Major Management Challenges and Program Risks

This publication is part of GAO's performance and accountability series which provides a comprehensive assessment of government management, particularly the management challenges and program risks confronting federal agencies. Using a "performance-based management" approach, this landmark set of reports focuses on the results of government programs--how they affect the American taxpayer--rather than on the processes of government. This approach integrates thinking about organization, product and service delivery, use of technology, and human capital practices into every decision about the results that the government hopes to achieve. The series includes an overview volume discussing governmentwide management issues and 20 individual reports on the challenges facing specific cabinet departments and independent agencies. The reports take advantage of the wealth of new information made possible by management reform legislation, including audited financial statements for major federal agencies, mandated by the Chief Financial Officers Act, and strategic and performance plans required by the Government Performance and Results Act. In a companion volume to this series, GAO also updates its high-risk list of government operations and programs that are particularly vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

GAO noted that: (1) the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) persistent management challenges have resulted in recommendations to restructure the agency so that enforcement of immigration laws and delivery of immigration services are clearly divided; (2) INS is developing a restructuring plan to accomplish this division and other objectives; (3) although the Attorney General has established a strategy to strengthen immigration enforcement, GAO's review of three aspects of the strategy has raised concerns about INS' efforts to achieve program objectives: (a) INS has spent billions of dollars on border enforcement but has not yet done a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether its strategy to deter illegal entry has been effective; (b) INS has a program designed to place criminal aliens in removal proceedings while they serve their prison sentences, but it has failed to identify thousands of such aliens before their release into U.S. communities; and (c) INS is required to complete criminal history checks on all applicants for naturalization before the application is approved; however, its failure to do so in some cases has resulted in criminal aliens being improperly naturalized; (4) auditors issued a disclaimer of opinion on the Department's fiscal years 1996 and 1997 consolidated financial statements because they were unable to obtain sufficient evidence to determine whether the Department's account balances and disclosures were fairly stated; (5) the Department's program for managing and disposing of seized assets has been designated a high-risk area; (6) managed by the U.S. Marshals Service, the program has experienced major operational problems for several years; (7) GAO's recent work has indicated that property management has improved, but some challenges remain; (8) recognizing the need for better management, INS has undertaken some steps to address some of its long-standing problems; and (9) to help improve its performance and achieve its intended results, the Department developed strategic and performance plans in accordance with the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act.