Reports & Testimonies

States have been increasingly requesting federal assistance through FEMA's Individual Assistance program. This program helps people meet their immediate needs after a disaster, such as shelter. When a state requests this program, FEMA evaluates the request against factors like state fiscal capacity and uninsured home losses and makes a recommendation to the President. The President then approves or denies the request. FEMA provides training and...

The Coast Guard employs over 39,000 active-duty military service members. It must recruit to maintain the size of its workforce. The Coast Guard missed its recruiting targets from 2019-2023. In 2024, it beat its recruiting target after increasing recruiting offices, marketing, and other outreach efforts. The Coast Guard could do more to assess which of these efforts worked. Additional analyses, for example, could help determine...

The Coast Guard's missions include ensuring maritime safety and security. It's hard to retain personnel because they face frequent relocations, their work environments are demanding, and pay and benefits may be better in the private sector. As a result, the Coast Guard has fewer personnel than it needs to meet its operational demands. The Coast Guard identified some retention issues through surveys. But it needs...

Family caregivers provide informal—often unpaid—care to family members in their homes and communities. When these caregivers are children under age 18, it can be uniquely difficult to balance their own needs with caregiving tasks. Federal programs focus on supporting adult family caregivers. In some cases, states and service providers may extend support to younger caregivers. But states and service providers may not know about this...

Schools across the country are concerned about student mental health, especially since the pandemic. DOD schools employ school psychologists and counselors to help meet students' mental health needs. But these staff said they rarely had time to work with students to prevent crises due to competing responsibilities and other challenges. Several DOD programs embed additional mental health services in many DOD schools. But these programs...

This is our 15th annual report on federal programs that have fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative goals or actions. We have suggested hundreds of ways to address those problems, reduce costs, or boost revenue. Congressional and agency action in these areas has yielded about $725 billion in cost savings and revenue increases. There are 589 remaining matters for congressional consideration and recommendations to agencies that could...

How did older workers fare in the pandemic? The unemployment rate for workers aged 55-64 peaked at 12.6% in April 2020. It returned to pre-pandemic level of 2.2% by April 2023. Older workers' personal finances—retirement account balances, for example—remained steady during the pandemic. The number of workers at or near full retirement age claiming Social Security benefits initially dropped but then rose above pre-pandemic levels...

The psychological effects of military service can be difficult on a personal level, but can also affect military readiness. To address this, the Department of Defense offers behavioral health care—such as treatment for depression or substance use—through its TRICARE health program. Participants can seek this care from private providers, who then must submit claims to be paid for it. Our work included looking at how...

The federal government is working to improve its processes for determining the trustworthiness of its personnel. This effort, "Trusted Workforce 2.0," aims to address lengthy background investigations, information security concerns, and more. We surveyed agencies and contractors on their experiences with the effort. Agencies reported improved access to real-time information on personnel but noted challenges such as IT compatibility. Contractors reported improvements in some personnel...

The Department of Energy can issue or guarantee loans for innovative or high-impact energy projects that private lenders can't or won't take on. In 2021 and 2022, legislation increased the amount of money available to DOE's loan programs. The number of applications for loans and guarantees also increased substantially. We looked at these programs and found: DOE isn't on track to issue loans and guarantees...

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, opinions on telework have been evolving. For this Q&A, we talked to a number of organizations that represent private sector employers and workers. They collectively identified improvements in recruiting and retaining workers as the greatest benefit of telework. They also noted that maintaining workplace culture in a telework environment was the biggest challenge. Additionally, some experts said telework opens work opportunities...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many riders stopped using public transit. Commuter rail, an alternative to driving between suburbs and city centers, was hit particularly hard. As of December 2024, a majority of the nation's 31 commuter rail systems were running at close to pre-pandemic levels. But most systems continued to face lower ridership and higher operating costs. Increases in federal funding since 2019 helped offset...