Biosecurity Briefing

Subscribe | About | Current Issue | RSS | Archive

GAO Report: Variable Progress in DHS Activities

By Shana R. Deitch, September 14, 2007

An August 2007 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report assessing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mission and management goals finds that there are variable rates of progress toward goals that are critical to the agency’s effectiveness.1 The report is one in a series of GAO evaluations of DHS since the department’s inception in 2003.

“GAO has reported that the creation of DHS was an enormous management challenge and that the size, complexity, and importance of the effort made the challenge especially daunting and critical to the nation’s security. Our prior work…found that successful transformations of large organizations, even those faced with less strenuous reorganizations than DHS, can take at least 5 to 7 years to achieve.”1

The report evaluates DHS mission and management goals in fourteen areas:

1. Border security
2. Immigration enforcement
3. Immigration services
4. Aviation security
5. Surface transportation security
6. Maritime security
7. Emergency preparedness and response
8. Critical infrastructure protection
9. Science and technology
10. Acquisition management
11. Financial management
12. Human capital management
13. Information technology management
14. Real property management.1

Performance indicators and expectations were identified and defined according to Congressional legislation, homeland security presidential directives and executive orders, DHS budget, performance, strategic planning documents, and practices identified in earlier GAO reports. Agency progress in each area was measured by the number of performance indicators achieved and assessed according to the following criteria:

• Substantial progress: DHS has taken actions to generally achieve more than 75 percent of the identified performance expectations.
• Moderate progress: DHS has taken actions to generally achieve more than 50 percent but 75 percent or less of the identified performance expectations.
• Modest progress: DHS has taken actions to generally achieve more than 25 percent but 50 percent or less of the identified performance expectations.
• Limited progress: DHS has taken actions to generally achieve 25 percent or less of the identified performance expectations.1

While GAO found that DHS made “substantial” progress in the area of maritime security, progress in emergency preparedness and response, science and technology, human capital (workforce) management, and information technology remains “limited.”1 Critical infrastructure and aviation security were among the five mission and management areas that scored a “moderate” in their assessments. GAO stated that the underlying areas affecting the agency’s implementation efforts include overall management, risk management, information sharing, and partnerships and coordination. According the report, “This lack of a comprehensive strategy and integrated management systems and functions limits DHS’s ability to carry out its homeland security responsibilities in an effective, risk-based way.”1

The report did not include any new recommendations for DHS but did point to the “approximately 700 recommendations” GAO has made in previous reports.1 According to GAO, DHS has taken action to address or implement these recommendations and to strengthen departmental operations. Furthermore, GAO assessment of performance indicators did not include DHS planning or actions subsequent to September 2006.

References

1. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Department of Homeland Security: Progress report on implementation of mission and management functions. August 2007. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07454.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2007.