7,777 Matching Results

Results open in a new window/tab.

National Mall: Steps Identified by Stakeholders Facilitate Design and Approval of Security Enhancements (open access)

National Mall: Steps Identified by Stakeholders Facilitate Design and Approval of Security Enhancements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Mall in Washington, D.C., encompasses some of our country's most treasured icons and serves as a public gathering place for millions of visitors each year. The National Air and Space Museum, for example, was the most visited museum worldwide in 2003, hosting 9.4 million visitors. Federal agencies with facilities on the National Mall have begun implementing physical security enhancements to protect their facilities and the visiting public. This report responds to Congressional interest in the efforts and expenditures pertaining to these security enhancements and discusses (1) the physical security enhancements that have been implemented on the National Mall since September 11, 2001, the additional enhancements planned, and the costs of these enhancements; (2) the considerations given to incorporating access and aesthetics into the design and approval of these security enhancements, and how issues of access and aesthetics are perceived by visitors in relation to these enhancements; and (3) examples of how federal agencies are using key practices to implement the enhancements, and any challenges the agencies are experiencing in using these key practices. In commenting on a draft of this report, the Smithsonian Institution, …
Date: June 14, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
National Medicaid Audit Program: CMS Should Improve Reporting and Focus on Audit Collaboration with States (open access)

National Medicaid Audit Program: CMS Should Improve Reporting and Focus on Audit Collaboration with States

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that, compared to the initial test audits and the more recent collaborative audits, the majority of the MIG audits conducted under NMAP were less effective because they used Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS) data. MSIS is an extract of states’ claims data and is missing key elements, such as provider names, that are necessary for identifying audit targets. Since fiscal year 2008, a small fraction (4 percent) of the 1,550 MSIS audits identified $7.4 million in potential overpayments, over two-thirds did not identify overpayments, and the remaining audits (27 percent) were ongoing. In contrast, 26 test audits and 6 collaborative audits—which used states’ more robust Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) claims data and allowed states to select the audit targets—together identified more than $12 million in potential overpayments. Furthermore, the typical amount of the potential overpayment for MSIS audits ($16,000) was smaller than the amounts identified through test and collaborative audits—$140,000 and $600,000—respectively."
Date: June 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Management: Additional Measures to Reduce Corrosion of Prepositioned Military Assets Could Achieve Cost Savings (open access)

Defense Management: Additional Measures to Reduce Corrosion of Prepositioned Military Assets Could Achieve Cost Savings

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The military services store prepositioned stocks of equipment and material on ships and land in locations around the world to enable the rapid fielding of combat-ready forces. GAO's prior work has shown that the readiness and safety of military equipment can be severely degraded by corrosion and that the Department of Defense (DOD) spends billions of dollars annually to address corrosion. GAO was asked to review the impact of corrosion on prepositioned assets. GAO's specific objectives were to assess (1) the measures taken by the Army and the Marine Corps to reduce the impact of corrosion on prepositioned assets and (2) the availability of corrosion-related data to the Army and the Marine Corps to support corrosion prevention and mitigation efforts for prepositioned assets."
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Immigration Benefits: Circumstances under Which Petitioners' Sex Offenses May Be Disclosed to Beneficiaries (open access)

Immigration Benefits: Circumstances under Which Petitioners' Sex Offenses May Be Disclosed to Beneficiaries

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2005, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents filed about 730,000 petitions with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to sponsor noncitizen family members, including spouses, fiances, and children, to immigrate to the United States. Those doing the sponsoring are called petitioners; those benefiting from the sponsoring are called beneficiaries. If USCIS approves the petition, overseas beneficiaries must also file a visa application with the Department of State to enter the United States. In January 2002, USCIS started to conduct background security checks on all petitioners in addition to the beneficiaries. These background checks revealed that some of the petitioners had convictions for criminal sex offenses; further, some of those criminal sex offenders were filing family-based petitions for children (those under the age of 21). This report addresses the number of convicted sex offenders who filed family-based petitions in fiscal year 2005 based upon a computer match of USCIS data with individuals in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Sex Offender Registry and discusses USCIS's and the Department of State's framework for disclosing a sponsor's criminal sexual background to the beneficiary. DHS, the …
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Progress of the DD(X) Destroyer Program (open access)

Progress of the DD(X) Destroyer Program

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy is developing a new destroyer, the DD(X), to serve as a next-generation multimission surface combatant ship. It will provide advanced land attack capability to support forces ashore and contribute to military dominance in shallow coastal water environments. To reduce program risk and demonstrate the ship's 12 technologies, the Navy is building 10 engineering development models that represent the ship's most critical subsystems. This approach is intended to improve the assessment of these key subsystems by designing, developing, and testing working models early in the process. In September 2004, we reported that while the engineering development model process could be beneficial, the program's schedule does not allow enough time to acquire appropriate levels of knowledge before key decisions are made. We also reported that some of the engineering development models were progressing according to plan, but others faced significant technical challenges. This letter provides an update on the progress of DD(X) subsystems, as demonstrated by recent tests and design reviews of the engineering development models. Our review concentrated on five of the ten engineering development models. These five development models were chosen because of their importance to …
Date: June 14, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medical Devices: FDA Should Enhance Its Oversight of Recalls (open access)

Medical Devices: FDA Should Enhance Its Oversight of Recalls

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recalls are an important tool to mitigate serious health consequences associated with defective or unsafe medical devices. Typically, a recall is voluntarily initiated by the firm that manufactured the device. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), oversees implementation of the recall. FDA classifies recalls based on health risks of using the recalled device--class I recalls present the highest risk (including death), followed by class II and class III. FDA also determines whether a firm has effectively implemented a recall, and when a recall can be terminated. This report identifies (1) the numbers and characteristics of medical device recalls and FDA's use of this information to aid its oversight, and (2) the extent to which the process ensures the effective implementation and termination of the highest-risk recalls. GAO interviewed FDA officials and examined information on medical device recalls initiated and reported from 2005 through 2009, and reviewed FDA's documentation for a sample of 53 (40 percent) of class I recalls initiated during this period."
Date: June 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preliminary Observations on Funding, Oversight, and Investigations and Prosecutions of ACORN or Potentially Related Organizations (open access)

Preliminary Observations on Funding, Oversight, and Investigations and Prosecutions of ACORN or Potentially Related Organizations

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nonprofit organizations, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), play an important role in providing a wide range of public services. To provide these services, these organizations rely on funding through federal grants and contracts, among other sources. Just as it is important for federal agencies to be held accountable for the efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars, it is also important for these nonprofit organizations to be held accountable for their use of federal funds. ACORN was established in 1970 as a grassroots organization to advocate for low-income families. By 2009, ACORN reportedly had 500,000 members and had expanded into a national network of organizations involved in the development of affordable housing, foreclosure counseling, voter registration, and political mobilization, among other things. ACORN organizations relied on membership dues and on federal and private foundation funding to support various activities. Voter registration fraud allegations in a number of states and widely distributed videotapes depicting what appeared to be inappropriate behavior by employees of several local ACORN chapters spurred calls to identify federal funding provided to ACORN and ACORN-related organizations and for legislation to …
Date: June 14, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Organized Retail Crime: Private Sector and Law Enforcement Collaborate to Deter and Investigate Theft (open access)

Organized Retail Crime: Private Sector and Law Enforcement Collaborate to Deter and Investigate Theft

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year organized groups of professional shoplifters steal or fraudulently obtain billions of dollars in merchandise to resell in an activity known as organized retail crime (ORC). These stolen goods can also be sold on online marketplaces, a practice known as "e-fencing." GAO was asked to assess ORC and e-fencing. This report addresses: (1) types of efforts that select retailers, state and local law enforcement, and federal agencies are undertaking to combat ORC; (2) the extent to which tools or mechanisms exist to facilitate collaboration and information sharing among these ORC stakeholders; and (3) steps that select online marketplaces have taken to combat ORC and e-fencing, and additional actions, if any, retailers and law enforcement think may enhance these efforts. GAO reviewed retail-industry documentation, such as reports and surveys, and academic studies related to ORC and efforts to combat it. GAO also interviewed representatives from four major retail associations and five individual retailers, selected for their knowledge of and efforts to combat ORC, as well as eight local law enforcement officials involved in the development of ORC information sharing networks, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) …
Date: June 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Prisons: Responses to Questions Related to Containing Health Care Costs for an Increasing Inmate Population (open access)

Federal Prisons: Responses to Questions Related to Containing Health Care Costs for an Increasing Inmate Population

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to congressional questions on its April 6, 2000, testimony on the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) efforts to contain the costs of providing health care to inmates, focusing on whether: (1) requiring a copayment would reduce the number of prisoners seeking medical care in order to get out of work or other duties; (2) recent BOP initiatives have helped reduce staff costs; (3) it would be more cost-effective for BOP to have an intermediate care medical facility for inmates needing long-term care; and (4) the Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act of 1999 would significantly contribute to reducing health care costs."
Date: June 14, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
HHS Research Awards: Use of Recovery Act and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Funds for Comparative Effectiveness Research (open access)

HHS Research Awards: Use of Recovery Act and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Funds for Comparative Effectiveness Research

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is research comparing different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) appropriated $1.1 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) specifically for CER, including $400 million to the Secretary of HHS, $300 million to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and $400 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Recovery Act required that these funds be obligated by September 30, 2010. For grants and cooperative agreements, funds are drawn down by recipients on an as-needed basis in accordance with the objectives of the project. For contracts, as milestones are met, invoices are submitted to HHS for payments for goods and services provided under the contract. Additionally, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) directed AHRQ to disseminate the findings of CER published by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and other related government-funded research in consultation with NIH. PPACA established a trust fund to support PCORI's mission and specified that percentages of this trust fund be provided to the Secretary of HHS …
Date: June 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Delayed-Baggage Trends and Options for Compensating Passengers (open access)

Delayed-Baggage Trends and Options for Compensating Passengers

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, we found that DOT’s data do not distinguish between delayed baggage and other types of mishandled baggage, such as those that are lost, damaged, or pilfered. DOT includes all of these types of occurrences in its definition of “mishandled baggage.” Using DOT’s data, we found that the number of mishandled-baggage reports has decreased since 2008, when airlines first began charging for the first checked bag. There are a number of factors that could contribute to this decline in the number of mishandled-baggage reports, such as a decline in the number of bags checked and improved baggage handling processes. However, because of limitations to DOT’s baggage data, an assessment of baggage delays—a subcategory of mishandled baggage—cannot be conducted. DOT has proposed a change to airline-reporting requirements designed to improve its ability to measure airline performance regarding mishandled bags, but the change would not distinguish among the types of mishandled baggage (lost, delayed, damaged, or pilfered)."
Date: June 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Liabilities: Hardrock Mining Cleanup Obligations (open access)

Environmental Liabilities: Hardrock Mining Cleanup Obligations

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Key federal environmental statutes, such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which established the Superfund program, require that parties statutorily responsible for pollution bear the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites. In many cases, liable parties meet their cleanup responsibilities. However, many parties responsible for hardrock mining sites include businesses that no longer exist, having been liquidated through bankruptcy or otherwise dissolved. Under these circumstances, some hardrock mining companies that have caused environmental contamination have left the problem for others, typically the government, to address. We were asked to provide a statement for the record on the cleanup of contamination resulting from hardrock mining as it relates to our August 2005 report, Environmental Liabilities: EPA Should Do More to Ensure that Liable Parties Meet Their Cleanup Obligations (GAO-05-658). We made nine recommendations in this report aimed at reducing the government's financial burden for costly environmental cleanups. The agency generally agreed with many of the recommendations, stating its intent to further evaluate some of them."
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Department of State: Foreign Service Midlevel Staffing Gaps Persist Despite Significant Increases in Hiring (open access)

Department of State: Foreign Service Midlevel Staffing Gaps Persist Despite Significant Increases in Hiring

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State (State) faces persistent experience gaps in overseas Foreign Service positions, particularly at the midlevels, and these gaps have not diminished since 2008. In fiscal years 2009 and 2010, State increased the size of the Foreign Service by 17 percent. However, these new hires will not have the experience to reach midlevels until fiscal years 2014 and 2015. GAO found that 28 percent of overseas Foreign Service positions were either vacant or filled by upstretch candidates—officers serving in positions above their grade—as of October 2011, a percentage that has not changed since 2008. Midlevel positions represent the largest share of these gaps. According to State officials, the gaps have not diminished because State increased the total number of overseas positions in response to increased needs and emerging priorities. State officials noted the department takes special measures to fill high-priority positions, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan."
Date: June 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy Markets: Concerted Actions Needed by FERC To Confront Challenges That Impede Effective Oversight (open access)

Energy Markets: Concerted Actions Needed by FERC To Confront Challenges That Impede Effective Oversight

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has not yet adequately revised its regulatory and oversight approach to respond to the transition to competitive energy markets. FERC recognizes that the transition from highly regulated monopolies to competitive markets requires a fundamental change in how it does business. However, it has struggled through various strategic planning and other efforts to define the specific strategies, processes, and activities to regulate and oversee these markets. GAO found that FERC (1) has had difficulty recruiting staff because it has trouble competing with private sector salaries; (2) faces the retirement of more than one-quarter of its employees by 2005; (3) has used recruitment bonuses, retention allowances, tuition reimbursement, and flexible work schedules to attract new staff and to retain current employees but has not taken advantage of the full range of personnel flexibilities and tools available to federal agencies, such as special salary rates; and (4) has not developed a strategic human capital management plan to assess its workforce needs and to develop strategies to address them."
Date: June 14, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans' Health Care Budget Estimate: Changes Were Made in Developing the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013 (open access)

Veterans' Health Care Budget Estimate: Changes Were Made in Developing the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 requires GAO to report whether the amounts for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) health care services in the President's budget request are consistent with VA's budget estimates as projected by the Enrollee Health Care Projection Model (EHCPM) and other methodologies. Based on the information VA provided, this report describes (1) the key changes VA identified that were made to its budget estimate to develop the President's budget request for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 and (2) how various sources of funding for VA health care and other factors informed the President's budget request for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. GAO reviewed documents describing VA's estimates projected by the EHCPM and changes made to VA's budget estimate that affect all services, including estimates developed using other methodologies. GAO also reviewed the President's budget request, VA's congressional budget justification, and interviewed VA officials and staff from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."
Date: June 14, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard: Deepwater Program Acquisition Schedule Update Needed (open access)

Coast Guard: Deepwater Program Acquisition Schedule Update Needed

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, the Coast Guard began its $17 billion, 20-year Integrated Deepwater System acquisition program to replace or modernize its cutters, aircraft, and communications equipment for missions generally beyond 50 miles from shore. During fiscal years 2002-03, Deepwater received about $125 million less than the Coast Guard had planned. In fiscal year 2004, Congress appropriated $668 million, $168 million more than the President's request. GAO has raised concern recently about the Coast Guard's initial management of Deepwater and the potential for escalating costs. GAO was asked to review the status of the program against the initial acquisition schedule and determine the impact of the additional $168 million in fiscal year 2004 funding on this schedule."
Date: June 14, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Land Management: Additional Guidance on Community Involvement Could Enhance Effectiveness of Stewardship Contracting (open access)

Federal Land Management: Additional Guidance on Community Involvement Could Enhance Effectiveness of Stewardship Contracting

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In their efforts to reduce hazardous fuels and the risk of wildfire on the nation's public lands, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) expect that stewardship contracting will play a major role. Stewardship contracting involves the use of contracting authorities--such as the exchange of goods for services--first authorized in 1998 and intended to help the agencies achieve land management goals that meet community needs. GAO was asked, among other things, to determine (1) the contracting and financial controls the agencies use to ensure accountability in managing stewardship contracting projects and (2) the steps the agencies have taken to involve communities in the projects."
Date: June 14, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Commerce Information Technology Solutions Next Generation Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (open access)

Commerce Information Technology Solutions Next Generation Governmentwide Acquisition Contract

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns have been raised about the fairness of the "bid down" approach of the Department of Commerce's Information Technology Solutions Next Generation (COMMITS NexGen) contract. In response to these concerns, the fiscal year 2006 Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies appropriations conference report requested our review of COMMITS NexGen. This letter transmits the briefing document we provided to Congress on May 15, 2006, concerning a variety of issues related to the COMMITS NexGen contract. Specifically, we provided information on (1) how the COMMITS NexGen contract is structured to meet its intended goals, (2) what effect the tier system has on the task order competition process, and (3) what oversight and internal control procedures Commerce has implemented to address the risks of interagency contracting."
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Women and Low-Skilled Workers: Other Countries' Policies and Practices That May Help These Workers Enter and Remain in the Labor Force (open access)

Women and Low-Skilled Workers: Other Countries' Policies and Practices That May Help These Workers Enter and Remain in the Labor Force

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Increasing retirements and declining fertility rates, among other factors, could affect the labor force growth in many developed countries. To maintain the size and productivity of the labor force, many governments and employers have introduced strategies to keep workers, such as women and low-skilled workers, in the workforce throughout their working lives. Because other countries have also undertaken efforts to address issues similar to those occurring in the U.S., GAO was asked to (1) describe the policies and practices implemented in other developed countries that may help women and low-wage/low-skilled workers enter and remain in the labor force; (2) examine the targeted groups' employment following the implementation of the policies and practices; and (3) identify the factors that affect employees' use of workplace benefits and the resulting implications. We conducted an extensive review of workplace flexibility and training strategies in a range of developed countries, and we conducted site visits to selected countries. Our reviews were limited to materials that were available in English. While we identified relevant national policies in the U.S., we did not determine whether other countries' strategies could be implemented here. Labor …
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Management Letter: Suggested Improvements in IRS' Accounting Procedures and Internal Controls (open access)

Management Letter: Suggested Improvements in IRS' Accounting Procedures and Internal Controls

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the results of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) financial statements and on the effectiveness of its internal controls for fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 1999."
Date: June 14, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Personnel Clearances: Questions and Answers for the Record Following the Second in a Series of Hearings on Fixing the Security Clearance Process (open access)

DOD Personnel Clearances: Questions and Answers for the Record Following the Second in a Series of Hearings on Fixing the Security Clearance Process

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On November 9, 2005, GAO testified before Congress at a hearing on "Access Delayed: Fixing the Security Clearance Process, Part II." This letter responds to three questions for the record posed by Congress."
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
National Transportation Safety Board: Observations on the Draft Business Plan for NTSB's Training Center (open access)

National Transportation Safety Board: Observations on the Draft Business Plan for NTSB's Training Center

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened a training center in 2003 to train its investigators and others from the transportation community on accident investigation techniques. As GAO reported last year, NTSB's training center is not cost-effective, as its revenues, when combined with the external training costs NTSB staff avoid by using the center, do not cover its costs. In fact, in fiscal year 2006, costs exceeded revenues by $2.7 million. We concluded that potential strategies to increase revenues or decrease costs could increase the cost-effectiveness of the training center; however, vacating the space may be the strategy that reduces costs the most. On December 21, 2006, Congress passed Public Law 109-443, requiring NTSB to prepare a utilization plan for the training center that would, among other things, consider other revenue-generating measures, such as subleasing the training center to another entity; include a detailed financial statement covering current training center expenses and revenues and an analysis of the projected expenses and revenues; and submit the plan to us for review and comment within 90 days of passage of the act. NTSB prepared a draft business plan for the …
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Metropolitan Statistical Areas: New Standards and Their Impact on Selected Federal Programs (open access)

Metropolitan Statistical Areas: New Standards and Their Impact on Selected Federal Programs

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For the past 50 years, the federal government has had a metropolitan area program designed to provide a nationally consistent set of standards for collecting, tabulating, and publishing federal statistics for geographic areas in the United States and Puerto Rico. Before each decennial census, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews the standards to ensure their continued usefulness and relevance and, if warranted, revises them. While designed only for statistical purposes, various federal programs use the statistical areas to determine eligibility and to allocate federal funds. OMB advises agencies to carefully review program goals to ensure that appropriate geographic entities are used in making these decisions. GAO was asked to examine the process used for developing the OMB standards issued in 2000 and their effects on certain federal programs. Specifically, GAO agreed to report on (1) the process used to develop the 2000 standards, (2) how the 2000 standards differed from the 1990 standards, (3) how the application of the standards affected the geographic distribution of counties into statistical areas, and (4) the effect of standards on the eligibility and funding allocations for four federal …
Date: June 14, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on the Federal Protective Service's Workforce Analysis and Planning Efforts (open access)

Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on the Federal Protective Service's Workforce Analysis and Planning Efforts

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have identified several workforce related challenges faced by the Federal Protective Service (FPS) since its transfer to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, including low morale among staff, increased attrition, and the loss of institutional knowledge. Our prior work has found that FPS continues to face challenges in identifying the optimal number of staff needed to adequately conduct its mission. In response to Congress's mandate in the House Report, which accompanied the DHS fiscal year 2009 Appropriations Act requiring GAO to evaluate the adequacy of FPS's workforce size, this report includes preliminary observations on the following questions: (1) What is the current status of FPS's efforts to determine its workforce requirements? (2) To what extent do FPS's efforts align with commonly used workforce analysis and planning practices? (3) What, if any, challenges may impede implementation of FPS's efforts?"
Date: June 14, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library