Legal Services Corporation:

National Support Center Grantees' Activities

HRD-93-9, Feb 5, 1993

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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Legal Services Corporation's (LSC) funding support of national support centers' activities which directly or indirectly involve political, cultural, institutional, ideological, and economic advocacy, focusing on the centers': (1) funding sources and levels; (2) principal activities; (3) funds spent on lobbying activities; (4) boards of directors composition; and (5) oversight for funded activities.

GAO found that: (1) in 1990, the 16 national support centers received 53 percent of their funds from LSC; (2) LSC funding sources varied between federal, private, and non-LSC public funds; (3) the centers used LSC grant funding for common activities including legal research and analysis, litigation, production and distribution of publications, and training; (4) the centers used $104,000 of the $7.2 million in federal LSC funds for permitted lobbying activities; (5) national support centers were required to establish provision assistance priorities; (6) most centers complied with their priorities, but some centers failed to obtain adequate participation from client populations in needs-assessment surveys; and (7) few centers engaged in prohibited legislative and administrative lobbying activities, however, some centers failed to comply with recordkeeping, publication, and board of directors appointment regulations.