[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74736-74739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29379]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. DHS-2014-0068]
Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/United
States Coast Guard--002 Employee Assistance Program Records System of
Records
AGENCY: Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act System of Records.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of
Homeland Security proposes to update and reissue a current Department
of Homeland Security system of records titled, ``Department of Homeland
Security/United States Coast Guard Employee Assistance Program Records
System of Records.'' This system of records allows the Department of
Homeland Security/United States Coast Guard to administer the United
States Coast Guard Employee Assistance Program for military personnel.
As a result of the biennial review of this system, the system manager
and address category has been updated. Additionally, this notice
includes non-substantive changes to simplify the formatting and text of
the previously published notice. This updated system will be included
in the Department of Homeland Security's inventory of record systems.
DATES: Submit comments on or before January 15, 2015. This updated
system will be effective January 15, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2014-0068 by one of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-343-4010.
Mail: Karen L. Neuman, Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy
Office, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, please visit http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions, please contact:
Marilyn Scott-Perez (202) 475-3515, Privacy Officer, Commandant (CG-
61), United States Coast Guard, Mail Stop 7710, Washington, DC 20593.
For privacy questions, please contact: Karen L. Neuman, (202) 343-1717,
Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, Department of Homeland Security,
Washington, DC 20528.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Coast Guard (USCG)
proposes to update and reissue a current DHS system of records titled,
``DHS/United States Coast Guard--002 Employee Assistance Program
Records System of Records.'' The collection and maintenance of this
information will allow the DHS/USCG to administer the United States
Coast Guard Employee Assistance Program for military personnel. As a
result of a biennial review of the system, the system manager and
address category
[[Page 74737]]
has been updated to reflect the new mail stop.
Consistent with DHS's information-sharing mission, information
stored in the DHS/USCG-002 Employee Assistance Program Records System
of Records may be shared with other DHS components that have a need to
know the information to carry out their national security, law
enforcement, immigration, intelligence, or other homeland security
functions. In addition, information may be shared with appropriate
federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, or international
government agencies consistent with the routine uses set forth in this
system of records notice. This updated system will be included in DHS's
inventory of record systems.
II. Privacy Act
The Privacy Act embodies fair information practice principles in a
statutory framework governing the means by which Federal Government
agencies collect, maintain, use, and disseminate individuals' records.
The Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained in a ``system
of records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any records under
the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the
name of an individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other
identifying particular assigned to the individual. In the Privacy Act,
an individual is defined to encompass U.S. citizens and lawful
permanent residents. As a matter of policy, DHS extends administrative
Privacy Act protections to all individuals when systems of records
maintain information on U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and
visitors.
Below is the description of the DHS/USCG-002 Employee Assistance
Program Records System of Records.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), DHS has provided a report of
this system of records to the Office of Management and Budget and to
Congress.
System of Records
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/USCG-002
System name:
DHS/USCG-002 Employee Assistance Program Records.
Security classification:
Unclassified.
System location:
Records are maintained at the United States Coast Guard
Headquarters in Washington, DC and field offices.
Categories of individuals covered by the system:
All USCG active duty, reserve, and retired active duty and reserve
military personnel and their eligible dependents/individuals who have
been referred for assistance or counseling, are being assisted or
counseled, or have been assisted or counseled by the USCG Employee
Assistance Program. Eligibility will vary based on status.
Categories of records in the system:
Categories of records in this system include:
Military personnel's name;
Eligible dependent/individual's name, if applicable;
Social Security number;
Employee identification number;
Date of birth;
Addresses;
Email address;
Telephone numbers;
Job-related information including: Job title; rank; duty
station; supervisor's name and telephone number; documents received
from supervisors or personnel regarding work place problems or
performance; leave and attendance records; and workplace-related
recommendations made to supervisors as a result of a team meeting;
Counseling and intervention-related information including:
Notes and documentation of Employee Assistance Program counselors;
records of treatment, including non-clinical educational interventions;
counseling referrals; team reports; records of employee attendance at
treatment and counseling programs; prognosis of individuals in
treatment or counseling programs; insurance data; addresses and contact
information of treatment facilities; name and address of individuals
providing treatment or counseling or intervention; and Privacy Act
notification forms and written consent forms;
USCG Workplace Violence and related Critical Incident Team
records of the Workplace Violence Prevention Program, maintained by
USCG Work-Life personnel. These records may include written reports and
recommendations to leadership personnel regarding alleged work place
violence incidents;
USCG Critical Incident Stress Management-related records,
which may include descriptions of incidents, consultations,
interventions, and may contain personally-identifying information (for
the purpose of follow-on contacts with those thought to be impacted by
the critical incident);
USCG Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program case
records maintained by USCG Work-Life personnel. These records are used
to facilitate services for victims and their family members as
appropriate. In addition to information cited above, these records may
contain Victim Reporting Preference Statement, case notes, and safety
plan. Record may also contain descriptions of alleged assaults;
USCG Victim Support Person or Victim Advocate maintained
by USCG Work-Life personnel. These are maintained in conjunction with
efforts to provide assistance to victims of crime. Records will contain
signed Victim Support Person or Victim Advocate Statement of
Understanding and Victim Support Person or Victim Advocate Supervisor;
Statement of Understanding, assignment information, and
notes regarding results of screening interview, relevant training
received, and any other information relevant to the Victim Support
Person's or Victim Advocate's provision of support services to victims;
USCG Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Volunteers
maintained by USCG Work-Life personnel. These records contain statement
of understanding, notes regarding screening interview, record of
related training received, and any other information relevant to the
peer's provision of services when deployed after a critical incident;
Case records maintained by USCG Work-Life personnel on
USCG Active Duty members who have demonstrated suicidal behavior. The
purpose of these records is to facilitate continuity of care for
personnel who have exhibited suicidal behavior. These records will
contain reports regarding each incident and follow-up case notes;
Reports of USCG active duty suicidal behavior incidents,
work place violence incidents, critical incidents, and sexual assaults
are maintained by USCG Headquarters (CG-1112). These reports are
received from Work-Life Offices, which are responsible for providing
services for the related programs described above. Their purpose is to
ensure continuity of care and to identify any systemic issues found in
aggregate data.
Authority for maintenance of the system:
5 U.S.C. 7361, 7362, 7901, and 7904; 5 U.S.C. 301; Federal Records
Act, 44 U.S.C. 3101.
Purpose(s):
The Employee Assistance Program will maintain information gathered
by and in the possession of the USCG Employee Assistance Program, an
internal agency program designed to
[[Page 74738]]
assist employees of USCG and, in certain instances, their eligible
dependents/individuals, in regard to a variety of personal and/or work
related problems. The program involves counseling, educational, and
consultative services provided through the internal and external
Employee Assistance Program for alcohol, drug, emotional, or behavioral
problems, and addresses mandatory and voluntary counseling following
exposure to a traumatic incident, responses to critical incidents that
impact employees, and workplace incidents involving actual violence or
the threat of violence and necessary follow up.
Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories
of users and the purposes of such uses:
Disclosure of substance abuse records is limited to the parameters
set forth in 42 U.S.C. 290dd, 290ee, and Public Law 100-71, Section
503(e). Accordingly, a Federal employee's substance abuse records may
not be disclosed without the prior written consent of the employee,
unless the disclosure would be one of the following:
A. To the Department of Justice (including Offices of the United
States Attorneys) or other Federal agency conducting litigation or in
proceedings before any court, adjudicative, or administrative body when
it is necessary to the litigation and one of the following is a party
to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation:
1. DHS or any component thereof;
2. Any employee of DHS in his/her official capacity;
3. Any employee of DHS in his/her individual capacity when DOJ or
DHS has agreed to represent the employee; or
4. The United States or any agency thereof, is a party to the
litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and DHS determines
that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and
the use of such records is compatible with the purpose for which DHS
collected the records.
B. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when:
1. DHS suspects or has confirmed that the security or
confidentiality of information in the system of records has been
compromised;
2. The Department has determined that as a result of the suspected
or confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or
integrity of this system or other systems or programs (whether
maintained by the Department or another agency or entity) or harm to
the individual who relies upon the compromised information;
3. The disclosure made to such agencies, entities, and persons is
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with the Department's
efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and
prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm.
C. To contractors and their agents, grantees, experts, consultants,
and others performing or working on a contract, service, grant,
cooperative agreement, or other assignment for DHS, when necessary to
accomplish an agency function related to this system of records.
Individuals provided information under this routine use are subject to
the same Privacy Act requirements and limitations on disclosure as are
applicable to DHS officers and employees.
D. To appropriate State and local authorities to report, under
State law, incidents of suspected child abuse or neglect to the extent
described under 42 CFR 2.12.
E. To any person or entity to the extent necessary to prevent an
imminent and potential crime that directly threatens loss of life or
serious bodily injury.
F. To report to appropriate authorities when an individual is
potentially at risk to harm himself or herself or others.
G. To medical personnel to the extent necessary to meet a bona fide
medical emergency.
H. To qualified personnel for the purpose of conducting scientific
research, management audits, financial audits, or program evaluation
provided that employees are individually identified.
I. To the employee's medical review official.
J. To the administrator of any Employee Assistance Program in which
the employee is receiving counseling or treatment or is otherwise
participating.
K. To any supervisory or management official within the employee's
agency having authority to take adverse personnel action against such
employee.
L. Pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction when
required by the United States Government to defend against any
challenge against any adverse personnel action. See 42 U.S.C. 290dd,
290ee, and Public Law 100-71, Section 503(e).
Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
None.
Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining,
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
USCG stores records in this system electronically or on paper in
secure facilities in a locked drawer behind a locked door. The records
may be stored on magnetic disc, tape, or digital media.
Retrievability:
USCG may retrieve records/data by a Military personnel's or
eligible dependent's name. USCG Critical Incident Stress Management-
related records are filed by unit name and are not retrievable by
individual name, but instead, by unit name.
Safeguards:
USCG safeguards records in this system in accordance with
applicable rules and policies, including all applicable DHS automated
systems security and access policies. USCG imposes strict controls to
minimize the risk of compromising the information in this system.
Access to the computer system containing the records in this system is
limited to those individuals who have a need to know the information
for the performance of their official duties and who have appropriate
clearances or permissions.
Retention and disposal:
USCG maintains and disposes of records in accordance with National
Archives and Records Administration-approved agency Records Schedule,
SSIC 1754, item 1 (AUTH: N1-026-07-1, Item1) Employee Assistance
Program (EAP) Coordinator Case Records; if not disclosed under the
Privacy Act, records are retained for three years after the client has
ceased contact and then destroyed.
Employee Assistance Program client records may contain Department
of Transportation-required Substance Abuse evaluations and USCG Sexual
Abuse Prevention and Response Program client records; if not disclosed
under the Privacy Act, these are destroyed with the EAP Coordinator
case records three years after the last contact with the client.
Employee Assistance Program Coordinator Case Records that USCG
discloses are retained until five years after the client has ceased
contact or, if later, for five years after last disclosure of
information from the record, as authorized by General Records Schedule
14, item 23.
All records will be retained beyond their normal maintenance period
until any pending litigation is completed. This will be true whether or
not the client has terminated employment with DHS/USCG. Individual
states may require longer retention. The rules in this system notice
should not be construed to authorize any violation of such state laws
that have greater restrictions.
[[Page 74739]]
USCG will destroy files only after the required period of
maintenance, with a witness present, by either (1) a DHS or USCG
Employee Assistance Program Administrator or an Employee Assistance
Program Administrator from another organization that contracts with DHS
or USCG for Employee Assistance Program services, or (2) by designated
staff of a private or governmental organization under contract with DHS
or USCG to provide document destruction services. The witness must be
trained in the proper handling of records covered by the Privacy Act
and 42 CFR part 2.
USCG destroys written records by shredding or burning. USCG
destroys records stored on hard drives using software tools that ensure
the protection of the confidential information by making reconstruction
or compromise by reuse impracticable. USCG disposes of records
contained on back-up tapes/diskettes by either physically destroying
the tapes/diskettes or by deleting them using software tools which
ensure the protection of the confidential information by making
reconstruction or compromise by reuse impracticable.
USCG transfers records located away from the destruction site in a
confidential manner. No other information about Employee Assistance
Program clients may be maintained once these files have been destroyed.
System Manager and address:
Commandant (CG-111), United States Coast Guard, Mail Stop 7907,
Washington, DC 20593-0001.
Notification procedure:
Individuals seeking notification of and access to any record
contained in this system of records, or seeking to contest its content,
may submit a request in writing to the Commandant (CG-611), United
States Coast Guard, Mail Stop 7710, Washington, DC 20593.
If an individual believes more than one component maintains Privacy
Act records concerning him or her, the individual may submit the
request to the Chief Privacy Officer and Chief Freedom of Information
Act Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Drive SW.,
Building 410, STOP-0655, Washington, DC 20528.
When seeking records about yourself from this system of records or
any other Departmental system of records, your request must conform
with the Privacy Act regulations set forth in 6 CFR part 5. You must
first verify your identity, meaning that you must provide your full
name, current address, and date and place of birth. You must sign your
request, and your signature must either be notarized or submitted under
28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to be made under penalty
of perjury as a substitute for notarization. While no specific form is
required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from the Chief Privacy
Officer and Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer, http://www.dhs.gov/foia or 1-866-431-0486. In addition, you should:
Explain why you believe the Department would have
information on you;
Identify which component(s) of the Department you believe
may have the information about you;
Specify when you believe the records would have been
created; and
Provide any other information that will help the FOIA
staff determine which DHS component agency may have responsive records;
and
If your request is seeking records pertaining to another living
individual, you must include a statement from that individual
certifying his/her agreement for you to access his/her records.
Without the above information, the component(s) may not be able to
conduct an effective search, and your request may be denied due to lack
of specificity or lack of compliance with applicable regulations.
Record access procedures:
See ``Notification procedure'' above.
Contesting record procedures:
See ``Notification procedure'' above.
Record source categories:
Records are retained from the following sources:
USCG Employee Assistance Program: the client, the licensed mental
health provider, and collateral sources and resources intended to help
the client;
USCG Workplace Violence and related Critical Incident Team:
investigation records, personnel records, critical incident team
assembled to make recommendations to command, subject's supervisors,
and the subject;
USCG Critical Incident Stress Management-related records: Work-Life
staff, Peers, Incident commander, command(s) affected, individuals
impacted by incident, and other support persons who may be mobilized to
assist those impacted by the event;
USCG Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program: victim, victim
support person, medical personnel assisting victim, criminal
investigations and investigators, and other support personnel intended
to assist victim;
USCG Victim Support Persons (VSP): the victim support person, Work-
Life staff, VSP's or Victim Advocate's work supervisor, and other
support persons who may assist in training;
USCG Critical Incident Stress Management Peer Volunteers: Peer,
Peer's supervisor, Work-Life staff, and other support persons who may
assist in training;
Case records maintained by USCG Work-Life personnel on USCG Duty
members who have demonstrated suicidal behavior: the patient, medical
personnel, patient's command, and Work-Life staff and other support
persons who may assist in helping the patient; and
Reports of USCG active duty suicidal behavior incidents, work place
violence incidents, critical incidents, and sexual assaults maintained
by USCG Headquarters (CG-1112): Work-Life staff and others as described
above under their related programs.
Exemptions claimed for the system:
None.
Dated: November 18, 2014.
Karen L. Neuman,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2014-29379 Filed 12-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P