Summary
The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was the largest government reorganization in over 50 years, involving 170,000 employees and a $40 billion budget. Given the magnitude of this effort, strategic planning is critical for DHS to ensure that it meets the nation's homeland security challenges. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which DHS's planning process and documents (1) address required elements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and other good strategic planning practices and (2) reflect its homeland and non-homeland security mission responsibilities.
DHS has made considerable progress in its planning efforts, releasing its first strategic plan in 2004 that details its mission and strategic goals. Nevertheless, opportunities for improvement exist. The creation of DHS brought together 22 agencies to coordinate the nation's homeland security efforts and to work with Congress and numerous other organizations, including federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector, to further this mission. Although DHS planning documents describe programs requiring stakeholder coordination to implement, stakeholder involvement in the planning process itself was limited. Involving stakeholders in strategic planning efforts can help create an understanding of the competing demands and limited resources, and how those demands and resources require careful and continuous balancing. As DHS updates its strategic plan, earlier and more comprehensive stakeholder consultation will help ensure that DHS's efforts and resources are targeted at the highest priorities and that the planning documents are as useful as possible to DHS and its stakeholders. While DHS's strategic plan addresses five of the six GPRA-required elements, it does not describe the relationship between annual and long-term goals. This linkage is crucial for determining whether an agency has a clear sense of how it will assess progress toward achieving the intended results for its long-term goals. While DHS's strategic planning documents address most of the required elements of GPRA, not including them in the strategic plan makes it difficult for DHS and its stakeholders to identify how their roles and responsibilities contribute to DHS's mission and potentially hinders Congress's and other key stakeholders' ability to assess the feasibility of DHS's long-term goals. Additionally, several of the GPRA-required elements addressed in the strategic plan could be further developed through the adoption of additional good strategic planning practices. For example, identifying the specific budgetary, human capital, and other resources needed to achieve its goals could demonstrate the viability of the strategies and approaches presented for achieving its long-term goals. Finally, although DHS's priority is its homeland security mission--which emphasizes deterring terrorism in the United States--DHS's planning documents clearly address its responsibility for non-homeland security mission programs as well, such as its response to natural disasters. In addition, DHS planning officials said that non-homeland security responsibilities were represented in the planning process and documents due, in part, to the commitment of top leadership.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Bernice Steinhardt
Government Accountability Office: Strategic Issues
(202) 512-6543
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To make DHS a more results-oriented agency and allow for public oversight and accountability, the Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that DHS's next strategic planning process includes direct consultation with external stakeholders, including Congress, federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: GAO received the 60-day letter on September 19, 2005. DHS concurs with the recommendation and says that it "continues to work with the Departments of State, Energy, Defense, Justice and others in developing a long range strategic planning framework. This framework will include significant involvement by state, local and private sectors. DHS will also consult with Congress as the Department begins preparation of the next strategic plan." At DHS's request, on January 26, 2006, GAO met with the Director of the Strategic Plans Division in the DHS Policy Directorate and two of his strategic planning staff (as well as the GAO Liaison) to discuss issues related to DHS' strategic planning efforts. The officials noted that they are taking GAO's recommendations seriously and plan to incorporate them into their next strategic planning cycle, which is scheduled to begin shortly. DHS expects to have a new strategic plan by October 1, 2006. As of December 2006, the new strategic plan is being reviewed by the Secretary's office. GAO will leave this recommendation open for now. According to DHS officials, as of March 2008, the Strategic Plan is being reviewed by senior management and/or the Office of Management and Budget.
Recommendation: To make DHS a more results-oriented agency and allow for public oversight and accountability, the Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that DHS's next strategic plan--the agency's primary public planning document--includes a description of the relationship between annual performance goals and long-term goals, as required by GPRA.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: GAO received the 60-day letter on September 19, 2005. DHS concurs with the recommendation and says that it "has developed this information, most of which is the Future Years Homeland Security Program and Performance Budget Overview." At DHS's request, on January 26, 2006, GAO met with the Director of the Strategic Plans Division in the DHS Policy Directorate and two of his strategic planning staff (as well as the GAO Liaison) to discuss issues related to DHS's strategic planning efforts. The officials noted that they are taking GAO's recommendations seriously and plan to incorporate them into their next strategic planning cycle, which is scheduled to begin shortly. DHS expects to have a new strategic plan by October 1, 2006. As of December 2006, the new strategic plan is being reviewed by the Secretary's office. GAO will leave this recommendation open for now. As of March 2008, DHS officials stated that the Strategic Plan is being reviewed by senior management and/or the Office of Management and Budget.
Recommendation: To make DHS a more results-oriented agency and allow for public oversight and accountability, the Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that DHS's next strategic plan further develop the GPRA-required elements addressed by adopting additional good strategic planning practices. Specifically, the Secretary should ensure that the strategic plan includes a timeline for achieving long-term goals; a description of the specific budgetary, human capital, and other resources needed to achieve those goals; a schedule of program evaluations planned; and a discussion of strategies to ameliorate the effect of any key external factors.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: GAO received the 60-day letter on September 19, 2005. DHS concurs with the recommendation and says that it "has developed this information, most of which is the Future Years Homeland Security Program and Performance Budget Overview." At DHS's request, on January 26, 2006, GAO met with the Director of the Strategic Plans Division in the DHS Policy Directorate and two of his strategic planning staff (as well as the GAO Liaison) to discuss issues related to DHS's strategic planning efforts. The officials noted that they are taking GAO's recommendations seriously and plan to incorporate them into their next strategic planning cycle, which is scheduled to begin shortly. DHS expects to have a new strategic plan by October 1, 2006. As of December 2006, the new strategic plan is being reviewed by the Secretary's office. GAO will leave this recommendation open for now. As of March 2008, DHS officials stated that the Strategic Plan is being reviewed by senior management and/or the Office of Management and Budget.
