Industry’s asking DCSA for transparency on continuous vetting, and they’re right to push. The shift away from periodic reinvestigations was overdue—automated alerts surface issues faster, and investigators can focus where it matters. But contractors are now sitting on open CV alerts with no clear timeline, which means cleared talent stuck in limbo and programs short a body.
The scale is real: DHS processed over 500,000 alerts last quarter, with a 13-day average adjudication. Energy flagged more than half a million in a single quarter before the triage handoff to DCSA. That’s the system working as designed—most alerts are low-risk noise. But when an alert lands on someone transitioning to a new contract or a higher clearance, the process stops cold. No metrics, no expected resolution window, and facility security officers often left out of the loop.
DCSA says it’s gathering data, which is a start. But if you’re running a retained search or managing cleared pipelines, you need line of sight into adjudication timelines and a clearer path to resolution. The system’s better than what it replaced. It just needs to catch up to the operational tempo it’s supposed to support.