USDA must ensure that its programs are being implemented efficiently and services are being delivered effectively, which requires it to review the progress it and its agencies have made in achieving program goals and developing strategies to improve performance and accountability. GAO's work notes cases in which USDA programs have either met or fallen short of meeting program goals. In April 2010

We included nine areas for which we provided specific numbers of programs in Section I of our March 1 report. These areas contain hundreds of government programs that are fragmented across multiple agencies or, in some cases, within the same agency or department. The end of this report contains enumerated lists of programs in each of the nine areas and provides funding information where available

Of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) six equal employment opportunity program model elements, CRD's action plans focus mainly on the first--agency leadership. Of the 29 action plans developed and implemented by CRD to address the 53 recommendations in the recent external review, almost half center on the leadership element. For example, one action plan involved scheduling train

Over the last 4 years, EEOC's private sector workload has increased by 10 percent. Factors that have contributed to the growing workload include the growth in the number of new discrimination charges, which have become increasingly resource intensive, and a decrease in the number of investigators. Over the same period, the number of total charges handled per investigator increased by 22 percent,

GAO discussed the Bureau of the Census' promotion and outreach activities to encourage participation in the 1990 census. GAO found that: (1) after the 1980 census, a Bureau evaluation recommended hiring a promotion office chief and a full-time fiscal officer and continuing public service advertising campaigns, public opinion studies, and a congressional media program; (2) the Bureau submitted a r

GAO found over 100 entitlement, benefit payment, and mandatory spending programs. GAO included descriptions of the programs, the appropriation authority, and the expenditures for each over the past several fiscal years.

GAO found that, as of July 1986: (1) 370 borrowers on 12 of the 14 reservations had pledged 351,166 acres to FmHA as loan security; (2) the loans were worth nearly $49 million in unpaid principal and interest; (3) 144 of the 370 borrowers were either in the process of or were predicted to be at risk of foreclosure or voluntary conveyance and could lose 132,068 acres of reservation land; and (4) t

The system for processing Government employees' discrimination complaints continues to be plagued with problems, particularly the length of time it takes to process complaints. GAO found that complaints closed in fiscal year (FY) 1981 took more than twice as long as complaints closed in FY 1974. In 1981, a 15-percent increase in the number of complaints over the previous year was experienced, and

Since the 1977 report, HHS and Education have significantly improved the management of their civil rights enforcement responsibilities. The new OCR's appropriations and authorized staffing levels have remained fairly stable. Both OCR's have increased communications between their headquarters and field staffs and use uniform policy guidelines and compliance standards. Both OCR's will be able to mo