SSA’s CIO overhaul lacked adequate planning, GAO says
May 14th, 2012 | Information Technology Social Security Administration | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Social Security Administration did not fully assess the impact of a major internal overhaul last June, which eliminated the chief information office and reassigned its functions, according to testimony from a Government Accountability Office official.
At the time, most of the responsibilities for managing information technology and the IT budget were reassigned to SSA’s Office of Systems. Two months later, then CIO Frank Baitman resigned. Kelly Croft, deputy commissioner for systems, assumed the CIO duties and oversight of those IT workers.
SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue said the effort would increase efficiency, but SSA did not develop a management plan that describes the challenges associated with the realignment or how to resolve them, time frames, resources, performance measures and accountability structures, according to written testimony from Valerie Melvin, GAO’s director of information management and technology resources issues. Melvin spoke on the issue at a House subcommittee hearing last week.
SSA also failed to analyze what roles and responsibilities were needed to support the new changes, Melvin said in her testimony.
She said the new structure should provide effective oversight and management of SSA’s systems and modernization if implemented properly, but it “cannot be determined whether the reassignment of staff that occurred as a result of the realignment represents an optimal allocation of resources.”
Tags: chief information officer, GAO, Kelly Croft
Is telework increasing? Who knows?
April 20th, 2012 | Office of Personnel Management | Posted by Stephen Losey
The federal government wants to increase the amount federal employees telework, and even passed a law to make it easier in December 2010.
But finding out whether that’s actually happening is tricky. Because the metrics used to measure telework are continually shifting, it’s probably going to be a few more years before we know whether things are actually improving, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
GAO said that for years, agencies have used different methods to collect telework data, leaving those statistics inconsistent and unreliable. After the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act was passed, the Office of Personnel Management sought to fix that problem by revising its 2011 “data call.” That revision sought to standardize definitions of key terms and reporting methods, added more questions to make the surveys more reliable, and shortened the time frame during which telework participation is measured.
But GAO said those changes mean that the data measured in September and October 2011 will be so different it can’t possibly be compared to prior years’ results.
What’s more, agencies are still increasing their use of automated data collection, GAO said, and OPM might change its survey methods even more before it starts collecting 2012 data. That means the 2011 data might be essentially worthless too, GAO said.
“OPM officials anticipate that telework data will be more reliable next year,” GAO said.
OPM told GAO that it would make it clear in its first mandated report to Congress this June that the 2011 data has its limitations and keep trying to improve data collection, as GAO recommended. But OPM also noted that data collection remains inadequate at the agency level, which it is trying to address through training.
GAO: Communication key for successful IT programs
November 21st, 2011 | Information Technology Procurement | Posted by Nicole Johnson
When it comes to successfully executing major information technology acquisitions, consistent and open dialogue between program officials and stakeholders is key, according to a review of several federal IT programs.
The Government Accountability Office report identifies common factors shared by successful IT programs within government:
- Program officials are actively engaged with stakeholders.
- Program staff has the necessary knowledge and skills.
- Senior department and agency executives support the programs.
- End users and stakeholders are involved in the development of requirements.
- End users participate in testing of system functionality prior to formal end user acceptance testing.
- Government and contractor staff are stable and consistent.
- Program staff prioritizes requirements.
- Program officials maintain regular communication with the prime contractor.
- Programs receive sufficient funding.
Transportation Department’ Integrated Terminal Weather System, which provides weather information to 2,210 air traffic controllers and and flight support personnel, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative are among the seven IT investments included in the report. DHS’ Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative aids officials at ports of entry with inspections and has a total estimated lifecycle cost of $2 billion.
Tags: GAO
GAO: Federal IT budget far more than $79 billion
October 27th, 2011 | 2011 Budget Information Technology OMB | Posted by Nicole Johnson
A review of federal information technology investments found that agencies spend far more than the $79 billion reported on the government’s web-based IT tracking system, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
The IT Dashboard only provides investment data for 26 agencies, the report noted. The website does not include spending data for 61 other agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Intelligence Agency and legislative and judicial branch agencies.
OMB encourages small agencies to use the IT Dashboard, but they choose not to, according to the GAO report released Wednesday.
While administration officials often quote $79 or $80 billion as the entire federal IT spend for fiscal 2011, GAO highlighted instances where agencies accounted for some IT systems in their overall IT budget but excluded others. GAO blamed the inconsistencies on the Office of Management and Budget’s murky guidance for how agencies should report IT investments and identify and categorize them.
OMB defines IT as any equipment used to automate various processes, such as acquisition and storage, or equipment used to receive and transmit data and information.
OMB officials said they give “agencies the flexibility to determine what to include as an IT investment, and agencies have chosen to interpret the definition of IT in different ways,” the report said.
“As a result, the nation’s actual annual investment in IT is much higher than the $78.8 billion identified by agencies” GAO said.
For example, in its IT budget submission to OMB the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration included only $181 million of the $382 million budget for its Joint Polar Satellite System and $215 million of the $690 million budgeted for its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series.
GAO said NOAA excluded “at least $676 million in IT-related development” on the IT Dashboard for the two systems.
Currently, the Dashboard tracks the performance and budget of for about 828 major IT investments and provides some details on more than 6,000 other IT investments.
GAO recommendations to OMB include:
- Clarify its guidance to agencies for reporting IT investments and specify which systems should be included.
- Revise guidance to agencies for categorizing IT investments.
- Specify which executive branch agencies are accounted for when referring to federal IT spending.
OMB said the IT dashboard already clarifies which agencies are included in the $79 billion investment total and that existing guidance tells agencies how to identify IT investments. But OMB did agree that its guidance to agencies does not address key categories for IT investments like space systems and whether they should be accounted for.
Tags: GAO
UPDATE: GAO OKs 42 buyouts
September 15th, 2011 | 2012 Budget | Posted by Stephen Losey
CORRECTION: GAO said the union published incorrect numbers in its newsletter. The actual number of buyouts has so far been 42, and another three early retirements. GAO said the program closes Sept. 20, and those numbers could change between now and then.
ORIGINAL POST: The Government Accountability Office has approved buyouts for 41 employees, and early retirements for another 5 employees.
The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 1921, also known as the GAO Employees Organization, listed the buyout and early out numbers in an e-mail newsletter sent to members this afternoon.
In an Aug. 8 memo to employees, GAO listed 56 positions — mostly management-level and other upper-level analysts and criminal investigators in bands IIB and III — that it hoped would accept the buyouts. GAO did not say how many early retirements it expected. Employees who were approved for a buyout or early out must leave by Sept. 30.
Tight budgets prompted GAO’s staffing cutbacks. In his Aug. 8 memo, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro said they “will help GAO adjust to our anticipated fiscal year 2012 budget while continuing to support our strategic plan and meet the needs of Congress.”
IFPTE’s newsletter also said GAO’s field office study team is scheduled to brief the agency’s executive committee on their initial findings Sept. 16. The team could recommend field office closures and layoffs as part of the first review of GAO’s field office structure in more than a decade. IFPTE said that before GAO management settles on any workforce restructuring because of the team’s findings, it is obligated to discuss alternatives with the union.
This continues government agencies’ ongoing trend of offering buyouts and early retirements to deal with tight budgets in the coming years.
OPM approves GAO buyouts
August 16th, 2011 | 2012 Budget | Posted by Stephen Losey
The Government Accountability Office just told its employees that the Office of Personnel Management has given the thumbs up to its buyout and early out plans. GAO sent employees a memo last week offering the buyouts and early retirements, but cautioning they were contingent on OPM’s approval.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 6, and those who accept the offers must retire by Sept. 30.
Tags: buyouts, early retirements, GAO
Federal small biz advocates should take it to the top
August 8th, 2011 | Procurement | Posted by Sarah Chacko
Small business program directors at seven federal agencies have been asked by a House subcommittee to explain why they are sidestepping reporting requirements.
The directors of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the Agriculture, Justice, State, Commerce, Treasury and Interior departments as well as the Social Security Administration were not reporting directly to their agency heads, as required by the Small Business Act, according to a June Government Accountability Office report.
The reporting requirement is meant to ensure that OSDBU directors have direct access to their agencies’ top decision makers to advocate for small businesses in procurement activities.
OSBDU directors at the seven noncompliant agencies were either delegating the reporting requirement to other staff in their office or reporting to lower level officials, not their agency heads, according to the report, which was created at the request of Senate Small Business Committee chairwoman Mary Landrieu.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney, chair of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, sent letters late Friday to the noncompliant agencies asking them to explain how they plan to comply with the reporting requirements and to detail what other positions their OSBDU directors hold.
Some of the OSBDU directors also head the agency’s procurement office, which is a conflict of interest because the small business office is supposed to be a check on the acquisition functions of the agency, Mulvaney said in his letters.
Committee staff said they expect agencies to respond by the end of the month, and a mid-September hearing is being planned to discuss the issue.
OSDBU directors that reported directly to their secretaries or deputy secretaries told the GAO that relationship showed “top-level support for small business efforts that sent a message to the rest of the agency.”
However, many of the noncompliant agencies said they did not see negative effects on their small business activity because they delegated reporting responsibilities or reported to lower level officials.
The seven noncompliant agencies were also cited by the GAO for similar reporting problems in 2003. Since problems still exist, the GAO asked those agencies to explain to Congress if they believe the requirement should be changed.
Tags: GAO, small business, Small Business Act
GAO hunting for worker’s comp fraud
July 14th, 2011 | Pay & Benefits | Posted by Stephen Losey
Know somebody who’s scamming the government on a bogus worker’s compensation claim? The Government Accountability Office wants to know.
GAO is investigating potential fraud and abuse of the Federal Employees Compensation Act program. This could include people receiving worker’s comp who are supposedly unable to work, yet are holding down a second job. Worker’s comp cheats could also be overstating their claim or collecting benefits for a dead person.
Drop a dime by sending an e-mail to workerscompfraud@gao.gov. GAO said it will keep your information confidential.
Tags: GAO, workers' compensation
Update:GAO upholds protest of DHS contract
March 18th, 2011 | Homeland Security | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Government Accountability Office on March 9 upheld a protest challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s multimillion-dollar contract with CACI to integrate financial management systems.
CACI was awarded up to $450 million worth of work on Nov. 19 to support the department’s troubled Transformation and Systems Consolidation program, which required the company to consolidate financial, acquisition and asset management systems across the department.
Competitors – Global Computer Enterprises and Savantage Financial Services – protested the award with GAO about a week later. GAO upheld GCE’s protest but dismissed Savantage’s, according to a GAO decision released Wednesday.
GCE argued that DHS changed the scope of work without properly notifying bidders. DHS reduced its requirements for the first two years of the contract from requiring 20 percent of users have access to the system to just FEMA, which represents less than 3 percent of that total.
GAO recommended that DHS reevaluate its requirements and revise and evaluate its request for proposal. “If as a result of the agency’s corrective action, CACI’s proposal is not found to offer the best value to the government, the agency should terminate CACI’s contract and make award to the offeror whose proposal is determined to represent the best value,” GAO said in its decision.
The government’s watchdog arm also recommended that DHS reimburse GCE for the costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including “reasonable attorney fees.”
“We are currently assessing GAO’s findings and recommendations to determine the way forward,” said DHS spokesman Chris Ortman. “The modernization of the Department’s financial, acquisition and asset systems remains a key priority for DHS.”
Collins asks GAO to tackle workers’ comp fraud
January 13th, 2011 | Workplace | Posted by Stephen Losey
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office to start looking into possible waste, fraud and abuse in federal workers’ compensation benefits.
The federal government pays benefits to about 49,000 federal employees under the Federal Employee Compensation Act so injured workers can pay their bills while they recuperate. But Collins suspects many are gaming the system and continuing to receive benefits long after they should have retired or returned to work.
Collins began beating the drum about this issue at a hearing last month, when she said the U.S. Postal Service is paying workers’ comp to 132 employees who were at least 90 years old — decades after they should have retired. Three of those employees still getting benefits are 98 years old. In all, 1,000 Postal Service employees over 80 are getting workers’ comp benefits, Collins said. And it’s not just a Postal Service problem — some federal employees at other agencies collect benefits into their 100s, she said.
“I am increasingly concerned that individuals with no intention of returning to work continue to receive these benefits,” Collins said in a statement. “If recipients are gaming this crucial benefit at taxpayers’ expense, they must be exposed and the underlying program must be reformed.”
Collins asked GAO to audit FECA and find out how long people stay on the program, how many recipients receive benefits well past retirement age, and how the program compares to state workers comp plans. She also asked GAO to check workers’ comp records against the government’s list of deceased employees and payroll to find anyone who may be “double dipping,” or getting benefits and a paycheck at the same time, or who may still be receiving benefits after death.
A fed would receive far more money through workers’ comp than actually retiring, Collins said, which would provide quite an incentive to keep drawing FECA in one’s twilight years. And FECA doesn’t have any caps on how much benefits one can draw, or other cut-off periods, which Collins said makes it especially susceptible to fraud.