A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "NASA's Constellation program is developing the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle as the agency's first major efforts in a plan to return to the moon and eventually send humans to Mars. GAO has issued a number of reports and testimonies on various aspects of this program, and made several recommendations. GAO was asked to assess NASA's progress in implementing GAO's recommendations for the Ares I and Orion projects, and identify risks the program faces. GAO analyzed NASA plans and schedules, risk mitigation information, and contract performance data relative to knowledge-based acquisition practices identified in prior GAO reports, and interviewed government officials and contractors."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In order to participate in federal student financial aid programs, law schools must be accredited by an agency recognized by the Department of Education (Education). Accreditation is intended to ensure that schools provide basic levels of quality in their educational programs, and Education recognizes those accrediting agencies that it concludes can reliably determine the quality of education provided by the schools and programs they accredit. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar serves as the main accrediting agency for law schools, and students who attend one of the 200 ABA-accredited law schools can take the bar examination in any jurisdiction in the country. There are also several law schools that are accredited by other Education-recognized accrediting agencies such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Graduates of some of these non-ABA-accredited law schools are eligible to take the bar examination in their own state, but may not do so nationwide. The ABA's accreditation standards focus on a number of issues, including schools' facilities, student support services, faculty, admissions practices, and graduates' passage of the bar …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Increasingly, the federal government relies on networks and partnerships to achieve its goals, and many of these involve nonprofit organizations. GAO was asked to assess (1) the mechanisms through which federal dollars flow to nonprofits and (2) what is known about federal dollars flowing through them to nonprofit organizations in fiscal year 2006. To address these objectives, GAO conducted a literature review of funding; analyzed data from several sources, including the Federal Procurement Data System--Next Generation (FPDS-NG) and the Federal Awards and Assistance Data System (FAADS); and analyzed nonprofit organizations' roles in 19 federal programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, the Veterans Affairs' Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program was reviewed by a VR&E Task Force. It recommended numerous changes, in particular focusing on employment through a new Five-Track service delivery model and increasing program capacity. Since then, VR&E has worked to implement these recommendations. To help Congress understand whether VR&E is now better prepared to meet the needs of veterans with disabilities, GAO was asked to determine (1) how the implementation of the Five-Track Employment Process has affected VR&E's focus on employment, (2) the extent to which VR&E has taken steps to improve its capacity, and (3) how program outcomes are reported. GAO interviewed officials from VR&E, the 2004 Task Force, and veteran organizations; visited four VR&E offices; surveyed all VR&E officers; and analyzed agency data and reports."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns exist that a more severe pandemic outbreak than 2009's could cause large numbers of people staying home to increase their Internet use and overwhelm Internet providers' network capacities. Such network congestion could prevent staff from broker-dealers and other securities market participants from teleworking during a pandemic. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for ensuring that critical telecommunications infrastructure is protected. GAO was asked to examine a pandemic's impact on Internet congestion and what actions can be and are being taken to address it, the adequacy of securities market organizations' pandemic plans, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) oversight of these efforts. GAO reviewed relevant studies, regulatory guidance and examinations, interviewed telecommunications providers and financial market participants, and analyzed pandemic plans for seven critical market organizations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has conducted a body of work over the past several years to help the nation better prepare for, respond to, and recover from a possible influenza pandemic, which could result from a novel strain of influenza virus for which there is little resistance and which therefore is highly transmissible among humans. GAO's work has pointed out that while the previous administration had taken a number of actions to plan for a pandemic, including developing a national strategy and implementation plan, much more needs to be done. However, national priorities are shifting as a pandemic has yet to occur, and other national issues have become more immediate and pressing. Nevertheless, an influenza pandemic remains a real threat to our nation and the world. For this report, GAO synthesized the results of 11 reports and two testimonies issued over the past 3 years using six key thematic areas: (1) leadership, authority, and coordination; (2) detecting threats and managing risks; (3) planning, training, and exercising; (4) capacity to respond and recover; (5) information sharing and communication; and (6) performance and accountability. GAO also updated the status of recommendations …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Emergency communications breakdowns undermined response efforts during terrorist attacks in 2001 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In response, federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have increased efforts to enhance emergency communications. This requested report identifies (1) vulnerabilities, if any, to emergency communications systems; (2) federal assistance available or planned to first responders for addressing vulnerabilities or enhancing emergency communications; and (3) challenges, if any, with federal emergency communications efforts. GAO developed six catastrophic disaster case studies, reviewed agency documents, and interviewed public and private sector officials at the national, state, and local levels."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Prescription drug abuse is a growing public health problem. In particular, methadone-associated overdose deaths--those in which methadone may have caused or contributed to the death--have risen sharply. Before the late 1990s, methadone was used mainly to treat opioid addiction but has since been increasingly prescribed to manage pain. Taken too often, in too high a dose, or with other drugs or alcohol, methadone can cause serious side effects and death. Methadone-associated overdose deaths can occur under several different scenarios, including improper dosing levels by practitioners, misuse by patients who may combine methadone with other drugs, or abuse--using the drug for nontherapeutic purposes. This report examines the regulation of methadone, factors that have contributed to the increase in methadone-associated overdose deaths, and steps taken to prevent methadone-associated overdose deaths. GAO reviewed documents, laws and regulations, data, and research from relevant state and federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). GAO also interviewed federal officials, officials in five selected states, officials from professional associations and advocacy groups, and experts in pain management, addiction treatment, and forensic sciences."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and other executive agencies increasingly deploy civilians in support of contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior GAO reports show that the use of deployed civilians has raised questions about the potential for differences in policies on compensation and medical benefits. GAO was asked to compare agency policies and to identify any issues in policy or implementation regarding (1) compensation, (2) medical benefits, and (3) identification and tracking of deployed civilians. GAO reviewed laws and agency policies; interviewed officials responsible for governmentwide guidance at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and for policy at six selected agencies, including DOD and State; reviewed all workers' compensation claims filed by deployed civilians from January 1, 2006 through April 30, 2008 at the Department of Labor; and conducted a generalizeable survey of civilians deployed from the six agencies during this same period."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to long-standing problems with student achievement and the management of the District of Columbia (D.C. or the District) public school system, the D.C. Council approved the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007. This act made major changes to the governance of the D.C. public school system, giving the Mayor authority over public schools. This report follows a GAO testimony in March 2008 and focuses on the primary reform approaches the District has taken. This report examines the steps the District took to: (1) address student academic achievement; (2) strengthen the quality of teachers and principals; (3) develop long-term plans and involve stakeholders; and (4) improve accountability and performance of the D.C. public schools (DCPS) and the state superintendent's central offices. GAO reviewed documentation on District initiatives, and interviewed District education officials as well as representatives from the teachers' union, community organizations, and research institutions. GAO also conducted visits to four urban school districts with mayoral governance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2005, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been undertaking an initiative to develop an integrated financial and asset management system known as the Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise (FLITE). FLITE is the successor to an earlier initiative known as the Core Financial and Logistics System (CoreFLS) that the department undertook in 1998 and discontinued in 2004 because it failed to support VA's operations. In light of the past performance of CoreFLS and the Office of Management and Budget's designation of FLITE as high risk, GAO was asked to (1) determine the status of pilot system development and (2) evaluate key program management processes, including VA's efforts to institute effective human capital management, develop a reliable program cost estimate, use earned value management (a recognized means for measuring program progress), establish a realistic program schedule, employ effective requirements development and management, and perform independent verification and validation. To do so, GAO reviewed program documentation and interviewed relevant officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1996, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was created to provide debt relief to poor countries that had reached unsustainable levels of debt. In 2005, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) expanded upon the HIPC Initiative by eliminating additional debt owed to four international financial institutions (IFI): the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), African Development Fund (ADF), and Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB). These four IFIs are projected to provide $58 billion in total debt relief to 41 countries. GAO (1) analyzed the U.S. financing approach for debt relief efforts; (2) reviewed the extent to which MDRI might affect resources available to countries for poverty-reducing activities; and (3) assessed revisions to the analyses conducted by the World Bank and IMF to review and promote future debt sustainability. GAO analyzed Treasury, IFI, and country documents and data, and interviewed officials at Treasury and the four IFIs."