Skip to main content

Defense Management: Actions Are Needed to Improve the Management and Oversight of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program

GAO-06-140 Published: Nov 29, 2005. Publicly Released: Nov 29, 2005.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

The fiscal year 1993 National Defense Authorization Act established the National Guard Youth Challenge Program as a pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of providing military based training to improve the life skills of high school dropouts. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, under the authority of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, is responsible for overall policy for the program. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) provides direct management and oversight. In 1998, Congress permanently authorized the program and began decreasing the federal cost share until it reached its current level of 60 percent in 2001. Conference Report 108-767 directed GAO to review the program. Specifically, GAO reviewed (1) historical trends of the program; (2) the extent of analyses performed to determine program costs and the need to adjust the federal and state cost share; and (3) NGB oversight of the program. GAO is also providing information on Reserve Affairs' and states' efforts to obtain funding from alternative sources.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To improve the management and oversight of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to determine the actual costs of the Challenge Program, including states' ability to fund their share of the program, and use this information, as appropriate, to support funding requests or a request to change the cost-share ratio.
Closed – Implemented
In November 2005 (GAO-06-140), we reported that while Reserve Affairs and the National Guard Bureau (NGB) had expressed concern about the current program funding level and have suggested increasing both the cost basis used to determine funding needs and the federal cost share, neither had performed the analyses to support the need for such changes. We concluded that without better cost and financial information, DOD cannot justify future funding requests or a change in the cost-share ratio. We recommended that the Secretary of Defense determine the actual costs of the Challenge Program, including states' ability to fund their share of the program, and use this information, as appropriate, to support funding requests or to change the cost-share ratio. In a November 2007 memorandum, Reserve Affairs reported that based on our recommendation, the National Guard Bureau has developed a funding formula to determine the actual costs of the Challenge Program. This formula will work in conjunction with the individual Challenge program budget execution data being collected in the Challenge program budget management and reporting system. This formula will allow NGB to consider standard, actual and projected costs in determining the federal funding amounts for individual programs and to evaluate the need for any funding increases for basic program staff and services. This funding formula will be used to calculate and validate funding for fiscal year 2008, as well as prepare the future program budget estimates.
Department of Defense To improve the management and oversight of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to establish performance goals to measure the effectiveness of the Challenge Program.
Closed – Implemented
The National Guard Bureau issued a memo on March 6, 2007, that established national performance goals to measure the effectiveness of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. The performance goals are aligned within each area of the President's Management Agenda. In addition, each state program is required to establish state level program performance goals and update them annually.
Department of Defense To improve the management and oversight of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to direct U.S. property and fiscal officers to conduct audits as required and require that copies of audit results are provided to the appropriate office at the National Guard Bureau in order to ensure that the results of audits are promptly reviewed and resolved.
Closed – Implemented
The National Guard Bureau issued a memorandum dated January 30, 2007, that established a formal process to comply with our recommendation to direct the U.S. property and fiscal officers to conduct audits as required and require that audit results are provided to the appropriate office at the National Guard Bureau to ensure that the results of the audits are promptly reviewed and resolved. According to the memo, each National Guard Youth Challenge Program will undergo an audit once every three years. The U.S. property and fiscal officers will forward their reports to the National Guard Bureau Internal Review Office where they will be consolidated, reviewed and programmatic issues will be forwarded to the National Guard Bureau Athletics and Youth Development Office for coordination and/or corrective action.
Department of Defense To strengthen efforts at obtaining alternative funding in support of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, to develop more formal strategies for requesting alternative funding support for the Challenge Program. Such strategies may include submitting requests for funding that include the amount of funding requested and a sufficiently detailed description of the proposed program to allow potential providers of funds, such as nondefense agencies, to determine whether it would be an appropriate use of their funds.
Closed – Implemented
In meeting the intent of our recommendation to have more involvement from other federal agencies with the Challenge Program, in late 2009, Reserve Affairs held a formal meeting with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the results of the Challenge Program and how the Challenge Program meets the goals of programs run by other federal agencies. As a result of this meeting, OMB transferred $20 million from the Department of Education's fiscal year 2011 budget request to DOD's fiscal year 2011 budget request to support the Challenge Program.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Cost analysisEducation or training costsFederal aid to statesstate relationsLife skills trainingNational GuardPerformance measuresProgram evaluationProgram managementSchool dropoutsStudentsPilot programsProgram costs