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- Addressed

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- Partially Addressed

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- Not Addressed

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- Consolidated or Other

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- Pending

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- Closed-Partially Addressed

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- Closed-Not Addressed

Year Identified: 2011

Area Number: 32

Area Type: Fragmentation, Overlap & Duplication

Action:

The Secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) should work together to develop and disseminate information that could inform efforts by states and localities in increasing administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs, including initiatives to consolidate program administrative structures and collocate new partners at one-stop centers.

Progress:

As GAO recommended in January 2011, the Departments of Labor (DOL) and HHS worked together to develop and disseminate information to states and localities on increasing administrative efficiencies. On June 8, 2012, DOL issued guidance to states, which establishedimproving the effectiveness of workforce programs as a policy priority. Specific recommendations under this priority include streamlining administrative processes—such as intake, application, case management, data sharing and integrated program reporting—to maximize program efficiency. According to DOL, the guidance encourages states and local areas to increase interagency coordination and alignment, particularly with HHS-administered programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

DOL also reported that, along with HHS and the Department of Education (Education), it has continued with efforts to develop and disseminate information to states and localities through technical assistance to cross-agency teams to support the improvement of employment, training, and education outcomes for low-skilled adults.

For its part, HHS said it continues to promote strategies to improve coordination and achieve administrative efficiencies. It cited, as an example, workshops that included sessions on sharing best practices and strengthening collaborations between TANF and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the predecessor to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) which was enacted in July 2014. In March 2013, HHS released a technical assistance report titled “Navigating Federal Programs to Build Sustainable Career Pathways in the Health Professions: A Guide for Health Opportunity Grants Programs.” This report provided an overview of TANF and WIA funding and issues that programs should consider in order to leverage those resources. According to HHS, it also conducted technical assistance activities specifically related to TANF-WIA coordination beginning in November 2011, and on coordination around WIOA implementation beginning in August 2014.

DOL and HHS also worked together on a research initiative regarding coordination and integration between TANF and WIA.DOL reported that in March 2012 it and HHS hosted the first TANF/WIA Coordination Study Technical Work Group meeting. According to DOL, this project focuses on identifying and documenting potentially promising practices in coordinating TANF/WIA services at the state and local levels. In addition to HHS and DOL, the meeting included representation from Education, state and local TANF and workforce practitioners, and researchers, according to DOL. DOL said the goal of this meeting was to inform site selection, data collection and analysis, and report development. The TANF/WIA study, which was done under contract and overseen by HHS, was completed in January 2015 and posted to DOL and HHS’s websites in February 2015. The study included findings about state and local practices that enhanced coordination and increased administrative efficiencies between the TANF and WIA programs. As a result of these actions, states and localities may be better informed about steps they could take to increase administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs.

Action:

The Departments of Labor (Labor) and Health and Human Services (HHS) should examine the incentives for states and localities to pursue initiatives to increase administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs and, as warranted, identify options for increasing such incentives.

Progress:

As GAO recommended in January 2011, DOL and HHS have taken action to provide states and localities with incentives to increase administrative efficiencies. On June 14, 2012, DOL announced the award of 26 Workforce Innovation Fund grants, totaling nearly $147 million, to a combination of state workforce agencies and local workforce investment boards, as well as one grantee serving Indian and Native American communities. On June 18, 2014, DOL announced the availability of $53 million for the second round of grants. One of DOL’s goals for this fund isto incentivize greater efficiency by states and local areas by providing funds that support innovation in the delivery of quality services. Examples of efficiencies could include reduction in program overlap and administrative costs, and stronger coordination and alignment across programs and funding streams. According to DOL, several of these grants focus specifically on integrating services at the regional level, colocating and bundling complementary services, and implementing cross-program cooperation.

On September 23, 2013, DOL awarded nearly $24 million to New York and Massachusettsto pilot Pay for Success projects. According to DOL, under this model, the government pays for services only after clearly defined outcomes are achieved, which allows effective and evidence-based solutions to be identified and implemented while maximizing taxpayer dollars by paying only for demonstrated results. The projects must be completed within 4 years.  

DOL said it has contracted with the Workforce Investment Fund National Evaluation Coordination team to do work related to both of the grant programs described above. With regard to the Workforce Investment Fund grants, DOL said the objectives of the coordination team are to ensure results obtained can be compared across grantees to the greatest extent possible and to synthesize findings to draw general lessons.  With regard to the Pay for Success projects, DOL said the coordination team will conduct a process study to learn more about how this model was implemented and how the model draws solutions to problems within the workforce area.

DOL officials said that DOL, HHS, and a number of other federal agencies met beginning in mid-2011 to assess the feasibility of promoting joint strategic planning across programs.Cross-program planning is potentially one way to increase administrative efficiencies and align programs in a manner that avoids duplication and overlap. DOL said the agencies concluded that legislative changes were needed to best support unified planning. DOL said it provided technical assistance on Workforce Investment Act reauthorization bills, which included unified planning requirements, to Congress at its request. In July 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act was enacted. The law requires states to develop a unified state plan that covers all designated core programs in order to receive certain funding. As a result, states’ implementation of the requirement may enable them to increase administrative efficiencies in employment and training programs.

Action:

The Department of Labor (DOL), in consultation with other federal agencies, should develop and publish a multi-year strategic plan for its evaluations of employment and training (E&T) that includes assessing the completeness and results of efforts to coordinate services among E&T programs.

Progress:

DOL agreed with the recommendation, but has not yet fully implemented it as GAO recommended in March 2019. In May 2019, DOL stated that it is currently developing a five-year strategic evaluation and research plan for fiscal year 2019 through 2024. It stated that this plan will identify broad themes for research, including alignment and coordination of its core programs and stakeholder engagement.

In January 2020, DOL stated that the plan will be implemented once approved. While DOL reported it took some steps, it continues to lack a published strategic plan for E&T evaluations over a multi-year period. Without publishing a multi-year strategic plan for its evaluations of E&T, including assessing the completeness and results of efforts to coordinate services among E&T programs, DOL may not learn whether actions to manage overlap have been successful.