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entitled 'Department of Homeland Security: A Strategic Approach Is 
Needed to Better Ensure the Acquisition Workforce Can Meet Mission 
Need' which was released on November 19, 2008.

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Report to Congressional Requesters: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

November 2008: 

Department of Homeland Security: 

A Strategic Approach Is Needed to Better Ensure the Acquisition 
Workforce Can Meet Mission Needs: 

GAO-09-30: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-09-30, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is one of the largest 
procurement spending agencies in the federal government. In fiscal year 
2007, DHS obligated about $12 billion for a wide range of goods and 
services to meet complex mission needs. Like other federal agencies, 
DHS has faced challenges in building and sustaining a capable workforce 
to support its acquisitions. 

GAO was asked to identify and assess DHS’s efforts to build and sustain 
an effective acquisition workforce and determine the extent to which 
DHS has planned strategically for the acquisition workforce. To conduct 
the work, GAO collected and reviewed data and interviewed officials 
from the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), DHS’s nine 
procurement offices, and nine program offices, and reviewed in detail 
workforce information and data for acquisition support contracts from 
selected offices. 

What GAO Found: 

DHS has undertaken several initiatives, mostly focused on contract 
specialists, to begin addressing acquisition workforce challenges. 
Initiatives related to recruiting, hiring, and training have made 
progress. In January 2008, CPO implemented a contract specialist intern 
program, and 49 contract specialists were hired through this initiative 
as of September 2008. In addition, CPO developed DHS-specific training 
for program managers through a training program begun in spring 2008. 
However, most initiatives related to defining and identifying the 
acquisition workforce and assessing workforce needs have not yet 
produced results and in some cases are progressing more slowly than 
originally projected. CPO is considering expanding some of its 
recruiting and hiring initiatives to address identified shortages in 
acquisition-related positions other than contract specialists, but has 
not determined how it will implement such an expansion. Moreover, DHS 
generally lacks documented performance goals and implementation 
steps—such as actions to be taken, needed resources, and milestones—for 
its current initiatives. Without developing this foundation, DHS will 
not be in a position to effectively monitor and evaluate implementation 
of these initiatives. 

DHS has not developed a comprehensive strategic acquisition workforce 
plan to direct its future acquisition workforce efforts and generally 
lacks several elements key to developing such a plan: a coordinated 
planning process; a comprehensive acquisition workforce definition; and 
sufficient data on workforce size and skills, including the use of 
acquisition support contractors. DHS has not set an overall direction 
for acquisition workforce planning or fully involved key stakeholders, 
such as the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer and component 
procurement and program offices. However, DHS has recently taken steps 
that may help to include program office stakeholders in workforce 
planning. The department’s narrow acquisition workforce definition, 
which includes only a portion of the employees performing acquisition-
related functions, further limits the scope of planning. While DHS 
recognizes the importance of expanding the definition, it has not yet 
established an interim definition that identifies which positions 
should be included. DHS also lacks sufficient data to fully assess its 
acquisition workforce needs, including gaps in the numbers of employees 
needed or the skills of those employees. Understanding such workforce 
gaps is key to developing effective strategies to address current and 
future workforce needs. Further, prior GAO work has found that agencies 
should develop workforce strategies that include contractors; however, 
DHS has limited insight into the numbers of contractors supporting its 
acquisition function or the types of tasks performed. While GAO has 
previously reported that strategic acquisition workforce planning is 
not an easy task and can take several years to accomplish, government 
agencies will not be in a sound position to ensure they have capable 
acquisition workforces without this planning. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO recommends that DHS take several actions to better address 
acquisition workforce challenges, including: establishing an interim 
acquisition workforce definition and an implementation plan for current 
initiatives; developing plans as appropriate to expand current 
initiatives; establishing a coordinated planning process; and improving 
acquisition workforce data. DHS generally concurred with these 
recommendations and noted efforts under way to address them. 

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-30]. For more 
information, contact John Hutton at (202)512-4841 or huttonj@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Results in Brief: 

Background: 

DHS Has Taken Initial Steps to Address Acquisition Workforce 
Challenges, but Has Primarily Focused on Contract Specialists: 

DHS Generally Lacks Several Elements Key to Planning Strategically for 
the Acquisition Workforce: 

Conclusion: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security: 

Appendix III: Procurement and Program Offices Reviewed: 

Tables: 

Table 1: DHS Contract Specialist Staffing and Vacancy Rates for Federal 
Employees as of February 2008: 

Table 2: DHS Acquisition Workforce Initiatives: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: DHS Components with Heads of Contracting Activity and Lines 
of Reporting: 

Figure 2: Cumulative Percentage of the Contract Specialist Population 
at DHS Eligible to Retire as of the End of Each Fiscal Year: 

Abbreviations: 

CBP: Customs and Border Protection: 

CHCO: Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer: 

COTR: contracting officer's technical representative: 

CPO: Office of the Chief Procurement Officer: 

DHS: Department of Homeland Security: 

DOD: Department of Defense: 

FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation: 

ICE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement: 

OFPP: Office of Federal Procurement Policy: 

OPM: Office of Personnel Management: 

TSA: Transportation Security Administration: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

November 19, 2008: 

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman:
Chairman: 
The Honorable Susan M. Collins: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable George V. Voinovich: 
Ranking Member: 
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal 
Workforce, and the District of Columbia: 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Homeland Security: 

House of Representatives: 

The federal acquisition workforce plays a key role in ensuring the 
government receives the best value for the hundreds of billions of 
dollars it spends each year for goods and services. However, changes in 
the federal acquisition environment have created significant challenges 
to building and sustaining a capable acquisition workforce across the 
government. While the federal acquisition workforce has decreased in 
number, the size and complexity of investments and the acquisition 
workload have increased. As a result, agencies have increasingly relied 
on contractors to support the acquisition workforce. Despite these 
significant changes, agencies have not given adequate attention to the 
size of the acquisition workforce and the skills it needs and planned 
accordingly. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which began operations in 
March 2003, is one of the largest agencies for procurement spending 
within the federal government. In fiscal year 2007, DHS obligated about 
$12 billion to acquire a wide range of goods and services. DHS and its 
components--which are jointly responsible for managing the department's 
acquisition workforce--have faced a number of challenges related to 
procurement of services and major acquisitions. Specifically, our prior 
work has shown negative cost and schedule implications for complex 
services acquisitions at DHS that did not have adequate staff to 
effectively plan and execute contracts.[Footnote 1] In addition, our 
work over a period of 7 years on the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater 
System--a multibillion dollar effort to upgrade an array of critical 
Coast Guard assets that has experienced significant cost, schedule, and 
performance problems--has highlighted ineffective program management 
due, in part, to staffing shortfalls and the Coast Guard's inability to 
adequately oversee its contractors.[Footnote 2] Most recently, we 
reported in June 2008 that despite positive changes to management and 
acquisition approaches, the Coast Guard continued to have difficulties 
in building an adequate government workforce to acquire and manage 
Deepwater and relied on contractors to provide critical skills and 
knowledge.[Footnote 3] 

Given the acquisition workforce challenges DHS faces, you asked us to 
(1) identify and assess DHS's efforts to build and sustain an effective 
acquisition workforce and (2) determine the extent to which DHS has 
planned strategically for the acquisition workforce. To conduct our 
work, we reviewed available documents and interviewed representatives 
from DHS's Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), the Office of 
the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO), and the nine procurement 
offices that support DHS's components.[Footnote 4] We also selected 
program offices of major investments associated with each of DHS's 
procurement offices that included a range of investment sizes, staffing 
levels, and project phases. In addition to collecting information from 
each office on the composition of its workforce, we also interviewed 
key program representatives. To gather more detailed information, we 
selected three procurement offices--the Office of Procurement 
Operations, Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Office of 
Acquisition, and Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Procurement 
Directorate--and two program offices--TSA's Electronic Baggage 
Screening Program and CBP's Automated Commercial Environment Program-- 
for in-depth review. To learn about the type of work performed by 
acquisition support contractors, we collected and analyzed statements 
of work for all acquisition support contracts active as of the end of 
fiscal year 2007 associated with these procurement and program offices. 
Finally, we reviewed data from the Office of Personnel Management's 
(OPM) Central Personnel Data File on contract specialists in DHS's 
workforce to assess the department's hiring and retention of this 
population.[Footnote 5] We have previously assessed the reliability of 
the Central Personnel Data File and based on that assessment and 
information provided by OPM in February 2008, we found it sufficiently 
reliable for our purposes.[Footnote 6] We conducted this performance 
audit from September 2007 until November 2008 in accordance with 
generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards 
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, 
appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and 
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence 
obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions 
based on our audit objectives. See appendix I for additional 
information on our scope and methodology. 

Results in Brief: 

DHS has undertaken several initiatives, mostly focused on contract 
specialists, to begin addressing acquisition workforce challenges. 
DHS's recruiting, hiring, and training initiatives have made progress 
in hiring new contract specialists and expanding access to training. In 
January 2008, CPO implemented the Acquisition Professional Career 
Program and, as of September 2008, had hired 49 contract specialist 
interns through the program. In addition, CPO established an 
Acquisition Training Program in spring 2008 that has developed DHS- 
specific training for program managers and formed a council to 
coordinate acquisition workforce training opportunities across 
components. However, most of DHS's initiatives related to defining and 
identifying the acquisition workforce and assessing acquisition 
workforce needs have not yet produced results and in some cases are 
progressing more slowly than originally projected. CPO is considering 
expanding some recruiting and hiring initiatives to address identified 
shortages for acquisition-related positions other than contract 
specialists, but has not determined how it will implement an expansion. 
Moreover, DHS generally lacks documented performance goals and 
implementation steps--such as actions to be taken, needed resources, 
and milestones--for its current acquisition workforce initiatives. 
Without establishing this foundation, DHS will not be in a sound 
position to effectively monitor and evaluate the implementation of 
these initiatives. 

DHS has not developed a comprehensive strategic acquisition workforce 
plan to direct the department's future acquisition workforce efforts 
and generally lacks several elements key to developing such a plan. 
These elements include: a coordinated planning process fully involving 
stakeholders; a comprehensive acquisition workforce definition; and 
sufficient data to completely assess workforce needs including the use 
of acquisition support contractors. DHS has not set an overall 
direction for acquisition workforce planning or fully involved key 
stakeholders, such as CHCO and component procurement and program 
offices, actions that our past work has shown can increase the 
likelihood of success for workforce planning. However, DHS has recently 
taken steps that may help to include program office stakeholders in 
workforce planning. The department's narrow acquisition workforce 
definition, which includes only a portion of the employees performing 
acquisition-related functions, further limits the scope of planning. 
While DHS recognizes the importance of expanding the department's 
definition, it has not yet established an interim definition that 
identifies which positions should be included. DHS also lacks 
sufficient data to fully assess its acquisition workforce needs, 
including the gaps in the numbers of employees needed or the skills of 
those employees. Understanding such workforce gaps is key to developing 
effective strategies to address current and future workforce needs. 
Further, our prior work has found that agencies should develop 
workforce strategies that include contractors; however, DHS has limited 
insight into the numbers of contractors supporting its acquisition 
function or the types of tasks performed. While we have previously 
reported that strategic acquisition workforce planning is not an easy 
task and can take several years to accomplish, government agencies will 
not be in a sound position to ensure they have capable acquisition 
workforces without this planning. 

To improve DHS's ability to effectively manage its acquisition 
workforce initiatives and plan strategically for its acquisition 
workforce, we are recommending that the Under Secretary for Management 
take several actions. These actions include establishing an interim 
definition of the acquisition workforce and an implementation plan for 
current acquisition workforce initiatives; developing plans as 
appropriate to expand current recruiting and hiring initiatives to 
positions beyond contract specialists; establishing a process to 
coordinate future acquisition workforce planning efforts between CPO, 
CHCO, and the components; and improving the department's acquisition 
workforce data. In written comments on a draft of this report, DHS 
generally concurred with our recommendations and provided information 
on efforts under way and plans to address them. While the efforts cited 
by DHS are important steps toward building an effective acquisition 
workforce, we believe additional actions are needed to fully address 
our recommendations. The department's comments are reprinted in 
appendix II. DHS also provided technical comments, which we 
incorporated as appropriate. 

Background: 

In fiscal year 2007, federal agencies spent over $450 billion to 
acquire goods and services. Under the Services Acquisition Reform Act 
of 2003, Congress authorized the establishment of a panel to review all 
federal acquisition laws, regulations, and certain policies and 
recommend changes to them that would result in improved federal 
acquisition practices.[Footnote 7] In its 2007 report, the panel found 
that the federal acquisition workforce's shortcomings in terms of size, 
skills, and experience could affect a variety of areas addressed by its 
findings and recommendations, such as commercial practices and the use 
of performance-based acquisition.[Footnote 8] Among the acquisition 
workforce issues raised by the Acquisition Advisory Panel's report was 
the substantial reduction in the federal acquisition workforce during 
the 1990s, which led to a period when the hiring of new acquisition 
professionals virtually ceased, thereby contributing to a current lack 
of experienced personnel. The Acquisition Advisory Panel's report and 
our prior work have also raised concerns about the reliance on 
contractors to support acquisition-related functions. Our prior work at 
DHS found that the department did not always assess the risk of 
contractors performing selected professional and management support 
services that closely support the performance of inherently 
governmental functions. Further, the level of oversight DHS provided 
for these services, which include those for acquisition support, did 
not always ensure accountability for decisions or the ability to judge 
whether the contractor was performing as required.[Footnote 9] 

A number of governmental organizations play critical roles in assisting 
civilian agencies in building and sustaining their acquisition 
workforces. Among these agencies, OPM provides human capital advice and 
leadership to ensure federal agencies have an effective civilian 
workforce; the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy (OFPP) provides governmentwide guidance on 
acquisition workforce issues for agencies other than the Department of 
Defense (DOD); and the Federal Acquisition Institute promotes the 
development of the civilian acquisition workforce as well as an 
information management system that collects and maintains acquisition 
workforce information. 

In 2005, OFPP issued guidance to civilian agencies on defining and 
identifying their acquisition workforces.[Footnote 10] The guidance 
provides minimum categories of positions that define an agency's 
acquisition workforce, which include positions such as contract 
specialist, program manager, and contracting officer's technical 
representative (COTR). Contract specialists perform a range of 
acquisition services, such as market research, preparation of 
statements of work, and the development and management of acquisition 
plans. Some contract specialists receive warrants as government 
contracting officers and thereby have the authority to enter into, 
administer, or terminate contracts.[Footnote 11] Program managers 
perform duties such as developing government requirements, defining 
measurable performance standards, and managing contractor activities to 
ensure that intended outcomes are achieved. COTRs, who are federal 
employees appointed by contracting officers, perform certain contract 
administration duties, including inspection and acceptance of supplies 
or services. The OFPP guidance further suggests that the acquisition 
workforce may be broadened to include all individuals who perform 
functions related to acquisition. Examples of functional positions 
given in the guidance, such as test and evaluation, and business and 
finance, provide key support for the management of programs and extend 
beyond the few procurement-related positions that have been 
traditionally considered in OFPP guidance as part of the civilian 
acquisition workforce. 

Agencies addressing workforce challenges similar to those facing the 
federal acquisition workforce have used strategic workforce planning to 
position themselves to meet these challenges. Strategic workforce 
planning is an iterative, systematic process that addresses two 
critical needs: (1) aligning an organization's human capital program 
with its current and emerging mission and programmatic goals and (2) 
developing long-term strategies for acquiring, developing, and 
retaining an organization's workforce to achieve programmatic goals. 
Agency approaches to such planning can vary, as necessary, to address 
each agency's particular needs and mission. However, our prior work 
suggests that irrespective of the context in which workforce planning 
is done, such a process should incorporate five key principles: (1) 
involve management and employees, (2) analyze workforce gaps, (3) 
employ workforce strategies to fill the gaps, (4) build the 
capabilities needed to support workforce strategies, and (5) evaluate 
and revise strategies.[Footnote 12] 

Within DHS, CPO is responsible for creating the departmentwide policies 
and procedures for managing and overseeing the acquisition function, 
including procurement.[Footnote 13] For the purposes of this report, 
the term procurement refers to the actual transaction to acquire goods 
and services, while the term acquisition includes the development of 
operational and life-cycle requirements, such as formulating concepts 
of operations, developing sound business strategies, exercising prudent 
financial management, assessing trade-offs, and managing program risks. 
DHS relies on a structure of dual accountability and collaboration 
between the CPO and the heads of DHS's components to carry out the 
acquisition function. Seven DHS components have internal procurement 
offices with a Head of Contracting Activity who has overall 
responsibility for the day-to-day management of the procurement 
function for his or her respective DHS entity.[Footnote 14] Component 
Heads of Contracting Activity report directly to the head of the 
component and are accountable to the CPO. Two other procurement offices 
are located within DHS headquarters and have Heads of Contracting 
Activity who report directly to the CPO. Figure 1 shows the 
organizational relationship between Heads of Contracting Activity, 
heads of components, and the CPO. 

Figure 1: DHS Components with Heads of Contracting Activity and Lines 
of Reporting: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is a flow chart depicting the lines of reporting of DHS 
components with heads of contracting activity, as follows: 

DHS Secretary/DHS Deputy Secretary: 
Direct lines of reporting with: 
* Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; 
* Transportation Security Administration; 
* Federal Emergency Management Agency; 
* Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 
* Customs and Border Protection: 
- Secure Border Initiative; 
* Secret Service; 
* Coast Guard; 
* Under Secretary for Management (Chief Acquisition Officer). 

Under Secretary for Management (Chief Acquisition Officer): 
Direct lines of reporting with: 
* Chief Procurement Officer (Senior Procurement Executive): 
- Office of Procurement Operations; 
- Office of Selective Acquisitions. 

Through the respective head of contracting activity, each of these 
agencies has an indirect line of reporting to the Chief Procurement 
Officer (Senior Procurement Executive): 
* Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; 
* Transportation Security Administration; 
* Federal Emergency Management Agency; 
* Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 
* Customs and Border Protection; 
* Secure Border Initiative; 
* Secret Service; 
* Coast Guard. 

Source: DHS (data); GAO (analysis and presentation). 

[End of figure] 

Similarly, CPO and the components rely on a structure of dual 
accountability and collaboration to manage DHS's acquisition workforce. 
Although DHS has not formally defined its acquisition workforce, 
according to CPO representatives, the definition currently includes 
contract specialists, program managers, and COTRs. To address workforce 
needs, in 2004 CPO established an Acquisition Workforce Branch with 
responsibility for leading departmentwide efforts on recruitment, 
development, training, certification, and retention of the acquisition 
workforce. This branch has been developing its capacity and had 10 
staff in place as of August 2008. Components are responsible for 
accomplishing these same efforts as well as for planning and budgeting 
for their acquisition workforce positions and hiring individuals to 
fill those positions. 

DHS Has Taken Initial Steps to Address Acquisition Workforce 
Challenges, but Has Primarily Focused on Contract Specialists: 

DHS has identified staffing level and training challenges related to 
the acquisition workforce. Over the past 2 years, CPO has undertaken 
several acquisition workforce initiatives, largely focused on contract 
specialists, in an effort to begin addressing these challenges. DHS 
identified contract specialists as one of its most critical staffing 
shortage areas. CPO's initiatives related to recruiting, hiring, and 
training have made progress. However, most initiatives related to 
defining and identifying the acquisition workforce and assessing needs 
have not yet produced results and in some cases are not progressing as 
projected. Although CPO is considering expanding some of its recruiting 
and hiring initiatives to include positions other than contract 
specialists, it has not yet determined how this expansion will be 
implemented. Moreover, DHS generally lacks documentation of key 
elements needed to monitor and evaluate the progress of its acquisition 
workforce initiatives, including performance goals for the initiatives 
and implementation steps such as actions to be taken and related 
milestones. 

DHS Has Identified Acquisition Workforce Staffing Level and Training 
Challenges: 

DHS has identified contract specialist staffing levels as a serious 
concern for the department. According to OPM data, DHS increased its 
government contract specialist population from 577 to 1041, or 
approximately 80 percent, from the department's inception in 2003 to 
the end of fiscal year 2007, with the largest annual increase of 180 
federal employees from 2006 to 2007. However, in February 2008, DHS's 
procurement offices reported contract specialist vacancy rates for 
federal employees ranging from 12 percent to 35 percent (see table 1). 
To help address the need for government employees, DHS has hired 
contractors to perform some acquisition support functions. 

Table 1: DHS Contract Specialist Staffing and Vacancy Rates for Federal 
Employees as of February 2008: 

DHS Procurement Office: Customs and Border Protection[B]; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 220; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 143; 
Vacancies: 77; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 35. 

DHS Procurement Office: Office of Procurement Operations; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 190; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 135; 
Vacancies: 55; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 29. 

DHS Procurement Office: Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 170; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 133; 
Vacancies: 37; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 22. 

DHS Procurement Office: Federal Emergency Management Agency; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 154; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 131; 
Vacancies: 23; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 15. 

DHS Procurement Office: Coast Guard; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 343; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 290; 
Vacancies: 53; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 15. 

DHS Procurement Office: Secret Service; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 26; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 22; 
Vacancies: 4; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 15. 

DHS Procurement Office: Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: 41; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 36; 
Vacancies: 5; 
Vacancy rate[A]: 12. 

DHS Procurement Office: Transportation Security Administration; 
Authorized full time equivalent positions: N/A[C]; 
Filled full time equivalent positions: 87; 
Vacancies: N/A[C]; 
Vacancy rate[A]: N/A[C]. 

Source: GAO analysis of DHS data. 

[A] Vacancy rate is calculated by dividing the number of vacancies by 
the number of authorized positions reported. 

[B] Data for the Secure Border Initiative Acquisition Office is 
included with the CBP data. 

[C] A contract specialist vacancy rate cannot be calculated for TSA's 
Office of Acquisition because it does not request or authorize 
positions by series or function. 

[End of table] 

Representatives from DHS's procurement offices told us that they had 
difficulty finding contract specialists to fill available government 
positions, particularly for those positions that required experience. 
They attributed this condition to factors such as competition from 
other federal agencies and private industry in the Washington, D.C., 
area and the lengthy federal hiring process, and reported that this 
condition has led to hiring individuals who lack the experience needed 
to handle DHS's complex acquisitions and needing support contractors to 
perform some contract specialist duties. Procurement office 
representatives also noted difficulty in retaining qualified staff. Our 
analysis of OPM data showed that DHS's fiscal year 2007 attrition rate 
for contract specialists, 7 percent, was somewhat above the overall 
rate for cabinet-level departments of 5.4 percent.[Footnote 15] In 
addition to transfers outside of DHS, the data also showed 
approximately 40 contract specialist transfers among DHS components in 
fiscal year 2007, which adds to the retention challenge for some 
components. DHS also has identified increased retirement eligibility of 
its contract specialists as a concern. OPM data show that nearly one 
third of contract specialists at DHS will be eligible to retire by the 
end of fiscal year 2012 (see fig. 2).[Footnote 16] 

Figure 2: Cumulative Percentage of the Contract Specialist Population 
at DHS Eligible to Retire as of the End of Each Fiscal Year: 

[See PDF for image] 

This figure is a line graph depicting the following data: 

Fiscal year: 2007; 
Percentage: 8.67. 

Fiscal year: 2008; 
Percentage: 12.6. 

Fiscal year: 2009; 
Percentage: 16.73. 

Fiscal year: 2010; 
Percentage: 20.46. 

Fiscal year: 2011; 
Percentage: 25.3. 

Fiscal year: 2012; 
Percentage: 29.64. 

Note: The percentages eligible to retire are for those contract 
specialists at DHS in September 2007. Actual percentages eligible to 
retire in future years could change with movement of contract 
specialists into and out of DHS over the next 4 years. 

[End of figure] 

DHS also faces staffing shortages in other acquisition-related 
positions, including certified program managers, business and financial 
management staff, and technical support staff. For example, we recently 
reported that during fiscal year 2007, more than 40 percent of DHS's 
major investments lacked a program manager certified by DHS as having 
the required knowledge and skills to oversee complex acquisition 
programs.[Footnote 17] In March 2007, DHS's Under Secretary for 
Management stated that the department had a shortage of people 
experienced in program management and related functional areas, such as 
acquisition logistics and cost analysis.[Footnote 18] Similarly, a 2007 
CPO review determined that program offices had very limited technical 
support staff such as systems engineers, and that very few offices had 
someone functioning as a business or financial manager. Our past work 
has also raised concerns about adequate training and numbers of COTRs 
at DHS. For example, we reported in September 2007 on cases in which 
COTRs lacked the capacity to oversee contractor performance because of 
limited expertise and workload demands.[Footnote 19] Additionally, our 
work on contracting issues following Hurricane Katrina indicated that 
the number of contract monitoring staff was not always sufficient. 
[Footnote 20] CPO generally does not collect data on attrition and 
retirement eligibility of program managers, COTRs, or other program 
management-related employees. However, overall retirement eligibility 
trends for federal employees could challenge the department's ability 
to attain and maintain sufficient staffing levels for these positions. 

Further, DHS representatives have expressed concerns about providing 
adequate training to the department's acquisition workforce, and the 
Under Secretary for Management has stated that advanced training 
programs for the acquisition workforce are necessary to reduce the 
department's reliance on contractors.[Footnote 21] The DHS acquisition 
workforce obtains training through various means, such as attending 
component-sponsored training or courses offered by the Defense 
Acquisition University or Federal Acquisition Institute.[Footnote 22] 
However, according to DHS representatives, none of these sources 
satisfies DHS's long-term requirement for training to meet its specific 
needs. For example, the representatives explained that relying on 
components to provide training makes it difficult to ensure that the 
workforce will be able to obtain and maintain certifications because 
components have to obtain funding through their own budgets and funding 
levels can fluctuate. In addition, the representatives noted that 
Defense Acquisition University courses are not tailored specifically to 
DHS's homeland security mission and that Federal Acquisition Institute 
courses are primarily focused on contracting. 

DHS Has Undertaken Several Acquisition Workforce Initiatives: 

At the departmental level, CPO has identified building the DHS 
acquisition workforce as one of the office's top priorities. To assist 
procurement and program offices in building and sustaining their 
workforces, CPO launched several initiatives during 2007 and 2008 for 
defining and identifying the acquisition workforce, assessing 
acquisition workforce needs, recruiting and hiring acquisition 
workforce professionals, and training the acquisition workforce (see 
table 2). Most of these initiatives are targeted at contract 
specialists. To some extent, this focus was the result of DHS's 
identifying contract specialists as one of its most critical staffing 
shortages. 

Table 2: DHS Acquisition Workforce Initiatives: 

Initiative: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: 

Initiative: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Pilot test 
to identify acquisition workforce positions; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Effort to 
identify and code all DHS acquisition workforce positions in the 
National Finance Center database; the pilot test is focused on contract 
specialists; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Expanding 
the acquisition workforce definition; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Effort to 
expand DHS's existing acquisition workforce definition to include 
additional acquisition-related functions, such as business and 
financial management, logistics, and systems engineering; 
Current target population: Program offices. 

Initiative: Assess acquisition workforce needs: Procurement office 
workforce model/CPO procurement staffing work group; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Effort 
focused on developing a staffing model for DHS procurement offices; 
after considering the results of a contractor-developed study, CPO 
formed an internal work group focused on developing a contract 
specialist staffing model suitable to DHS; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Assess acquisition workforce needs: Contract specialist 
human capital plan; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: DHS is 
preparing a contract specialist human capital plan in preparation for a 
succession plan required by the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2008; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Assess acquisition workforce needs: Pilot test of program 
office staffing model; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Pilot 
effort focused on identifying program office staffing needs using a 
contractor-developed model; 
Current target population: Program offices. 

Initiative: Recruit and hire acquisition professionals: Acquisition 
Professional Career Program; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Program 
that includes three 1 year placements in different components, after 
which participants are eligible for permanent placement with a 
component based on mutual interest; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Recruit and hire acquisition professionals: Human capital 
hiring flexibilities; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Direct hire 
authority allows DHS to expedite hiring by eliminating, among other 
things, competitive rating and ranking. DHS is also authorized to hire 
reemployed annuitants to fill acquisition-related positions, including 
contract specialist vacancies; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Recruit and hire acquisition professionals: Centralized 
hiring initiative; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: CPO, in 
conjunction with CHCO, coordinates departmentwide vacancy announcements 
for contract specialists and works with components in the selection 
process; 
Current target population: Contract specialists. 

Initiative: Train the acquisition workforce: Acquisition Training 
Program; 
Description: Define and identify the acquisition workforce: Effort to 
develop or procure training classes and training related services to 
meet acquisition workforce certification requirements; also includes a 
qualitative training needs assessment of DHS procurement and program 
office staff; 
Current target population: Contract specialists, program managers, 
COTRs. 

Source: GAO analysis of DHS data. 

[End of table] 

DHS's components also have initiatives to address their acquisition 
workforce needs. For example, in fiscal year 2007, the Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Acquisition Management began 
tracking attrition data for its employees--who are primarily contract 
specialists--including their release date, reason for leaving, and new 
employer. Each employee is also given an opportunity to participate in 
an exit interview. ICE representatives noted that they are gathering 
this attrition data for the purpose of identifying areas where 
improvements could be made to reduce employee turnover. In addition, in 
2007, TSA's Acquisition and Program Management Support Division 
developed and proposed a staffing model for TSA's program offices that 
recommends positions and staffing levels for program offices in various 
program phases. According to TSA representatives, several programs have 
used the model to assess staffing. For example, the Electronic Baggage 
Screening and Passenger Screening Programs used the model to 
restructure their offices. However, the model has not been adopted 
across TSA, and it is too soon to tell whether the model addresses 
concerns about program office staffing. 

Recruiting, Hiring, and Training Initiatives Have Made Progress, but 
Focus Largely on Contract Specialists: 

DHS's initiatives have been used to hire new contract specialists. For 
example, as of September 2008, DHS had hired 49 contract specialist 
interns through its Acquisition Professional Career Program, which 
started in January 2008. According to CPO representatives, these 
contract specialists will be working in eight of DHS's nine procurement 
offices. In addition, CPO has implemented two statutory hiring 
flexibilities to assist in recruiting qualified contract specialists-- 
direct hire authority and reemployed annuitant authority. According to 
OPM data, DHS used direct hire authority for just over half of the 265 
contract specialists hired during fiscal year 2007.[Footnote 23] DHS 
uses its centralized hiring initiative in conjunction with direct hire 
authority to assist components with finding qualified candidates. 
According to CPO representatives, as of July 2008, DHS had made more 
than 300 resumes available to the components through the centralized 
hiring initiative. CPO and component representatives stated that the 
use of direct hire authority has expedited the hiring process and makes 
it easier to hire candidates who are the best fit for DHS. DHS is also 
using reemployed annuitants to supplement its contract specialist 
workforce. Since the beginning of 2007, DHS procurement offices have 
hired four annuitants--three with the Coast Guard and one with the 
Office of Procurement Operations--and recommended two other annuitants 
to be hired.[Footnote 24] 

CPO has also begun to improve DHS's ability to train its acquisition 
workforce through the establishment of its Acquisition Training 
Program, which aims to centralize required training classes for all 
acquisition professionals across DHS. The program was established in 
spring 2008, and since that time, CPO has developed, in coordination 
with the Defense Acquisition University, customized certification 
training courses for DHS program managers. Courses for the first level 
of certification have been implemented, and according to CPO 
representatives, courses for the second level are in the process of 
being developed and will be offered in the third quarter of fiscal year 
2009, while the third and final level of program manager courses should 
be completed by the end of fiscal year 2010. CPO has also established a 
training coordinators' council that consists of component 
representatives who coordinate training opportunities across the 
components and advertise these opportunities to a wider audience within 
DHS. 

Overall, while these initiatives have shown preliminary results, they 
have largely targeted one career field: contract specialists. However, 
DHS has also identified shortages among other acquisition-related 
staff, but has not yet developed strategies to fully address those 
gaps. Developing strategies to address identified workforce gaps 
creates the road map needed to move from the current to the future 
workforce. According to CPO representatives, DHS is considering 
expanding some recruiting and hiring initiatives, including the 
Acquisition Professional Career Program and the centralized hiring 
initiative, to other acquisition career fields. For example, CPO 
representatives told us they recently met with representatives from 
three components to gauge interest in an expanded Acquisition 
Professional Career Program. However, CPO has not fully assessed its 
recruiting and hiring initiatives to determine whether they are 
appropriate for other workforce needs or developed plans for how they 
would be expanded. 

Most Efforts to Define and Identify the Workforce and Assess Needs Have 
Not Yet Produced Results: 

While CPO's recruiting, hiring, and training initiatives are positive 
steps toward building and sustaining DHS's acquisition workforce, most 
initiatives to define and identify DHS's acquisition workforce and 
determine workforce needs have not yet produced results. Specifically, 
while the department's pilot test of a contractor-developed program 
office staffing model has been completed and the model has been 
approved by the department for components to use as an optional tool 
for forecasting staffing needs, CPO's other initiatives in these areas 
have not yet been completed. For example, CPO's human capital plan for 
the contract specialist career field is not expected to be completed 
until January 2009, when DHS and other agencies are required by 
Congress to have developed acquisition workforce succession plans. 
[Footnote 25] In addition, CPO's effort to conduct a pilot test of a 
process for identifying members of the acquisition workforce had not 
been completed as of September 2008. CPO representatives expect this 
initiative, which involves coding individuals performing acquisition-
related functions in the National Finance Center database, will help to 
ensure these positions are filled with qualified applicants and to 
monitor the certifications and training of individuals in the 
acquisition workforce. CPO representatives reported that they provided 
CHCO with the data needed to conduct the pilot test in January 2008, 
but CHCO representatives told us their workload required them to put 
the testing effort on hold and that they did not expect to be able to 
focus on it until fiscal year 2009. 

DHS's effort to develop an improved method for assessing contract 
specialist staffing needs has also not yet produced results. Since 
2004, DHS has projected its staffing needs using a method that relies 
on a ratio of staffing-related expenses to contract obligations. DHS 
has established a metric for a minimal staffing level of staffing- 
related expenses of at least 1.2 percent and optimally at 1.9 percent 
of total contract obligations. However, this method is limited as it 
does not account for the complexity of an acquisition, or the type of 
contract--variables that can affect the time and skills needed to 
complete required tasks. In 2005, we found the department had not 
conducted an assessment of whether contracting staff are properly 
distributed for the varying workloads in each procurement office and 
recommended that it conduct such an assessment[Footnote 26]. We also 
recently identified the need for the Office of Procurement Operations 
to determine the number of contract specialists needed to help ensure a 
sufficient contracting workforce to execute other transaction authority 
at DHS's Science and Technology Directorate.[Footnote 27] In August 
2007, DHS initiated a study to develop an improved staffing model. 
After considering the results of the study, in May 2008 the CPO formed 
a work group of representatives from each of DHS's procurement offices 
and tasked this group with developing a method for the department to 
assess contract specialist staffing needs. At the time of our review, 
CPO had not released the results of this work, which CPO 
representatives told us was originally planned to be released at the 
end of July 2008. 

Moreover, DHS generally lacks documented performance goals and other 
implementation steps--such as actions to be taken, milestones, needed 
resources, responsible parties, and an evaluation process--for its 
current acquisition workforce initiatives. Our prior work has shown 
that developing such implementation steps is part of pursuing a results-
oriented management approach.[Footnote 28] DHS has focused on getting 
acquisition workforce initiatives up and running rather than on how 
results will be measured. However, without developing this foundation, 
DHS will not be in a sound position to effectively monitor and evaluate 
the implementation of its current initiatives to ensure the intended 
purpose of building and sustaining the acquisition workforce is met. 

DHS Generally Lacks Several Elements Key to Planning Strategically for 
the Acquisition Workforce: 

DHS has not developed a comprehensive strategic acquisition workforce 
plan to direct the department's future acquisition workforce efforts 
and generally lacks several elements key to developing such a plan. 
These elements include: a coordinated planning process fully involving 
stakeholders; a comprehensive acquisition workforce definition; and 
sufficient data to fully assess workforce needs including the use of 
contractors. Our prior work has found that planning strategically for 
the acquisition workforce can facilitate good acquisition outcomes. 
[Footnote 29] The Acquisition Advisory Panel noted in its 2007 report 
that most federal agencies have not engaged systematically in human 
capital planning for their acquisition workforces.[Footnote 30] 
However, while our past work at DOD has shown that acquisition 
workforce planning is not an easy task and can take several years to 
accomplish, we have also emphasized that government agencies will not 
be in a sound position to adjust to the systemic challenge of creating 
a capable acquisition workforce without proper strategic workforce 
planning.[Footnote 31] 

DHS Has Not Developed a Coordinated Acquisition Workforce Planning 
Process: 

Our prior work has shown that strategic workforce planning is most 
likely to succeed if top management officials set the overall goals and 
direction of the effort and involve stakeholders in developing and 
implementing strategies to achieve the goals. For example, we found 
that workforce planning efforts at the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration were facilitated by the agency's leaders and human 
capital managers setting the agency's overall direction and goals and 
further involving the mission directorates and centers in developing 
human capital strategy documents.[Footnote 32] However, DHS has not set 
an overall direction or fully involved stakeholders--including 
component procurement and program offices, CHCO, and component human 
capital offices--for acquisition workforce planning. DHS's current 
departmentwide human capital planning documents provide only limited 
information about the contract specialist career field and do not 
include data on other acquisition-related career fields. While these 
documents will be revised for fiscal year 2009, CPO and CHCO 
representatives told us they do not expect the acquisition workforce 
will be more fully addressed in the updated documents, but instead that 
CPO will develop a separate plan in the future. 

Currently, DHS components have the primary responsibility for workforce 
planning, and representatives from the procurement and program offices 
we reviewed generally told us that workforce needs are identified 
within their offices as they arise or on an annual basis, such as 
during the budget process. Some components and offices independently 
developed acquisition-related workforce plans. For example, the Coast 
Guard developed a strategic human capital plan for its acquisition 
workforce; TSA developed a human capital plan for its Office of 
Acquisition as we recommended in 2004; and the United States Visitor 
and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program developed a strategic 
human capital plan.[Footnote 33] However, DHS has not developed 
guidance that outlines specific goals or expectations for acquisition 
workforce planning, such as the types of acquisition-related positions 
to be included, a time frame for planning, or how results should be 
communicated between components and CPO.[Footnote 34] CPO 
representatives told us their goal is to play a supporting role with 
the components, providing assistance and tools for workforce planning, 
but noted that they do not have a formal role in reviewing components' 
acquisition workforce planning efforts. 

In addition, the department generally has not established focal points 
within the components on acquisition workforce issues that extend 
beyond procurement. This situation inhibits CPO's efforts to inform 
planning for acquisition workforce needs outside of the procurement 
offices. Acquisition Workforce Branch representatives told us that they 
do not have points of contact who would enable them to understand 
program office staffing needs or obtain input from program office 
stakeholders on workforce planning. DHS has recently taken steps that 
may help to better address program office staffing needs, although it 
is not yet clear whether these steps will fully address this challenge. 
In fiscal year 2007, DHS created a Program Management Council that 
included DHS and CPO program management personnel and program managers 
from the various components to address departmentwide program 
management issues, including workforce issues. CPO also formed an 
Acquisition Program Management Division to provide oversight and 
support for acquisition program offices throughout DHS. Finally, DHS 
representatives told us that they are considering establishing a 
position with authority for acquisition issues within components, a 
step that could provide a centralized point of contact for program 
office information. 

Further, while our prior work has shown the importance of human capital 
professionals partnering with agency leaders and managers, including 
acquisition officials, to develop workforce plans, CHCO has a limited 
role in strategic planning for the acquisition workforce. According to 
CHCO representatives, only one person within the office is responsible 
for workforce planning. In addition, for two of the three procurement 
offices where we conducted in-depth reviews of workforce planning, DHS 
representatives noted that their human capital offices had no 
involvement in procurement office workforce planning efforts. 

DHS's Narrow Acquisition Workforce Definition Limits the Scope of 
Planning: 

According to CPO representatives, formally incorporating a workforce 
position into the acquisition workforce definition encompasses 
identifying the current career field population, determining core 
competencies, developing certification standards, and ensuring relevant 
training. DHS's current acquisition workforce definition-- composed of 
contract specialists, program managers, and COTRs-- generally parallels 
the minimum set of acquisition functions outlined in OFPP guidance but 
does not encompass the range of acquisition activities beyond the 
minimum standard.[Footnote 35] DHS officials acknowledge the need to 
expand their acquisition workforce definition as suggested by OFPP 
guidance, but have not yet established an interim definition that 
identifies which positions should be included. CPO representatives told 
us that while they expect to add some positions from DOD's acquisition 
workforce definition, they believe DHS's definition and certification 
standards need to be tailored to its homeland security mission and the 
statutes and executive orders under which the department operates. 
[Footnote 36] 

The current definition does not include most of the acquisition-related 
functions we found staff performing in the nine program offices we 
reviewed. In these offices, some of the most commonly reported 
acquisition-related functions beyond those already included in the 
current definition are budgeting, logistics, systems engineering, and 
test and evaluation. Since CPO generally only monitors staff included 
in the current definition of the acquisition workforce, DHS has limited 
insight into the number and skill sets of the full range of employees 
performing acquisition-related work. Without a broader acquisition 
workforce definition that reflects the workforce performing acquisition-
related functions, DHS cannot determine critical skills and 
competencies needed by particular positions and establish a baseline 
count of personnel currently performing acquisition-related functions-
-key information needed for an effective workforce plan. A narrow 
definition also hinders CPO's ability to monitor staff performing 
acquisition-related functions and ensure that these staff receive 
appropriate training, both of which are steps toward monitoring 
progress in closing workforce gaps. For example, according to the CPO, 
expanding the definition would lead to improved tracking of the broader 
acquisition workforce and development of certification standards and 
competencies for additional career fields. 

While DHS has recognized the benefits of expanding its acquisition 
workforce definition, and officials have stated that expanding the 
definition is part of the agency's human capital planning efforts, the 
department is in the early stages of doing so. The department has taken 
initial steps towards adding its first new career field--test and 
evaluation--to its definition, but, according to CPO representatives, 
staff turnover and competing priorities have significantly slowed this 
expansion effort. Estimated time frames and current allocation of staff 
resources suggest that it will likely be many years before the 
acquisition workforce definition expansion is complete. CPO 
representatives estimated that determining core competencies and 
developing DHS-specific certification standards for each career field 
would take between 12 and 18 months and would require the full-time 
commitment of one staff member. Currently, one staff member in CPO is 
responsible for the acquisition workforce definition expansion, but 
this individual is also partly responsible for managing acquisition 
workforce training and certification for existing career fields. As a 
result, CPO is only able to expand the definition one career field at a 
time. However, in September 2008, CPO representatives told us that they 
anticipated they would implement an interim certification process that 
will leverage DOD certification standards while they work to develop 
DHS-specific certification standards, and that they plan to hire 
additional staff to support the expansion effort. 

DHS Lacks Sufficient Data to Fully Assess Total Acquisition Workforce 
Needs: 

DHS also lacks sufficient data to fully assess total acquisition 
workforce needs, including the use of contractors. For example, DHS 
does not have data to comprehensively determine where workforce gaps 
exist in the competencies, skills, and staffing levels required to meet 
programmatic goals. Understanding these needs is key to helping 
agencies develop effective workforce strategies. For example, in 
October 2007 we reported that OPM used a combination of agencywide and 
division-level strategies to assess the skills and competencies of its 
mission critical occupations and used the results to develop plans to 
address current and projected deficiencies in these occupations. 
[Footnote 37] 

CPO collects and maintains some data on positions in DHS's current 
acquisition workforce definition, such as the numbers of personnel 
employed and certified. However, CPO generally does not have other 
information on these employees that is critical to acquisition 
workforce planning, such as a workforce inventory of employees' 
knowledge, skills, and competencies and data on the use of incentives, 
the average time period to fill vacancies, and attrition, including 
feedback from exit interviews. Without such data, DHS cannot create a 
comprehensive profile of its current acquisition workforce to help 
identify workforce gaps for these positions, develop effective 
workforce strategies, or evaluate the effectiveness of its current 
human capital approaches. For example, while Congress requires DHS and 
other agencies to develop an acquisition workforce succession plan that 
focuses on warranted contracting officers and program managers by 
January 2009, CPO representatives told us that they lack sufficient 
data on program managers to include these positions in the plan. 
Further, while DHS officials have identified various other positions 
that they consider important for successful acquisitions, such as test 
and evaluation and business and financial management, DHS generally 
does not collect workforce data to identify the number of department 
personnel performing these functions. 

DHS's lack of comprehensive acquisition workforce data is due in part 
to inadequate systems for collecting and maintaining data. For example, 
some acquisition-related positions, such as program managers, are not 
directly associated with specific government position classification 
series and therefore cannot be identified through DHS's human capital 
information systems. In addition, DHS does not have an effective system 
for maintaining training and certification data on its current 
acquisition workforce. The DHS Inspector General reported in May 2008 
that DHS and three of its components likely do not have all of the 
training and certification information they need to make sound 
acquisition workforce management decisions, such as a current inventory 
of certified personnel and the acquisitions to which they are assigned. 
[Footnote 38] Further, the department, like other executive civilian 
agencies, is required to maintain such information in the Federal 
Acquisition Institute's Acquisition Career Management Information 
System; however, CPO representatives told us they have several issues 
with this system, including difficulty in importing data from existing 
DHS systems and restrictions on what reports can be produced and who 
can view the reports. 

DHS has recognized the need to improve its collection and maintenance 
of acquisition workforce data, but is just starting to address these 
issues. In addition to beginning a pilot test with CHCO to identify 
acquisition-related positions in one of DHS's human capital systems, 
CPO has also begun exploring a web-based training registration system 
as an option for identifying acquisition-related workforce positions. 
Efforts to improve staffing and certification data on its current 
acquisition workforce are also under way. For example, CPO recently 
revised a data collection instrument that gathers staffing and 
certification data from procurement offices as part of a larger 
acquisition oversight effort, but it is too early to assess the results 
of this modification.[Footnote 39] 

DHS also has little insight into the extent of its components' use of 
contractors to support the acquisition function and the types of 
activities performed--despite the department's reliance on these 
contractors. Representatives from the procurement and program offices 
we reviewed noted that in some cases, contractor support is intended to 
be a temporary measure, and they would prefer to use government 
employees. However, DHS's reliance on acquisition support contractors 
was evidenced by the number of offices we found using these contractors 
and the types of tasks performed. Each of the nine procurement offices 
we reviewed, except the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, hired 
acquisition support contractors.[Footnote 40] Procurement offices hired 
contractors to perform tasks such as solicitation formation, contract 
award and management support, and contract closeout, as well as 
conducting audits and compliance reviews. Within the three procurement 
offices for which we reviewed statements of work, we found 14 
statements of work that called for acquisition support contractors to 
provide services similar to those provided by government contract 
specialists. Five of the fourteen statements of work were for contracts 
that had been in effect for 1 year or longer as of the end of fiscal 
year 2007. In addition, six of the nine program offices we reviewed 
reported that support contractors were performing acquisition-related 
functions such as program management support, budgeting, cost 
estimating, logistics, or test and evaluation. In the two program 
offices for which we reviewed statements of work, contractors were 
hired to perform such tasks as preparing project and budget documents, 
monitoring and assisting with the development of program requirements 
and performance measures, supporting program oversight requirements, 
and developing strategic plans. 

CPO generally does not collect data on the numbers of contractors 
performing acquisition-related functions or the types of tasks 
performed. CPO representatives explained that they do not consider 
contractors to be part of the acquisition workforce. Even at the 
component level, insight into the use of acquisition support 
contractors is likely limited. For example, according to ICE 
representatives, ICE does not collect data on the use of support 
contractors, and TSA Office of Acquisition representatives told us that 
program offices decide when to use support contractors, and that the 
Office of Acquisition may not know when a program office has hired a 
contractor. Our prior work has found that agencies need appropriate 
workforce planning strategies that include contractor personnel and 
that agencies' workforce plans should include data on the deployment of 
contractors and a consideration of which acquisition functions to 
maintain in house.[Footnote 41] In addition, our work and the work of 
others has identified risks associated with increased reliance on 
contractors, including acquisition support contractors, and has noted 
that additional staff resources may be needed to monitor contractors' 
performance of certain mission critical functions.[Footnote 42] Without 
greater insight into the department's use of acquisition support 
contractors, DHS cannot adequately assess its overall need for these 
contractors and determine the appropriate workforce mix, or ensure that 
oversight of these contractors is sufficient. 

Conclusion: 

The magnitude and complexity of DHS's acquisition portfolio demands a 
sufficient, capable, flexible, and properly trained workforce. DHS's 
initiatives are positive steps toward building an effective acquisition 
workforce; however, these initiatives focus primarily on contract 
specialists and only partially address identified workforce challenges. 
While DHS has acknowledged the need to expand its efforts beyond 
contract specialists, it has not yet determined how it would implement 
such an expansion. DHS also has acknowledged the need for a broader 
acquisition workforce definition, but without establishing such a 
definition, even on an interim basis, the department will be challenged 
to more fully address acquisition workforce needs. Further, without 
documented performance goals and implementation steps for its current 
initiatives, DHS will not be able to evaluate the extent to which these 
initiatives are helping to build and sustain the acquisition workforce. 

Even if fully implemented, these initiatives are not a substitute for 
long-term strategic workforce planning. Such planning would allow DHS 
to fully assess its actual acquisition workforce needs and determine 
whether its current efforts are sufficient and prioritized 
appropriately. To develop a comprehensive strategic acquisition 
workforce plan, DHS needs to incorporate key elements of effective 
planning, such as a coordinated planning process that fully includes 
stakeholders and a comprehensive analysis of acquisition workforce 
gaps. While DHS has made strides toward broadening its focus to more 
fully include program management stakeholders, the department has not 
developed a CPO and CHCO led planning process to provide the 
organizational vision and stability needed. Further the department has 
not collected and maintained comprehensive data on its government and 
contractor workforce to develop the insight required to assess 
acquisition workforce gaps. Until DHS improves its strategic 
acquisition workforce planning, the department will continue to be at 
risk of not having a sufficient acquisition workforce to support 
current and future homeland security mission needs. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

To improve DHS's ability to effectively manage its current initiatives 
and plan strategically for its acquisition workforce, we recommend that 
the Under Secretary for Management implement the following five 
actions: 

* establish an interim working definition of the acquisition workforce 
that more accurately reflects the employees performing acquisition- 
related functions to guide current efforts, while continuing to 
formally add career fields to the definition; 

* determine whether the department's current initiatives related to 
recruiting and hiring are appropriate for acquisition-related career 
fields other than contract specialists and, if so, develop plans to 
implement the initiatives within the broader acquisition workforce; 

* develop a comprehensive implementation plan to execute the existing 
DHS acquisition workforce initiatives. The implementation plan should 
include elements such as performance goals, time frames, implementation 
actions and related milestones, and resource requirements; 

* direct CHCO and CPO to establish a joint process for coordinating 
future acquisition workforce planning efforts with the components for 
the purpose of informing departmentwide planning efforts; and: 

* improve the collection and maintenance of data on the acquisition 
workforce by: 

- assessing what additional data on current acquisition workforce 
members, such as attrition data, would help inform workforce planning 
efforts and then developing a strategy to collect that information; 

- expanding the collection of acquisition workforce data from the 
appropriate component point of contact to include all positions that 
DHS determines to be acquisition-related; 

- collecting data on the use of acquisition support contractors to 
inform the strategic acquisition workforce planning process; and: 

- conducting an assessment of options for creating systems to maintain 
comprehensive acquisition workforce data and selecting the appropriate 
system. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We provided a draft of this report to DHS for review and comment. In 
written comments, the department generally concurred with our 
recommendations, citing actions taken and efforts under way to address 
acquisition workforce challenges. The department's comments are 
reprinted in appendix II. DHS also provided technical comments, which 
we incorporated as appropriate. 

Many of the initiatives DHS cites in its comments, such as the 
Acquisition Professional Career Program to hire entry-level contract 
specialists, centralized hiring for contract specialists, and plans to 
add career fields to the acquisition workforce definition, are noted in 
our report and are important steps toward building an effective 
acquisition workforce. Building and sustaining an acquisition workforce 
has been an ongoing challenge since the department was created; 
continued progress and successful implementation of these recent 
efforts will require sustained leadership and management attention. 

In response to our first recommendation, to establish an interim 
working definition of the acquisition workforce that more accurately 
reflects the employees performing acquisition-related functions, DHS 
agreed and stated that it has established an interim acquisition 
workforce definition that includes positions that devote a minimum of 
50 percent of time and responsibilities to performing acquisition 
duties. The department further noted that this interim definition 
includes contract specialists, program managers, and COTRs, and that 
efforts have been initiated to add four additional positions. However, 
as we describe in this report, the three positions that comprise this 
interim definition were already considered by the department to be 
included in its definition. Since CPO generally only monitors staff 
included in the current definition, without a broader definition, DHS 
has limited insight into the number and skill sets of the full range of 
employees performing acquisition-related work. Therefore, we continue 
to believe that in order to guide current acquisition workforce 
efforts, the interim definition should be broadened to reflect the 
career fields that the department plans to add. 

Regarding our second recommendation, that DHS determine whether the 
department's current recruiting and hiring initiatives are appropriate 
for acquisition-related career fields other than contract specialists 
and, if so, develop expansion plans accordingly, DHS stated it plans to 
expand its Acquisition Professional Career Program. We agree this is a 
step in the right direction. However, assessing the appropriateness of 
the department's two other current recruiting and hiring initiatives-- 
the use of human capital hiring flexibilities and the centralized 
hiring initiative--for additional career fields could provide further 
opportunities for DHS to leverage existing initiatives to address 
identified acquisition workforce shortages. Further, the department's 
response did not address the development of implementation plans for 
the expansion of the Acquisition Professional Career Program, a key 
step for guiding the department's efforts in this area going forward. 

In response to our third recommendation, that DHS develop a 
comprehensive implementation plan to execute the existing acquisition 
workforce initiatives, DHS stated that the Acquisition Workforce Branch 
has a comprehensive strategy focused on eight current initiatives. 
However, DHS has not developed some of the key elements contained in 
our recommendation, including implementation actions and related 
milestones and resource requirements. Developing a plan that includes 
these elements is important to ensuring that the department can 
effectively monitor and evaluate the implementation of these 
initiatives. 

Regarding our fourth recommendation, that CHCO and CPO establish a 
joint process for coordinating future acquisition workforce planning 
efforts with the components, the department noted several ways in which 
CHCO and CPO currently work together on acquisition workforce issues. 
However, DHS's response does not address what process the department 
will use for CHCO and CPO to coordinate future acquisition workforce 
planning efforts with the components. As we explain in this report, a 
process to facilitate the involvement of key stakeholders--such as 
component procurement and program offices, CHCO, and component human 
capital offices--can increase the likelihood of success for workforce 
planning. Further, although DHS's response noted that members of the 
Acquisition Career Managers committee provide feedback and guidance on 
workforce initiatives, component acquisition career managers are 
primarily located within procurement offices and therefore represent 
only some of the key stakeholders needed to provide input on a 
comprehensive strategic acquisition workforce plan that would include 
program office staffing needs. 

In response to our recommendations to improve the department's 
collection and maintenance of acquisition workforce data, DHS noted its 
ongoing efforts to collect data on the current acquisition workforce 
through quarterly reports as well as its pilot test with CHCO to 
identify members of the acquisition workforce in an existing human 
capital system. While these efforts are an important part of beginning 
to improve acquisition workforce data, we believe DHS needs to take 
additional steps. Specifically, the only new plans mentioned are to 
collect attrition and retirement eligibility data on the current 
acquisition workforce and to collect data on additional acquisition 
career fields after those career fields are formally defined. However, 
as we found in this report, DHS lacks other information on employees in 
its current workforce critical to acquisition workforce planning, such 
as an inventory of employees' knowledge, skills, and competencies, and 
data on the use of incentives and the average time period to fill 
vacancies. DHS also generally lacks basic information on acquisition- 
related positions not in the current definition, such as the number of 
employees performing these functions, which could help in workforce 
planning efforts. Moreover, although acquisition support contractors 
were used by more than three quarters of the procurement and program 
offices we reviewed, DHS does not have data to adequately assess its 
overall need for these contractors, determine the appropriate workforce 
mix of government and contractor employees, or ensure sufficient 
oversight. Without taking further actions to address the need for 
comprehensive acquisition workforce data, the department will continue 
to be challenged to effectively develop and evaluate acquisition 
workforce strategies. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and 
other interested parties. This report will also be available at no 
charge on GAO's Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you have any questions concerning this report, please contact me at 
(202) 512-4841 or by e-mail at huttonj@gao.gov. Contact points for our 
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on 
the last page of this report. Other staff making key contributions to 
this report were Amelia Shachoy, Assistant Director; Anne McDonough- 
Hughes; Janet McKelvey; Anthony Bova; Kathryn O'Dea; Ann Marie Udale; 
Karen Sloan; Sylvia Schatz; Arthur James Jr.; and Gregory Wilmoth. 

Signed by: 

John P. Hutton: 
Director: 
Acquisition and Sourcing Management: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Our objectives were to identify and assess the Department of Homeland 
Security's (DHS) efforts to build and sustain an effective acquisition 
workforce and determine the extent to which DHS has planned 
strategically for the acquisition workforce. 

To identify and assess DHS's efforts to build and sustain an effective 
acquisition workforce, we interviewed representatives from the Office 
of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO)--including the Chief Procurement 
Officer and members of the Acquisition Workforce Branch within the 
Contracts Operation Division and the Acquisition Program Management 
Division--the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and the Office of 
the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO). We discussed topics such as the 
current status of the acquisition workforce, planning and budgeting 
processes for the acquisition workforce, current and planned 
acquisition workforce initiatives, and the use of acquisition support 
contractors. When available, we obtained and reviewed supporting 
documents, such as plans for acquisition workforce initiatives and 
acquisition workforce data collected by CPO. In addition, we reviewed 
recent testimonies given by senior DHS leadership as well as relevant 
reports issued by GAO and the DHS Inspector General. Finally, we 
reviewed data from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Central 
Personnel Data File on contract specialists in DHS's workforce to 
assess the department's hiring and retention of this population. 
[Footnote 43] We have previously assessed the reliability of the 
Central Personnel Data File and based on that assessment and 
information provided by OPM in February 2008, we found it sufficiently 
reliable for our purposes.[Footnote 44] 

To gain additional perspective on acquisition workforce issues, we 
interviewed representatives from the nine procurement offices that 
support DHS headquarters and components.[Footnote 45] Also, we selected 
nine program offices of major investments--one associated with each of 
DHS's procurement offices--that included a range of investment sizes, 
staffing levels, and project phases (see app. III for a list of 
programs). At procurement offices, topics we discussed included the 
current status of the acquisition workforce, planning and budgeting 
processes for the acquisition workforce, acquisition workforce 
initiatives, and the use of acquisition support contractors. For each 
program, we interviewed key program representatives--such as the 
program manager, the contracting officer's technical representative, 
and the contract specialist assigned to that program. We discussed 
subjects such as the composition of the program office, the process for 
identifying and filling acquisition workforce needs, and the program's 
use of acquisition support contractors. In addition, we collected 
information from each program office on the functional composition of 
its workforce as of the end of March 2008. At both procurement and 
program offices, we also requested and reviewed available 
documentation, such as acquisition workforce staffing reports and human 
capital planning documents. 

To gather more detailed information about selected acquisition 
workforce topics, such as the use of acquisition support contractors, 
we selected three procurement offices and two program offices for in- 
depth review. Specifically, the Office of Procurement Operations, 
Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Office of Acquisition, 
and Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Procurement Directorate were 
selected based on fiscal year 2007 procurement spending, the office's 
history and reporting structure, and consideration for GAO's ongoing 
work. We also reviewed the previously selected program offices 
associated with TSA and CBP (the Electronic Baggage Screening Program 
and the Automated Commercial Environment Program, respectively). To 
learn about the type of work performed by acquisition support 
contractors, we reviewed statements of work for all acquisition support 
contracts active as of the end of fiscal year 2007 associated with the 
selected procurement and program offices. We also spoke with 
representatives from the component human capital offices and budget 
offices associated with these procurement and program offices. 

To determine the extent to which DHS has planned strategically for its 
acquisition workforce, we reviewed the information gathered during 
interviews with CPO and procurement and program offices. In addition, 
we reviewed and analyzed recent testimonies given by senior DHS 
leadership and past GAO reports on DHS acquisition and workforce issues 
and other reports on the federal acquisition workforce. 

We conducted this performance audit from September 2007 until November 
2008 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit 
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for 
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security: 

Homeland Security: 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security: 
Washington, DC 20528: 

November 12, 2008: 

Mr. John Hutton: 
Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management: 
Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 

Dear Mr. Hutton: 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appreciates the opportunity 
to review and comment on Draft Report GAO-09-30, Department of Homeland 
Security: A Strategic Approach Is Needed to Better Ensure the 
Acquisition Workforce Can Meet Mission Needs (GAO Job Code 120688). 

The Department's Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) 
generally concurs with the recommendations. As with other federal 
agencies, DHS faces challenges in building and sustaining a capable 
acquisition workforce, and, as the youngest and in many ways most 
visible Department, DHS faces even steeper challenges in this regard. 
Although many challenges remain, significant progress has been made 
since we began to resource acquisition workforce activities in late 
summer and fall of 2007. Since that time, several initiatives highlight 
our commitment to a strategic approach that will enable the 
Department's acquisition workforce to meet its needs. 

While aggressive progress continues to be made in defining all DHS 
acquisition career fields, OCPO officials have established an interim 
acquisition workforce definition, to include contracting officers, 
program managers, and contracting officer technical representatives. 
Further, we have initiated the expansion of the workforce to include 
Test and Evaluation, Logistics, Systems Engineering, and Program Cost 
Estimating. In addition, that office continues its close partnership 
with the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) on numerous 
strategic human capital planning initiatives, to include but not 
limited to the use of existing federal databases to capture critical 
workforce data. The OCPO's Acquisition Career Managers (ACM) Committee 
continues its groundbreaking work in defining the individual 
components' human capital priorities. The ACM Committee is comprised of 
the individual component acquisition career managers and OCPO 
representatives. CHCO is also represented, adding valuable insight into 
the processes necessary for the success of the committee's initiatives. 
The committee's work has resulted in DHS-wide acquisition hiring, 
training, and retention initiatives impacting acquisition personnel 
across all DHS component organizations. 

Positions within the Department that devote a minimum of 50% of time 
and responsibilities to performing acquisition duties comprise our 
interim-defined workforce. Currently, DI-IS has established two 
acquisition workforce career fields and one acquisition workforce 
assignment specific specialty: (1) contract specialists, (2) program 
managers, and (3) contracting officer's technical representatives. 
Further, the Department has initiated the expansion of the workforce to 
include Test and Evaluation, Logistics, Systems Engineering, and 
Program Cost Estimating. OCPO personnel will begin by utilizing the 
Department of Defense definition and competencies for the new career 
fields until such time as DHS specific or Federal-wide certification 
programs are developed. 

To address long-term projected skill gaps, OCPO personnel initiated and 
executed a successful entry-level program to hire extremely talented 
individuals. The success of this effort is enabling the program's 
expansion in dual tracks (business and technical). Furthermore, OCPO 
personnel are partnering with the Federal Acquisition Institute for 
support services to develop strategies to recruit mid-level career 
professionals. 

Despite an average attrition rate of 15% per year for contract 
specialists across the Department, DHS has a net gain of 19% from the 
end of FY 2007 to the end of FY 2008. OCPO plans to leverage this 
success in centralized recruiting to successfully staff all acquisition 
DHS billets. 

OCPO officials understand the need to engage systemically in 
acquisition workforce human capital planning. Data gathering and 
analysis are key to our understanding of the acquisition workforce. The 
OCPO quarterly Operational Status Reports provide insight into on-board 
and vacancy totals for our defined acquisition career fields and 
specialties across all component organizations, and OCPO is waiting for 
Department of Defense and/or Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
methodology for effectively capturing contractor support data. As we 
implement current initiatives and consider future efforts, OCPO 
personnel will be sure not to duplicate existing federal-wide 
initiatives such as those prescribed in the FY 2009 National Defense 
Authorization Act, Section 869, Acquisition Workforce Development 
Strategic Plan. Accordingly, OCPO will continue to coordinate with the 
DHS Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, the Office of Management 
and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and other federal 
workforce organizations as DHS develops its strategic plan that 
complements the federal initiatives and addresses the GAO 
recommendations. 

Various OCPO initiatives have merged into a consolidated plan of 
action. Each initiative is a critical part of the recruitment-hiring-
training-certifying-retention continuum. Specific actions to be taken 
are detailed herein, and timelines where applicable are also noted. 

GAO recommends that the Under Secretary for Management take five 
actions to improve DHS's ability to effectively manage its current 
initiatives and plan strategically for its acquisition workforce. We 
have taken or plan to take the following actions. 

Recommendation 1: 

Establish an interim workforce definition of the acquisition workforce 
that more accurately reflects the employees performing acquisition-
functions to guide current efforts, while continuing to formally add 
career fields to the definition. 

Response: 

The Department agrees with the recommendation and has established the 
following interim workforce definition: Positions within the Department 
that devote a minimum of 50% of time and responsibilities to performing 
acquisition duties. Currently, DHS has established two acquisition 
workforce career fields and one acquisition workforce assignment 
specific specialty: (1) contract specialists, (2) program managers, and 
(3) contracting officer's technical representatives. Further, the 
Department has initiated the expansion of the workforce to include Test 
and Evaluation, Logistics, Systems Engineering, and Program Cost 
Estimating. 

Recommendation 2: 

Determine whether the Department's current initiatives related to 
recruiting and hiring are appropriate for acquisition-related career 
fields other than contract specialists and, if so, develop plans to 
implement the initiatives within the broader acquisition workforce. 

Response: 

The Department agrees with the recommendation. DHS will leverage the 
successful execution of the Department-wide Acquisition Professional 
Career Program (APCP) to help build the broader acquisition workforce. 
Plans are to expand the program by 52 additional participants in FY 
2009 in dual tracks (business and technical) by the fourth quarter of 
FY 2009, equating to a cumulative total of 100 participants. 
Furthermore, DHS will partner with the Federal Acquisition Institute 
for support services to develop a plan and execution strategy to 
recruit mid-level career professionals seeking to transition to an 
acquisition career field. 

Recommendation 3: 

Develop a comprehensive implementation plan to execute the existing DHS 
acquisition workforce initiatives. The implementation plan should 
include elements such as performance goals, time frames, implementation 
actions and related milestones, and resource requirements. 

Response: 

We agree. The DHS Acquisition Workforce Branch in the OCPO has a 
comprehensive implementation strategy focusing on these current 
initiatives: 

1. Further expand the Department definition of the Acquisition 
Workforce by developing the Test and Evaluation, Logistics, Systems 
Engineering, and Program Cost Analysis certification programs. 

2. Develop and implement a process to code all acquisition billets to 
better identify positions within the Department that devote a minimum 
of 50% of time and responsibilities to performing acquisition duties. 

3. Develop and execute a Department-wide, Acquisition Workforce Human 
Capital and Succession Plan by January 28, 2009 in accordance with the 
FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. 

4. Continue the successful execution of the Department-wide Acquisition 
Professional Career Program to help build the broader acquisition 
workforce. Expand the program by 52 additional participants in FY 2009 
in dual tracks (business and technical) by the fourth quarter of FY09, 
equating to a cumulative total of 100 participants. 

5. Continue the successful leveraging of the direct hire and reemployed 
annuitant hiring flexibilities to expedite hiring and to fill critical 
vacancies. 

6. Grow the centralized hiring concept through assumption of the lead 
role in all Department-wide acquisition-related vacancy announcement 
postings. 

7. Develop and execute a centralized acquisition workforce training 
program comprising of certification, targeted, and developmental 
training opportunities. 

8. Publish a DHS course catalog and implement a central registration 
system to be deployed by the third quarter of FY 2009. 

Recommendation 4: 

Direct CHCO and CPO to establish a joint process for coordinating 
future acquisition workforce planning efforts with the components for 
the purpose of informing Department-wide planning efforts. 

Response: 

The Department agrees with the recommendation. The OCPO's primary 
interface with CHCO is close coordination on the development of the FY 
2008 National Defense Authorization Act-required acquisition workforce 
human capital plan and succession plan as well as on reporting 
requirements on the Department's use of the Direct Hire and Reemployed 
Annuitant hiring authorities. In addition, OCPO and CHCO jointly work 
on a quarterly Office of Personnel Management requirement for a 
Contracting Specialist Competency Gap Analysis. OCPO staff partner with 
OCHCO personnel to code all DHS acquisition billets in the National 
Finance Center personnel database. This effort will help identify the 
workforce. Further joint efforts with CHCO include the current 
leveraging of the successful work of the Department's Acquisition 
Career Manager's (ACM) Committee allowing CHCO membership, thus 
enabling increased committee focus on recruitment, hiring, training, 
certification, and retention initiatives. Component members regularly 
offer feedback and guidance on workforce initiatives. CHCO has 
reciprocated by allowing OCPO to participate with senior component 
human resources (HR) representatives in the Department's HR Council. 

Recommendation 5: 

Improve the collection and maintenance of data on the acquisition 
workforce by: 

A. Assessing what additional data on current acquisition workforce 
members, such as attrition data, would help inform workforce planning 
efforts and then developing a strategy to collect that information.
We agree. OCPO has leveraged its work in revamping the quarterly 
Operational Status Reports to include additional data points for 
analysis. Current data collected focuses on authorized, on-board, 
vacancy, and certification information, but plans call to expand the 
data collected to include attrition and retirement eligibility data as 
well. 

B. Expanding the collection of acquisition workforce data from the 
appropriate component point of contact to include all positions that 
DHS determines to be acquisition-related. 

We generally concur with this part of the recommendation. OCPO is 
working with CHCO to utilize an existing system to capture all 
workforce data. Data specific to Contracting Specialists, Program 
Managers, and COTRs is currently captured via the quarterly Operational 
Status Reports. As additional acquisition career fields are formally 
defined, data on each defined career field will be specifically 
captured. 

C. Collecting data on the use of acquisition support contractors to 
inform the strategic acquisition workforce planning process. 

We generally concur. We are waiting for Department of Defense and/or 
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy methodology for effectively 
capturing this data. 

D. Conducting an assessment of options for creating systems to maintain 
comprehensive acquisition workforce data and selecting the appropriate 
system. 

The Department agrees with this part of the recommendation. OCPO is 
working with CHCO to utilize an existing system to capture all 
workforce data. Data specific to Contracting Specialists, Program 
Managers, and COTRs is currently captured via the quarterly Operational 
Status Reports. As additional acquisition career fields are formally 
defined, data on each defined career field will be specifically 
captured. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Thomas W. Essig: 
Chief Procurement Officer: 
Department of Homeland Security: 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: Procurement and Program Offices Reviewed: 

Component: DHS Headquarters/National Protection and Programs 
Directorate[A]; 
Procurement office: Office of Procurement Operations; 
Program office: United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator 
Technology; 
Program description: Program to provide biometric identity verification 
services to DHS components, including U.S. immigration and border 
management officials, and state and local law enforcement. 

Component: Coast Guard; 
Procurement office: Office of Contracting and Procurement; 
Program office: Rescue 21; 
Program description: Command, control, and communication system that 
improves mission execution in the coastal zone and results in improved 
response to distress calls and better coordination and interoperability 
with other government agencies and first responders. 

Component: Customs and Border Protection; 
Procurement office: Procurement Directorate; 
Program office: Automated Commercial Environment; 
Program description: Web-based import/export system consolidates seven 
systems into one portal; will provide advanced technology and 
information to decide, before shipment reaches U.S. borders, what cargo 
should be targeted, and what cargo should be expedited. 

Component: Customs and Border Protection; 
Procurement office: Secure Border Initiative Acquisition Office; 
Program office: Secure Border Initiative Tactical Infrastructure 
Program; 
Program description: Program is responsible for two major construction 
projects: Pedestrian Fence 225, the construction of 225 miles of 
pedestrian fence; and Vehicle Fence 300, the construction of 300 miles 
of vehicle fence. Tactical infrastructure includes fencing, roads, and 
lighting. 

Component: Federal Emergency Management Agency; 
Procurement office: Office of Acquisition Management; 
Program office: Flood Map Modernization; 
Program description: Program establishes a technology-based, cost 
effective process for updating, validating, and distributing flood risk 
data and digitalized flood maps nationwide. 

Component: Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; 
Procurement office: Procurement Division; 
Program office: Student Administration and Scheduling System; 
Program description: System will provide the support required for the 
integration of partnering organization recruitment, resource 
scheduling, student registration, student enrollment, marks processing, 
exam scheduling, automated testing, and transcript production. 

Component: Immigration and Customs Enforcement; 
Procurement office: Office of Acquisition Management; 
Program office: Student and Exchange Visitor Program; 
Program description: Web-based system manages data on schools, program 
sponsors, foreign students, exchange visitors, and their dependents 
during their approved participation in the U.S. education system so 
that only legitimate visitors enter the U.S. 

Component: Secret Service; 
Procurement office: Procurement Division; 
Program office: Enterprise Financial Management System; 
Program description: Integrated financial system provides for more 
efficient and effective business processes. 

Component: Transportation Security Administration; 
Procurement office: Office of Acquisition; 
Program office: Electronic Baggage Screening Program; 
Program description: Program implements a national checked-baggage 
screening system to protect against criminal and terrorist threats, 
while minimizing transportation industry and traveling public burdens. 

Source: DHS data and GAO analysis. 

[A] The Office of Procurement Operations provides contracting support 
to multiple DHS components that do not have their own acquisition 
staff, and its head of contracting activity reports directly to the 
chief procurement officer. The office provides contracting support to 
the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology 
Program, which is under the National Protection and Programs 
Directorate. 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Better Planning and 
Assessment Needed to Improve Outcomes for Complex Service Acquisitions, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-263] (Washington, 
D.C.: Apr. 22, 2008). 

[2] GAO, Coast Guard: Status of Efforts to Improve Deepwater Program 
Management and Address Operational Challenges, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-575T] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 
8, 2007); and GAO, Contract Management: Coast Guard's Deepwater Program 
Management Needs Increased Attention to Management and Contractor 
Oversight, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-380] 
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 9, 2004). 

[3] GAO, Coast Guard: Change in Course Improves Deepwater Management 
and Oversight, but Outcome Still Uncertain, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-745] (Washington, D.C.: June 
24, 2008). 

[4] In April 2008, DHS established a new procurement office, the Office 
of Selective Acquisitions. As of June 2008, this office had three staff 
members. Because this office was not in existence at the time we began 
our work, we did not include it in our review. For the purposes of this 
report, we refer to offices that carry out contracting functions as 
procurement offices, although some components use different titles for 
these offices (see app. III for a full list of office titles). 

[5] Of the positions in DHS's current acquisition workforce definition, 
only contract specialists are associated with a specific job series, so 
it was the only position for which we could obtain reliable data from 
OPM. 

[6] GAO, OPM's Central Personnel Data File: Data Appear Sufficiently 
Reliable to Meet Most Customer Needs, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/GGD-98-199] (Washington, D.C.: 
Sept. 30, 1998). Also, in a document dated February 28, 2008, an OPM 
official confirmed that OPM continues to follow the Central Personnel 
Data File data quality standards and procedures contained in our 1998 
report. OPM's data do not include uniformed Coast Guard personnel. 

[7] Pub. L. No. 108-136, § 1423 (2003). 

[8] Report of the Acquisition Advisory Panel to the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy and the United States Congress, January 2007. 

[9] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Improved Assessment and 
Oversight Needed to Manage Risk of Contracting for Selected Services, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-990] (Washington, 
D.C.: Sept. 17, 2007). 

[10] Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Developing and Managing the 
Acquisition Workforce, Policy Letter 05-01 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 15, 
2005). 

[11] OPM identifies those federal employees in the General Schedule 
Contracting series (GS-1102) as contract specialists. Contracting 
officers are federal employees with the authority to bind the 
government by signing a contract. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 
2.101. This authority is delegated to them through "warrants" issued by 
the head of their contracting activity. DHS has stated that all of the 
warrants currently held at the department are held by GS-1102s. For 
this reason, and in the interest of clarity, our use of the term 
contract specialist throughout this report refers to unwarranted 
contract specialists and warranted contracting officers. 

[12] GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic 
Workforce Planning, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-
04-39] (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003). 

[13] The FAR and the Homeland Security Acquisition Manual do not 
distinguish between the terms "acquisition" and "procurement." 

[14] Within CBP, there are two procurement offices: the CBP Procurement 
Directorate, and the Secure Border Initiative Acquisition Office, which 
supports the Secure Border Initiative program. 

[15] For the purposes of this analysis, we defined attrition as 
resignations and transfers of permanent employees to other departments 
and agencies outside of DHS. The attrition rate does not include 
retirements. 

[16] Eligibility to retire was calculated according to the age and 
years of service requirements for the Civil Service Retirement System, 
the Federal Employees Retirement System, and retirement plans for law 
enforcement officers. For Federal Employees Retirement System 
employees, we defined eligibility to retire as eligible to retire with 
an unreduced annuity. 

[17] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Billions Invested in Major 
Programs Lack Appropriate Oversight, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-
bin/getrpt?GAO-09-29] (Washington D.C.: Nov. 18, 2008). Per DHS 
Management Directive No. 0782, Acquisition Certification Requirement 
for Program Managers, DHS Program Managers must be certified at a level 
commensurate with the responsibilities of the acquisition being managed 
or eligible for certification within 18 months of designation. The DHS 
CPO may consider temporary waivers to training requirements in rare 
cases. 

[18] The Department of Homeland Security's Management Directorate: 
Goals and Objectives of the New Under Secretary: Hearing Before the 
House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Management, 
Investigations, and Oversight, 110th Cong. (2007). 

[19] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-990]. 

[20] GAO, Catastrophic Disasters: Enhanced Leadership, Capabilities, 
and Accountability Controls Will Improve the Effectiveness of the 
Nation's Preparedness, Response, and Recovery System, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-618] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 
6, 2006). 

[21] The Department of Homeland Security's Management Directorate: 
Goals and Objectives of the New Under Secretary: Hearing Before the 
House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Management, 
Investigations, and Oversight, 110th Cong. (2007). 

[22] Although Defense Acquisition University courses are primarily 
geared towards DOD, DHS has been able to obtain slots for its 
acquisition workforce in some of the University's courses. 

[23] Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003, enacted as part of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Pub. L. No. 
108-136, § 1413 (2003) allowed most federal agencies to exercise direct 
hire authority to recruit and appoint highly qualified persons using 
existing statutory authorities by determining, under regulations issued 
by OPM, that certain federal acquisition positions (including GS-1102s) 
are shortage category positions. This authority was extended to 
September 30, 2012, by the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-181, § 853. 

[24] General Services Administration Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 109-
313, § 4 (2006) granted agency heads authority, after consulting with 
OPM and OFPP, to approve reemployment of annuitants in acquisition-
related positions. 

[25] Section 855(e) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2008 requires that not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of the act, each Chief Acquisition Officer for an 
executive agency develop, in consultation with the Chief Human Capital 
Officer for the agency and the Associate Administrator for Acquisition 
Workforce Programs, a succession plan consistent with the agency's 
strategic human capital plan for the recruitment, development, and 
retention of the agency's acquisition workforce, with a particular 
focus on warranted contracting officers and program managers of the 
agency. 

[26] GAO, Homeland Security: Successes and Challenges in DHS's Efforts 
to Create an Effective Acquisition Organization, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-179] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 
29, 2005). 

[27] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Improvements Could Further 
Enhance Ability to Acquire Innovative Technologies Using Other 
Transaction Authority, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-
bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1088] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 23, 2008). Other 
transactions are agreements other than government contracts, grants, 
and cooperative agreements. 

[28] GAO, Defense Space Activities: Additional Actions Needed to 
Implement Human Capital Strategy and Develop Space Personnel, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-697] (Washington 
D.C.: Aug. 11, 2004). 

[29] GAO, Framework for Assessing the Acquisition Function at Federal 
Agencies, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-218G] 
(Washington, D.C.: September 2005). 

[30] Report of the Acquisition Advisory Panel to the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy and the United States Congress, January 2007. 

[31] GAO, Acquisition Workforce: Status of Agency Efforts to Address 
Future Needs, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-55] 
(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 18, 2002) and GAO, Federal Acquisitions and 
Contracting: Systemic Challenges Need Attention, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1098T] (Washington, D.C.: July 
17, 2007). 

[32] GAO, NASA: Progress Made on Strategic Human Capital Management, 
but Future Program Challenges Remain, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1004] (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 
8, 2007). 

[33] GAO, Transportation Security Administration: High-Level Attention 
Needed to Strengthen Acquisition Function, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-544] (Washington, D.C.: May 
28, 2004). 

[34] In July 2007, CHCO issued a departmentwide guide that includes 
principles and a model for workforce planning, but this guide does not 
address the acquisition workforce specifically. 

[35] OFPP Policy Letter 05-01. According to the letter, the Services 
Acquisition Reform Act of 2003 defines acquisition to include, among 
traditional contracting functions, requirements definition, measurement 
of contract performance, and technical and management direction. One of 
the principal purposes of this letter is to include formally these 
individuals in the definition of the acquisition workforce so they can 
be trained and developed using common standards. 

[36] The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of 1990 (10 
U.S.C. §1701 et seq.) recognized acquisition as a multidisciplinary 
career field for DOD comprised of 11 functional areas and directed the 
Secretary of Defense to establish minimum education, training, and 
experience requirements. 

[37] GAO, Office of Personnel Management: Opportunities Exist to Build 
on Recent Progress in Internal Human Capital Capacity, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-11] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 
31, 2007). 

[38] Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, 
Acquisition Workforce Training and Qualifications, OIG-08-56 
(Washington, D.C.: May 2008). 

[39] See GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Progress and Challenges 
in Implementing the Department's Acquisition Oversight Plan, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-900] (Washington, 
D.C.: June 13, 2007) for more information on DHS's Acquisition 
Oversight Plan. 

[40] Federal Law Enforcement Training Center representatives told us 
there are some contractors performing acquisition support functions, 
such as competitive sourcing, outside of the Procurement Division. 

[41] GAO, Defense Management: DOD Needs to Reexamine Its Extensive 
Reliance on Contractors and Continue to Improve Management and 
Oversight, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-572T] 
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 11, 2008) and [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-218G]. 

[42] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Progress and Continuing 
Concerns with Acquisition Management, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1164T] (Washington, D.C.: 
Sept. 17, 2008) and [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-
07-990]. 

[43] Of the positions in DHS's current acquisition workforce 
definition, only contract specialists are associated with a specific 
job series, so it was the only position for which we could obtain 
reliable data from OPM. 

[44] GAO, OPM's Central Personnel Data File: Data Appear Sufficiently 
Reliable to Meet Most Customer Needs, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO/GGD-98-199] (Washington, D.C.: 
Sept. 30, 1998). Also, in a document dated February 28, 2008, an OPM 
official confirmed that OPM continues to follow the Central Personnel 
Data File data quality standards and procedures contained in our 1998 
report. OPM's data do not include uniformed Coast Guard personnel. 

[45] In April 2008, DHS established a new procurement office, the 
Office of Selective Acquisitions. As of June 2008, this office had 
three staff members. Because this office was not in existence at the 
time we began our work, we did not include it in our review. For the 
purposes of this report, we refer to offices that carry out contracting 
functions as procurement offices, although some components use 
different titles for these offices (see app. III for a full list of 
office titles). 

[End of section] 

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