Observations on the Department of Justice's Fiscal Year 1999 Performance Plan

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Justice's annual performance plan for fiscal year 1999.

GAO noted that: (1) GAO found that Justice's performance plan generally meets the criteria in the Government Performance and Results Act and related guidance; (2) Justice has made a good first effort in preparing its performance plan, which contains the basic elements required by the Results Act; (3) the strength of the performance plan is its presentation of a comprehensive set of performance goals that generally are results oriented and contain reasonably clear strategies for its intended performance goals; (4) the performance goals are linked to Justice's mission and its strategic goals; and (5) however, the performance plan could be more useful to congressional decisionmakers if it, for example: (a) clarified how major Justice programs will contribute to achieving the performance goals; (b) better described how requested resources will produce the expected results; and (c) provided more specific information on plans to improve the accuracy and completeness of performance data.