A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Institutions of higher education, including for-profit, nonprofit, and public schools, receive billions of dollars each year from the Department of Education (Education) to help students pay for school. In the 2009-2010 school year, Education provided $132 billion in grants and loans to students under federal student aid programs, up from $49 billion in the 2001-2002 school year. However, relatively little information is available about the quality of education being provided by these schools. Student characteristics are also important to consider when comparing educational outcomes at schools in different sectors (for-profit, nonprofit, and public). Measuring the quality of educational programs (i.e., how much knowledge or skill students gain) is difficult. Because few direct measures are available, indirect outcome measures, such as graduation and student loan default rates, are often used. Although no single outcome can be used to fully measure something as complex as educational quality, looking at multiple outcome measures (e.g., graduation rates, pass rates on licensing exams, employment outcomes, and student loan default rates) can shed light on the quality of education provided by schools. Available data indicate that for-profit schools enroll a higher proportion …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Certain indicators suggest that the financial condition of the RRG industry in aggregate generally has remained profitable. In 2003, RRGs wrote about $1.8 billion, or 1.17 percent of commercial liability insurance. In 2010, RRGs continued to comprise a small percentage of the total market, writing about $2.5 billion--or about 3 percent of commercial liability coverage. Other financial indicators, such as ratios of RRG premiums earned compared to claims paid--also suggest profitability. In addition, the number of RRGs has increased since 2004, with the most growth occurring in health care-related lines. In 2010, more than 80 percent of RRGs were domiciled in Vermont, South Carolina, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona, but RRGs wrote about 95 percent of their premiums outside their state of domicile. Evidence suggests that RRGs may choose to domicile in a particular state, partly due to some financial and regulatory advantages such as lower minimum capitalization requirements. RRG representatives opined that RRGs have expanded the availability of commercial liability insurance--particularly in niche markets--but differed in their opinions of whether RRGs have improved its affordability. Different interpretations of LRRA have led to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "CBP revised its training program for newly hired CBP officers in accordance with its own training development standards. Consistent with these standards, CBP convened a team of subject-matter experts to identify and rank the tasks that new CBP officers are expected to perform. As a result, the new curriculum was designed to produce a professional law enforcement officer capable of protecting the homeland from terrorist, criminal, biological and agricultural threats. In addition, the curriculum stated that the CBP officer is to draw conclusions and take appropriate action to identify behavioral indicators displayed by criminals, effectively interview travelers to identify potential threats, identify fraudulent documents, and use technology in support of the inspection process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A drug court is a specialized court that targets criminal offenders who have drug addiction and dependency problems. These programs provide offenders with intensive court supervision, mandatory drug testing, substance-abuse treatment, and other social services as an alternative to adjudication or incarceration. As of June 2010, there were over 2,500 drug courts operating nationwide, of which about 1,400 target adult offenders. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) administers the Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, which provides financial and technical assistance to develop and implement adult drug-court programs. DOJ requires grantees that receive funding to provide data that measure their performance. In response to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, this report assesses (1) data DOJ collected on the performance of federally funded adult drug courts and to what extent DOJ used these data in making grant- related decisions, and (2) what is known about the effectiveness of drug courts. GAO assessed performance data DOJ collected in fiscal year 2010 and reviewed evaluations of 32 drug- court programs and 11 cost-benefit studies issued from February 2004 through March 2011."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For more than 130 years the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has used dikes to "train" the Mississippi River channel and maintain adequate depth for navigation. The Corps relies heavily on these structures--including some with more recent designs--in the Middle Mississippi, between the confluences of the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. Over the past few decades, some researchers have raised concerns about the structures' cumulative impacts on the environment and the height of floodwaters. For the Corps' river training structures in the Middle Mississippi, GAO was asked to examine (1) key requirements and directives that govern their use, (2) how the Corps has addressed key environmental requirements, (3) the extent to which their hydrologic and environmental impacts are monitored, and (4) concerns that researchers have raised about hydrologic and environmental impacts and how the Corps has responded. GAO reviewed relevant laws, regulations, agency documents, and key studies, and interviewed Corps officials and other researchers and experts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Key measures of prescription pain reliever abuse and misuse increased from 2003 to 2009. The largest increases were in measures of adverse health consequences such as emergency department visits, substance abuse treatment admissions, and unintentional overdose deaths, though increases were not consistent across all measures. Federal officials suggested that increasing availability of prescription pain relievers and high-risk behaviors by those who abuse or misuse the drugs, such as combining prescription pain relievers with other drugs or alcohol, likely contributed to the rise in adverse health consequences, though data about the reasons for the increases are limited."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The USCG is making progress toward becoming a model equal employment opportunity (EEO) program, as defined by EEOC. In fiscal year 2008, the USCG established a cross-functional task force, including many divisions of Coast Guard and co-led by the Civil Rights Director and the Assistant Commandant for Human Resources, to identify EEO problems, review data, as well as develop and implement plans to address barriers to EEO. EEOC officials commended the USCG's cross-functional approach, noting that it could strengthen the USCG's ability to bring together different divisions of the USCG toward a common goal of identifying and eliminating barriers to EEO. According to EEOC, progress has been most noticeable with the commitment of USCG's leadership to equality for all employees and applicants and its focus on resolving complaints in a quick and cost effective manner. However, EEOC noted that USCG could improve the way it conducts analyses of its barriers to equal employment. To attract and retain top talent, EEOC's MD-715 states that federal agencies are to identify barriers to EEO in the workplace, execute plans to eliminate barriers, and report annually to EEOC. USCG has …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has a critical role in contract oversight. DCAA audits are intended to help provide reasonable assurance that defense company policies for safeguarding assets and complying with contractual requirements are fulfilled. Defense companies also maintain their own internal audit departments to monitor policies, procedures, and business systems related to their government contracts. GAO was asked to assess the role of defense companies' internal audit departments and their ability to provide DCAA with information on their internal controls. GAO assessed (1) selected defense companies' adherence to standards for internal audits, (2) the extent to which those companies' internal audit reports address defense contract management internal controls, and (3) DCAA's ability to examine internal audits and use information from these audits. GAO reviewed a nongeneralizable sample of seven major defense companies including the five largest defense contractors and two smaller contractors; analyzed information on their 2008 and 2009 internal audits, which were the latest available when GAO began its assessment; and reviewed DCAA's ability to examine and use the audits in carrying out its oversight."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2010 National Security Strategy emphasizes the importance of strengthening our security and resilience at home and building capability to respond to and recover from major chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incidents. The National Guard has established 17 CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages (CERFP), which are staffed with National Guard part-time personnel, to provide life-saving capabilities in response to a CBRNE event. The teams are intended to coordinate operations with multiple response partners at the local, state, and federal levels--including Department of Defense (DOD) forces. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is responsible for managing the CERFP program. GAO assessed (1) how well CERFPs are prepared to perform their mission and how such readiness is measured and reported; (2) how effectively CERFPs coordinate with incident response partners and how well this is evaluated; and (3) the effectiveness of the CERFPs' command and control framework. GAO reviewed program documentation, surveyed National Guard and emergency management officials from 27 states, observed training exercises, and interviewed DOD, NGB, and CERFP officials"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The effect of CMS's revised community model on payment accuracy varied for the high-risk groups studied. Specifically, compared with the current community model, the revised community model slightly reduced the accuracy of MA payment adjustments for beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions by $164, or about 1 percent of average actual expenditures. For beneficiaries with low income, the accuracy of the revised and the current community models was similar: estimates differed by $5, or less than 0.1 percent of average actual expenditures. For beneficiaries with dementia, the revised community model substantially improved the accuracy of MA payment adjustments by $2,674, or about 16 percent of average actual expenditures."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The extent to which the federal and state governments regulate the death care industry—funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, pre-need funeral plans, and third party sales of funeral goods—varies, as does the extent to which regulation has changed since GAO last reported on the regulation of the death care industry in 2003. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to annually conduct undercover shopping at various funeral homes to test compliance with the Funeral Rule. Of the over 2,400 funeral homes that the FTC shopped since 1996, the FTC reported an overall compliance rate of about 85 percent. With respect to state regulation, consistent with GAO’s findings in 2003, the way in which states regulate the industry varies across industry segments and states. Also, the extent to which state regulators reported that they had specific rules or regulations for each industry segment in both 2003 and 2011 varied. Most consistent across states in both years was reporting that there were specific rules or regulations for funeral homes (94 and 95 percent in 2003 and 2011, respectively). In contrast, 77 percent of state regulators of cemeteries reported that their states …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "What GAO Found"