Please Help! Denied Public Trust Clearance by HRSA

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hi

I got a job with XScion a small company in McLean, VA. They assigned me to their client UNOS in Richmond, VA. For this position I need a public trust. I’ve had a public trust previously and last year got an interim secrete clearance (the project was canceled before my final clearance came through).

I was told last Friday that I didn’t pass the background investigation performed by HRSA.

UNOS won’t tell anyone at XScion anything as to why I failed. The only thing different than when I got my interim clearance was an issue this month where I had an outstanding fine with the for an expired registration and I knew about. I called the court after th case and they said it may take a week to get the letter. It slipped my mind and The I got a letter from the VA DMV the first on July stating my license was suspended on the 15th due to lack of payment. That was my only notice and the letter was postmark June 28th. I called the court right away and paid the fine. I called the DMV right away but their system didn’t show the fine as being paid. I called back a few days later and it was updated.

The agent got my payment information and everything and an announcement came over the PA saying there was a security breach in the building and eveyone had to leave. Theady said she would make a not in my account and processes it and then call me with the confirmation. She never did so a few days later I call back and finally get through the process and a cleared fax.

Of course this was all going on during the background investigation.

I don’t know why I didn’t pass the background investigation. I tried calling HRSA and they had no clue what I was talking about.

UNOS won’t give me their contact their.

I turned down to other better paying full time jobs for this position because UNOS handles organ donor matching and their system is woefully outdated. I don’t even live near Richmond so I would have to stay there during the week.

I thought I was doing a good thing for my fellow Americans at least it did feel good.

What can I do?

  • I don’t know why I failed.
  • I don’t know who to call.
  • I know pretty much nothing about the clearance process except what I read on here.

I am going to loose this job and be unemployed and I don’t even know why. If it was the DMV issue I took care of it.

I feel helpless with no information and no one to call and could really use some help here. I am willing to pay someone to help me understand what my options are and some guidance on what to do.

I am thankful this site exists!

Pete Counts

"You failed…really what did I fail? We can’t tell you that. Then how do you know I was at fault? We can’t tell you that either. What can you tell me?
You failed…bye!

Is this a Seinfeld episode?

2

Your explanation is quite confusing and difficult to filter through what is fact or supposition. At any rate, several areas need clarification:
Who is HRSA? Human Resources Security Administration for UNOS? If so then they simply did you pre-employment screening and come up with a red flag. It has nothing to do with a public trust background investigation.
Did you fill out through e-QIP an SF-85P and were you interviewed by an investigator? If so, were there any issues. If not then you never underwent the investigation process, thus you have no appeal process.

3

Marko

I am sorry for my confusing post. I was upset about the new and was rambling. I also have no idea if what they are telling me is true. I’ve always had a FSO help with these things.

Here is what know is fact and what I was told numbered in case clarification is required.

Fact

  1. I was going to be a contractor through XScion to UNOS (united network for organ sharing). But XScion decided to bring me on as a full time employee (I dont know if that changes anything but thats how I was brought on.)

  2. I got an envelope from UNOS https://www.unos.org/ saying "before you can start we will first need your security clearance to be authorized by HRSA (yes the US health resources and services administration http://www.hrsa.gov/index.html ). I got finger print cards and an i9 declaration of federal employment form. With exact instructions on how to fill each one out, at the bottom it says it can take 10 days from when HRSA receives my finger prints to when my prints clear to start work. I have been finger printed 3 times for the job contracting to the VA, for this job, and when I got my black belt as a kid.

  3. My local sheriffs office did the prints on the scanner.

  4. Note: I do not have an active clearance. The last "clearance I had was a interim secret that expired July of last year. That was a different company working for the VA.

  5. For this job I did not enter anything new into E-QIP

  6. I did not fill out SF-85.

  7. I was not interviewed by anyone
    Note(they say no one has been interview)

That’s what I have documents for.

Now here’s what I learned last Friday:

  1. XScion HR saying I failed the background investigation. Not pre-employment like you said. I was told I failed the HRSA background investigation.

  2. I mentioned the issue with the DMV suspending my license but letters went to wrong adresses…it was taken care of. The people at XScion no less about clearances than I do. They want me to get a letter from the DMV stating they failed to process the payment when I called in.

  3. UNOS won’t say why I wasn’t cleared.

Questions

  1. Are you saying I did not go through the process for a basic public trust clearance? Or that I went though their version of it?

  2. Is it possible they mistakenly though I already had a clearance?

I am very sorry I am sure these are basic questions but I want to be very careful to say and do the right thing.

PS… I do not have a criminal record and have no debt.

Marko thanks again for your willingness to help. I hope I have organized the information better this time. I appreciate you asking for clarification. Let me know if I can provide or ask for other information to figure out where I stand and what I need to do.

Kind Regards,

Pete

4

HRSA does not conduct background investigations, they process the applications for OPM to do them. They did a pre-employment check/screening and found something that they decided was too much of a concern/risk. This could have been a previous investigation, a reference check, or a discrepancy in the paperwork you submitted. Had you gone through the investigation process they would have had to give you due process notifying you of the reasons for their denial an da chance for you to mitigate the issues.

5

Marko

Just so I am clear I will loose my job without knowing why. Do I understand your conclusion correctly? UNOS said the issue might have bern with the DMV and if I got a letter from them (DMV gave me a letter) they are willing to run it through the system again.

Is it worth it without really knowing?

Thanks

6

You never even began the Public Trust suitability process, did not fill out an EQIP or SF85P.

This company did your prints and something was revealed. Based on what I am reading, all you did was provide prints.