Department in agreement with DHHS policy, complying with the FOIA and/or the Privacy Act (PA). Completed the Department of Mental Health Certification Training Program to perform pre-screening evaluations on clients to obtain FOIA information needed for HHS research.

• Researched documents on the Internet to determine public status and reviewed documents in Ringtail to determine responsive and non-responsive status to obtain accurate requests for FOIA. Technical Skills:

Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook), SharePoint, Lexis Advance, Ringtail, Relativity, Adobe Acrobat, Summation, Manuscript, Legal Files Software, CRIS, Amicus Calendar, Type 55 wpm, FOIA. Education:

• Master of Arts in Sociology emphasis Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA in 2001.

• Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from Saint Leo University, NAS, Norfolk, VA in 1996. Professional Work Experience:

General Services Administration (GSA)/Kenny Business Solutions, Lorton, VA Sr. FOIA Analyst

April 2023 to April 2024

Contribution:

• Responsible for processing Intake letters (unperfected, acknowledgment and clarification letters). Sending POCs Request for Documents in FX.

• Creating Tasks Reminders, Starting and Stopping the Clock and sending out Fee-Related documentation to requester.

• Process redactions using FOIAXpress.

• Review FOIA documents for GSA requests and redacted for Exemptions (b)(3), (b)4, (b)5, (b)6,

(b)(7)(A) & (b)(7)(C) for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

• Issue either an interim or final response letters along with responsive document through FOIAXpress to requesters for the Program offices. Close out cases in FOIAXpress and placed document copies on G:/ShareDrive.

Department Of Education (DOE)/TechOps Solutions, Arlington, VA Sr. FOIA Analyst

August 2022 to April 2023

Contribution:

• Utilized FOIAXpress to login to requests to review and redact cases and close cases regarding student loans debt, college closings, Office of Secretary (OS) and DOE Board Members’ e-mails and calendars.

• Processed redactions using FOIAXpress.

• Reviewed FOIA documents for DOE requests and redacted for Exemption (b)(3), (b)(4), (b)(5),

(b)(6), (b)(7)(A) & (b)(7)(C) for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

• Issued 10-day letters to Program Offices and 20-Day letters to requesters and sent follow up e-mails to Project Offices to obtain status of admin searches for responsive records.

• Issued either an interim or a final response along with responsive document through FOIAXpress to requesters for the Program offices. Close out cases in FOIAXpress and placed document copies in OCIO.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)/AINS, Washington, D.C. FOIA Analyst

December 2019 to August 2022

Contribution:

• Utilize FOIAXpress to login to new requests to review and redact documents for accidents involving trains, planes, helicopters and vehicles for victims, deceased and safety rules and regulations. Analyze Public Document Management Systems against received requested documents to eliminate copies.

• Enter request Intakes in FOIAXpress and clarify request descriptions from requesters. Search and locate open investigations for requested documents in NTSB-Keys, CAROL Query or Document Management System.

• Review FOIA documents for NTSB requests and dual-redacted documents for Exemptions (b)(3),

(b)4, (b)5 & (b)6 along with red-flagged redacted documents for the CIO under the Department of Justice (DOJ).

• Responsible for providing necessary comments in FOIAXpress requests documents for other Analysts.

• Assign completed and linked documents in FOIAXpress for 2nd analyst review. Department Of Education (DOE)/ Windwalker, Washington, D.C. FOIA Analyst

April 2019 to December 2019

Contribution:

• Utilized FOIAXpress to login to requests to review and redact cases and close cases regarding student loans debt, college closings, Office of Secretary (OS) and DOE Board Members’ e-mails and calendars.

• Process redactions using FOIAXpress.

• Review FOIA documents for DOE requests and redacted for Exemptions (b)(3), (b)4, (b)5 & (b)6 for the Department of Justice (DOJ).

• Issue 20-Day letters to requesters and sent follow up e-mails to Project Offices to obtain status of admin searches for responsive records.

• Issue either an interim or a final response along with responsive document through FOIAXpress to requesters for the Program offices. Close out cases in FOIAXpress and placed document copies in OCIO.

Department Of Health Agencies (DHA)AITHERAS, LL, Falls Church, VA FOIA Analyst

November 2018 to April 2019

Contribution:

• Utilized FOIAXpress to login new cases and close cases.

• Reviewed FOIA documents for DHA requests and redacted for Exemptions (b)4, (b)5 & (b)6 for the Department of Defense (DOD).

• Received FOIA and Privacy Act (PA) requests, and determined whether the requests were submitted according to the DHA FOIA Regulations. Processed redactions using Adobe Pro and Excel.

• Downloaded and reviewed admin search of responsive docs from Project Offices using database, Correspondence and Task Management Systems (CATMS). Office Of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)/ Wits Solutions, Washington D.C. FOIA Analyst

March 2018 to November 2018

Contribution:

• Reviewed large FOIA documents for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) requests and redact for Exemptions (b)4, (b)5, (b)6, (b)7c and (b)7e for the Office of General Counsel in Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

• Researched documents on the Internet to determine public status. Obtained Public Trust Sensitive Clearance from DHS for government contract work.

• Reviewed documents in Relativity and Adobe Acrobat to determine Responsive and Non- responsive status to obtain accurate requests for FOIA. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)/PAE, Washington D.C. Paralegal

July 2017 to December 2017

Contribution:

• Performed research in Lexis Advance for Special Counsel in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) Department regarding SEC rules, regulations 10k companies and legal terms pertaining to previous or new cases.

• Responsible for creating monthly minutes to International Meetings attended by an attorney and economists regarding their research findings and analysis of reports of the stock market and financial institutions relating to economic factors.

• Organized court case research findings in SharePoint for present and future search purposes for SEC attorneys and economists.

Office Of Management and Budget (OMB)/CACI/SMRC, Washington D.C. FOIA Analyst

April 2017 to June 2017

Contribution:

• Reviewed large FOIA documents for specific client requests and redacted for Exemptions (b)5 and 6 in the General Counsel Office.

• Researched documents on the Internet to determine public status. Sensitive Security Clearance for government contract work.

• Reviewed documents in Ringtail to determine Responsive and Non-responsive status to obtain accurate requests for FOIA.

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