A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Discretionary grants awarded under the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA) Byrne Program help state and local governments make communities safe and improve criminal justice. Discretionary grants awarded under BJA's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) programs are aimed at improving criminal justice system responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded $6 million for five Byrne Program and five VAWO discretionary grant program evaluations between 1995 and 2001. Of the 10 programs evaluated, all five VAWO evaluations were designed to be both process and impact evaluations of the VAWO programs. Only one of the five Byrne evaluations was designed as an impact evaluation and the other four evaluations were process evaluations. GAO's in-depth review of the four impact evaluations since fiscal year 1995 showed that only one of these--the evaluation of the Byrne Children at Risk Program--was methodologically sound. The other three evaluations, all of which examined VAWO programs, had methodological problems."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Extensive markup language (XML) is a flexible, nonproprietary set of standards designed to facilitate the exchange of information among disparate computer systems using Internet protocols. Although XML's technical standards, such as specifications for tagging, exchanging, and displaying information, have largely been worked out by commercial standards setting organizations and are in use, equally important business standards are not as mature and may complicate near-term implementation. Standards are not yet complete for (1) identifying potential business partners for transactions, (2) exchanging precise technical information about the nature of proposed transactions that partners can agree to, and (3) executing agreed-upon transactions in a formal, legally binding manner. The federal government faces many challenges as it attempts to gain the most from XML's potential. First, no explicit governmentwide strategy for XML adoption has been defined to guide agency implementation efforts and ensure that agency enterprise architectures address XML incorporation. Second, federal agencies have not yet identified and consolidated their needs for effective representation before key standards setting bodies. Third, the government has yet to establish a registry of government-unique XML data structures for systems developers to consult when building …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act gives Native American Indian tribes the option to administer Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, either alone or as part of a consortium with other tribes, rather than receiving benefits and services from state TANF programs. Because of the difficult economic circumstances on many reservations, the law also gives tribal TANF programs more flexibility than it gives to states. Tribes have used various strategies to stimulate economic development, but despite these efforts, unemployment and poverty rates on reservations remain high and prospects for economic growth may be limited. To improve economic conditions on reservations, tribes operate enterprises in a range of commercial sectors. Nationally, the number of American Indian families receiving TANF assistance has declined in recent years; however, in some states, American Indians represent a large and increasing share of the state TANF caseload. To date, 174 tribes, either alone or as part of a consortium, are administering their own TANF programs and have used the flexibility in the act to tailor their tribal TANF programs to meet TANF requirements. However, many tribes have found …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered more than $1.2 billion in health care fraud cases in fiscal year 2001. The False Claims Act bolstered DOJ's recoveries and enabled the government to seek damages and penalties against providers who knowingly submitted fraudulent bills to Medicare, Medicaid, or other government programs. In the late 1990s, industry representatives voiced concerns that DOJ had over zealously pursued hospitals, conducted unwarranted investigations, and demanded large penalties for unintentional errors. In response, DOJ issued guidance that emphasized the importance of using the act in a fair and even-handed manner and introduced new procedures for national initiatives. DOJ requires all U.S. Attorneys' Offices that pursue civil health care fraud to annually certify their compliance with the guidance. DOJ appears to be conducting its three national initiatives consistent with the guidance. U.S. Attorneys' Offices that GAO visited had coordinated their activities with the national initiative working groups and, as the guidance requires, took each hospital's unique circumstances into consideration in resolving these matters. Representatives from the American Hospital Association and the state hospital associations GAO spoke to were generally satisfied that U.S. Attorneys' Offices …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The F-22 aircraft is designed to be less detectable, capable of flying at higher speeds for longer distances, and able to provide the pilot with substantially improved awareness of the surrounding situation than the F-15 it will replace. The Air Force began the F-22 development program in 1991 and plans to complete it by March 2004. In 1998, following repeated increases in the program's estimated development cost, Congress capped developmental costs at $20.443 billion. The F-22 program did not meet key schedule goals for 2001, the cost to complete planned development is likely to exceed the $21 billion reported to Congress, and the program is not far enough along in flight-testing to confirm Air Force estimates of the aircraft's performance. Despite progress in testing the aircraft's capabilities, problems and delays continue to plague the assembly and delivery of development test aircraft, and the flight-test program is less efficient than planned. Furthermore, flight-test delays make it unlikely that the planned development program can be completed within the current cost goal. On the basis of initial testing, the Air Force projects that the F-22 will meet or exceed …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to replace the previous welfare program and help welfare recipients transition into employment. To this end, states are required to enforce work requirements, and face financial penalties if a minimum percentage of adults receiving cash assistance do not participate in work or work-related activities each year. This federal participation rate requirement has increased each year, reaching 50 percent for all families in fiscal year 2002, but it can be adjusted if caseload declines. In addition to work requirements, TANF places a 60 month lifetime limit on the amount of time families with adults can receive cash assistance. To receive TANF block grants, each state must also spend a specified amount of its own funds, referred to as state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) funds. The law allows states considerable flexibility to exclude families from work requirements and time limits. In addition, states may provide cash assistance to families and exempt them from work requirements and time limits by using state MOE in specified ways. States provided cash assistance funded by federal TANF or state MOE dollars to 2.1 …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has, in the past, lacked a strategic approach to human capital management. In April 2002, DOD issued two human capital strategic plans for military personnel. One plan addresses military personnel management and policies; the second addresses quality of life issues affecting service members and their families. As a follow-on to its recent work on benefits for military personnel, GAO reviewed the extent that these two plans, in addressing military benefits, promote (1) the integration and alignment of human capital approaches to meet organizational goals and (2) the use of reliable data to make human capital decisions--two critical success factors for human capital planning. GAO also reviewed DOD's plans for overseeing the progress and implementation of its human capital plans."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In calendar year 2001, the Social Security Administration (SSA) paid cash benefits of $60 billion to more than six million working-age adults with disabilities and eligible family members under its Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) program, and $20 billion to more than 3.5 million working-age adults with disabilities under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Some beneficiaries, known as concurrent beneficiaries, receive cash and medical benefits from both programs. Concurrent beneficiaries comprised about 14 percent of SSA's disability population; 58 percent have mental impairments, and about 53 percent are female. Eleven percent of concurrent beneficiaries worked and earned a median income of approximately $250 per month. There is little coordination between SSI and DI program rules for individuals who work and receive benefits from both programs concurrently. Because most field office staff specialize in one program, they may not be sufficiently knowledgeable of the procedures for the other program to ensure that concurrent beneficiaries who work are paid the appropriate benefit amount under both programs. Applying both SSI and DI program rules to concurrent beneficiaries may make it difficult for them to make informed decisions about …

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the nature and extent of dismantlement, removal, and restoration requirements for oil industry activities that are occurring on both federal and state lands located on the North Slope of the state of Alaska. The state of Alaska, which owns the lands where most of the North Slope's current oil production occurs, has adopted general dismantlement, removal, and restoration requirements that contain no specific stipulations on what infrastructure must be removed or to what condition the lands used for oil industry activities must be restored once production ceases. Alaska's requirements are similar to those of some states but less explicit than those of other states, which create a fixed obligation to fully restore the land according to specific requirements. Until the state of Alaska defines the condition in which it would like its lands returned, there is no way to accurately estimate the cost of dismantling and removing the infrastructure and restoring the disturbed land on Alaska's North Slope. Existing financial assurances, such as bonding requirements, ensure the availability of only a small portion of the funds that are likely to be needed to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 made sweeping changes to federal employment and training programs. The act sought to unify previously fragmented programs and create a more comprehensive workforce investment system by bringing together most federally funded employment and training services into a single service delivery system known as the one-stop center system. The administration has twice proposed reducing the program's budget, citing the large amounts of unexpended funds that states carried over from the prior year. State and local workforce officials, however, have requested more funding in light of current economic conditions. GAO found that the Department of Labor lacks accurate information on states' WIA spending because of reporting inconsistencies--all states do not report expenditures or commitments in the same way. To determine how states manage their spending, Labor has established its own spending benchmarks, using them to access whether states are on track with their spending, to target technical assistance, and to formulate budget requests. Several factors affect when expenditures occur or are reported. State officials said that cumbersome processes to get spending approval, lengthy contract procurement procedures, and untimely billing by key …

This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes.

This report is a brief general description of the federal grand jury, with particular emphasis on its more controversial aspects—relationship of the prosecutor and the grand jury, the rights of grand jury witnesses, grand jury secrecy, and rights of targets of a grand jury investigation.

Reconciliation report with an ending account balance of $836.54 reconciled for the period ending on March 29, 2002.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to states. TANF emphasizes work and responsibility over dependence on government benefits. It also requires states to maintain a historical level of spending on welfare-related programs. The focus of welfare spending has shifted from monthly cash payments to services. Between fiscal years 1995 and 2000, state expenditures for cash assistance decreased from 71 to 43 percent of total welfare spending. In fiscal year 2000, 26 states used more than half of their TANF and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) expenditures on services other than cash assistance. In fiscal year 1995, no state spent more than 50 percent of its welfare dollars on these services. In addition to providing benefits and services to families included in the welfare caseload, states are also using TANF/MOE funds to provide services to other low-income families. GAO estimates that at least 46 percent more families than counted in TANF caseload reports are receiving services funded, at least, in part, by TANF/MOE funds. The …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 substantially changed the way youth workforce development services are configured and delivered. The act requires states and localities to create a more comprehensive workforce system for development needs. The act promotes partnerships among diverse programs and community representatives through participation on newly created state and local workforce investment boards and youth councils. GAO found that most youth councils nationwide included the required members and nearly all councils were active by July 2000. Local boards competitively chose youth service providers and developed strategies for one-stop centers. Most boards reported that services were provided through contracted service providers rather than one-stop centers. However, local boards had difficulty getting parents and youth to participate on youth councils. Some local areas found it difficult to identify and select youth service providers because of low response to requests for proposals. Getting youth to visit the typically adult-focused one-stop centers was also difficult. Youth councils linked with the education community by including representatives of local school districts and existing school-board career programs in their membership or as youth service providers. Moreover, secondary and postsecondary schools contracted …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Through military base realignment and closures rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995, the Pentagon significantly reduced its domestic infrastructure and freed up needed dollars for high-priority programs. By the end of last round in fiscal year 2001, the Department of Defense (DOD) had closed or realigned hundreds of bases, generated savings, and transferred unneeded property to other users. The communities surrounding the former bases continue to recover economically from the closures. Congress recently authorized another round of base realignments and closures beginning in 2005. DOD has saved $16.7 billion through fiscal year 2001, and expects to save $6.6 billion in annually in future years. Although DOD plans to transfer nearly all of the 518,500 acres of unneeded base property to federal and nonfederal users, it has completed only some of the transfers. Environmental cleanup is the primary impediment to conveying the remaining property titles. The military services are using early transfer authority and leasing to make property available for reuse sooner. Although successful redevelopment of base property plays a key role in the economic recovery of neighboring communities, broader regional economic growth also is important …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) faces growing regulatory and oversight challenges. Technological advances have increased the complexity of securities markets and the range of products offered to the public. More people than ever are invested in securities, either directly or through mutual funds. Technology has also fundamentally changed the way these markets operate and how investors interact with them. SEC routinely prioritizes and allocates resources, but the agency is under increasing pressure because of the staffing imbalances caused by its growing workload. Staffing shortages have delayed critical regulatory activities, such as reviewing rule findings and issuing guidance. Oversight and supervisory functions have also been affected. SEC has tried to address its high turnover by offering special pay rates and retention bonuses, but the lack of funding for pay parity means little relief in the short-term. SEC has generally managed the gap between staff and workload by determining which basic duties mandated by statute could be accomplished with existing resources. This approach has forced SEC to be largely reactive rather than proactive."

P.L. 104-193 (the 1996 welfare reform legislation) made major changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. Some of the changes include requiring states to increase the percentage of fathers identified, establishing an integrated, automated network linking all states to information about the location and assets of parents, and requiring states to implement more enforcement techniques to obtain collections from debtor parents. Additional legislative changes were made in 1997, 1998, and 1999, but not in 2000 or 2001. This report describes several aspects of the revised CSE program and discusses three issues that probably will be reexamined by the 107th Congress — CSE financing, parental access by noncustodial parents, and distribution of support payments.

None

This report describes several aspects of the revised CSE program and discusses three issues that probably will be reexamined by the 107th Congress — CSE financing, parental access by noncustodial parents, and distribution of support payments.

None