Recommendation: Congress should consider establishing a long-term fiscal plan that includes fiscal rules and targets, such as a debt-to-GDP target. In doing so, Congress should weigh the key considerations discussed in this report to help ensure proper design, implementation, and enforcement of those rules and targets. (Matter for Consideration 1)

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: When we determine what steps the Congress has taken, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should take steps to ensure that federal agencies implement its guidance on agency adherence to E.O. 13132 requirements, particularly related to designating a federalism official. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should require Chiefs of Mission at overseas missions that receive allocations for rule of law assistance to assess the sufficiency of their coordination methods to verify that this assistance is coordinated with all relevant interagency partners. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of HHS, in consultation with the Council on Economic Mobility, should make information that would assist state and local entities in developing and implementing two-generation poverty reduction approaches readily available across federal programs and offices. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with this recommendation. The agency stated that through its coordination of the Council on Economic Mobility it will promote poverty reduction approaches that aim to provide more integrated, person-centered service delivery. It will also work to identify opportunities for collaboration, promising practices, and successful models that promote economic mobility and will develop strategies for promoting them, such as through technical assistance. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.

Recommendation: The Director of USCIS should update published guidance, such as Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274), to consistently identify each of the official mechanisms that USCIS may use to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Status: Open

Comments: In its written comments on our draft report, DHS agreed with our recommendation and noted planned actions to implement it, including updating guidance in DHS's M-274 handbook. DHS's planned actions will address the intent of our recommendation if they include updating guidance regarding each of the official mechanisms that USCIS may use to communicate automatic extensions of TPS employment authorization documents, including the use of individually mailed notifications. When we confirm actions that the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The TSA Administrator should update the BASE cybersecurity template to ensure it reflects cybersecurity key practices, including the Detect and Recover functions outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Transportation Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: TSA concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it by updating the BASE Cybersecurity Security Action Item section to ensure it reflects the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Detect and Recover functions. When we confirm what actions TSA has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The CISA Director should ensure that the operations plan fully addresses all lines of effort in the strategic plan for securing election infrastructure for the upcoming elections. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Status: Open

Comments: The agency agreed with the recommendation and has taken steps towards implementing it. Specifically, in March 2020 CISA finalized its operations plan for the 2020 elections. CISA's operations plan addresses one of the 13 objectives and key actions from the strategic plan -- monitor threat activity. While CISA's operations plan is to supplement the agency's strategy, the plan does not fully address any of the four lines of effort and the other 12 objectives outlined in the strategic plan. When examining the key actions for the remaining 12 objectives in the strategic plan, we were only able to confirm that 10 of the 27 key actions called for in those strategic plan objectives were fully addressed. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The CISA Director should document how the agency intends to address challenges identified in its prior election assistance efforts and incorporate appropriate remedial actions into the agency's 2020 planning. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Status: Open

Comments: The agency agreed with the recommendation and has taken steps towards implementing it. We reported in February 2020 that CISA's strategic plan had only addressed three challenges from its external lessons learned review. Subsequently, CISA addressed two additional challenges in its operations plan, which was finalized in March 2020, and its election infrastructure subsector specific plan, which was updated in March 2020. CISA's plans addressed challenges regarding the agency's role in sharing and collecting intelligence across the election community and facilitating industry-wide vulnerability disclosures. However, CISA has not documented how the agency intends to address other identified challenges and how it will incorporate remedial actions into the agency's 2020 planning. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should take additional steps to identify diversity issues that could indicate potential barriers to equal opportunity in its workforce. For example, State could conduct additional analyses of workforce data and of employee groups' feedback. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Office of Property and Fleet Management to consistently monitor property provided to non-federal recipients within 1 year of receipt, and to ensure property is being used for its intended purpose 1 year after initial monitoring. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA concurred with this recommendation. As of April 2020, USDA's 180-day letter has not been received.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Office of Asset Management to resume monitoring the Economic Development Property program, including property provided to non-federal recipients. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: As of March 2020, DOE indicated in its 180-day letter that the agency concurred with the recommendation, and will update their annual personal property reporting requirements. DOE anticipates having this recommendation implemented by September 30, 2020. GAO will continue to monitor DOE's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should direct the Employment and Training Administration to take steps, such as reconciling data between Job Corps centers and the Job Corps National Office, to ensure that the entities responsible for overseeing and monitoring the Job Corps Program have accurate data on the excess property provided to non-federal recipients. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Labor: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: As of February 2020, DOL indicated in its 180-day letter that they concurred with the recommendation, and have taken steps to improve the monitoring and oversight of Job Corps Property. This includes modifying the GSAXcess approval process by elevating review of all GSAXcess requests made by Job Corps Centers to DOL's Employment Training Administration's (ETA) national office. ETA is also working with DOL's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM) to develop a process for GSAXcess review that includes identifying approval levels for each category of property, identifying categories of property requiring additional review and approvals, and coordinating and streamlining access request procedures. These changes will be reflected in DOL's Office of Job Corps standard operating procedures (SOP), which is expected to be issued at the end of fiscal year 2020. DOL expects to provide training to Job Corps staff and Job Corps Centers in support of the SOP that will be provided annually. GAO will continue to monitor DOL's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Office of Property and Fleet Management to establish clear processes to oversee property programs, including excess property provided to non-federal recipients across the agency. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA concurred with this recommendation. As of April 2020, USDA's 180-day letter has not been received.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Office of Asset Management to update its regulations and guidance on programs that provide property to non-federal recipients to ensure regulations are current and establish a process to regularly communicate information about non-federal recipient programs to DOE program offices. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: As of March 2020, DOE indicated in its 180-day letter that the agency concurred with the recommendation, and will update internal policies, and provide personal property information on DOE's internal informational website known as Powerpedia. DOE anticipates implementing this recommendation by September 30, 2020. GAO will continue to monitor DOE's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The GSA Administrator should direct the Office of Government-wide Policy to revise the Personal Property Reporting Tool by updating the authorities agencies can select. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of February 2020, GSA indicated in its 180-day letter that it concurred with the recommendation, and has taken steps to revise the Personal Property Reporting Tool (tool). GSA has added relevant authorities to the tool as recently as July 2019, and will continue to contact agencies to ensure relevant authorities are included in the tool. GSA is also evaluating technical updates to the tool to ensure that reporting agencies select an appropriate authority when reporting personal property. GSA plans to complete these actions by July 31, 2020, and inform agencies of these changes in their guidance by the end of fiscal year 2020. GAO will continue to monitor GSA's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Recommendation: The GSA Administrator should direct the Office of Government-wide Policy to document in what circumstances excess property loaned to non-federal recipients should be reported and what property GSA is reporting on behalf of agencies, for example, by updating GSA guidance. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: General Services Administration: Office of the Administrator
Status: Open

Comments: As of February 2020, GSA indicated in its 180-day letter that it concurred with the recommendation. GSA will better communicate with agencies to better understand the confusion of reporting on loaned excess property, as reporting requirements are in statute, regulations, and guidance. GSA also plans to review and update by July 31, 2020, relevant regulations and guidance in this area including Federal Management Regulation Bulletin B-27, "Annual Executive Agency Reports on Excess and Exchange/Sale Personal Property." GAO will continue to monitor GSA's efforts to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Department's relevant bureaus to work with Embassy Beirut to establish, as appropriate, and consolidate targets for each of the security-related performance indicators. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should direct the Department's relevant bureaus to work with Embassy Beirut to collect and review performance data for key security-related performance indicators. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should direct DSCA to revise the inspection due dates it establishes for items requiring enhanced EUM for the Office of Defense Cooperation in Beirut to align with DOD's standards for EUM by considering the date of last inspection. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Secretary of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of OCS, in developing the new performance management approach for the CSBG program, should ensure that its performance framework includes information on (1) details for how the national measure is linked to and used to assess the three national program goals, (2) descriptions of how the updated state and local performance outcome measures align with national program goals, and (3) a written plan for how OCS will assess the reliability of state performance outcome data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Community Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with this recommendation and and stated that it plans to take actions to better align its performance measures with the three national performance goals outlined in the new CSBG Theory of Change. We commend HHS for its plans to address this recommendation, but encourage the agency to focus on aligning its performance outcomes with the three national goals of the CSBG program as established by the CBBG Act, which are similar but not identical to the three goals outlined in the new CSBG Theory of Change. HHS also stated that it would implement additional actions to assess the reliability of state performance outcome data.

Recommendation: The NHTSA Administrator should provide direction and clarification to states to ensure compliance with requirements to assess and report progress made in achieving fatality targets. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, NHTSA told GAO that they had emailed all State Highway Safety Offices in November 2019 to clarify the requirements for states to assess their progress made in achieving fatality targets. NHTSA also told GAO that they plan to conduct a national webinar for State Highway Safety Offices to provide direction on performance management requirements by July 2020. GAO will continue to monitor NHTSA's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The NHTSA Administrator should develop and implement a mechanism that communicates to Congress and other stakeholders whether states achieve their fatality and serious injury targets. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Status: Open

Comments: In April 2020, GAO confirmed that NHTSA published each state's required safety targets from calendar year 2020 on it website. NHTSA told GAO that it plans to provide performance data on state's achievement of their 2020 targets on its website when data becomes available in the fall of 2021, and complete implementation of this recommendation in 2022. GAO will continue to monitor NHTSA's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of FHWA should require FHWA division offices to document the rationale for classifying projects as emergency repairs, such as a description of why an emergency repair is necessary and which alternative strategies or repairs were considered, and to more clearly define the circumstances under which projects are classified as emergency repairs, including what constitutes restoration of essential traffic. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOT concurred with our recommendation and FHWA stated it plans to issue a memo to its division offices to implement it by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of FHWA should identify a specific timeline for clarifying the policy on the acceptable time frames for accomplishing emergency repair projects undertaken under expedited contracting and environmental requirements, and require FHWA division offices to document the rationale for decisions to extend projects beyond these time frames. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOT concurred with our recommendation and FHWA stated it plans to issue a decision memo to its division offices to implement it by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to implement our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Attorney General should develop and document goals that explain the common outcomes DOJ seeks to achieve through its elder justice efforts. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: In its comments on a draft of our report in May 2019, DOJ did not explicitly state whether or not it concurred with the two recommendations we directed to the department, but stated that it is taking our recommendations under serious review. Specifically, DOJ stated that it planned to form a subcommittee within its Elder Justice Working Group to consider the development or clarification of goals and the development of outcome measures. In a follow-up response dated December 17, 2019, DOJ noted that the subcommittee had been formed, and had met to explore the development of additional---or clarification of present---goals, including those referenced in our report. We will continue to monitor DOJ's efforts towards implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Attorney General should develop and document outcome measures to track the progress the agency is making toward achieving its elder justice goals. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: In its comments on a draft of our report in May 2019, DOJ did not explicitly state whether or not it concurred with the two recommendations we directed to the department, but stated that it is taking our recommendations under serious review. Specifically, DOJ stated that it planned to form a subcommittee within its Elder Justice Working Group to consider the development or clarification of goals and the development of outcome measures. In a follow-up response dated December 17, 2019, DOJ noted that the subcommittee had been formed, and had met to begin developing and documenting appropriate outcome measures that can better track the Department's progress on its overall elder justice efforts. This will include consideration of the specific suggestions cited in our report, as well exploring opportunities for additional data collection to enhance the Department's efforts and better measure outcomes. We will continue to monitor DOJ's efforts towards implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The FEMA Administrator should develop and publicize guidance for partners working to assist individuals who are older or have disabilities for requesting data and working with FEMA staff throughout the data sharing process to obtain Individual Assistance data, as appropriate. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: DHS agreed with this recommendation and has plans to address it. Specifically, FEMA is developing new, enhanced templates, policies and guidance for field staff to facilitate data sharing with states and other partners. The agency also reported that it is expanding its Open FEMA datasets to provide more autonomous, self-service sharing of aggregated data to fulfill partner data needs when personally identifiable information data is not required. FEMA plans to publish data sharing guidelines on its web site by March 31, 2020 on how to obtain FEMA data to best service individuals who are older or have disabilities.

Recommendation: The FEMA Administrator should improve communication of registrants' disability-related information across FEMA programs, such as by developing an alert within survivor files that indicates an accommodation request. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: FEMA disagreed with this recommendation, noting that it lacks specific funding to augment the legacy data systems that capture and communicate registration information. Also, FEMA began a long-term initiative in April 2017 to improve data management and exchange, and improve overall data quality and standardization. The agency expects the initiative to include the development of a modern, cloud-based data storage system with a data analytics platform that will allow analysts, decision makers, and stakeholders more ready access to FEMA data. After the completion of this initiative, FEMA expects that efforts to share and flag specific disability-related data will be much easier. Our recommendation, however, is not solely focused on system changes: other cost-effective ways may improve communication of registrants' disability-related information prior to implementing the system upgrades. For example, as noted in the report, FEMA officials handling different stages of the disaster assistance process may overlook disability-related needs recorded in the case file notes. FEMA could revise its guidance to remind program officials to review the notes to identify whether there is a record of any such needs. As FEMA moves ahead with its data improvement initiatives, we encourage it to consider and ultimately implement technology changes, such as developing an alert within files that indicates an accommodation request. Such improvements would be consistent with the recommendation and help improve communication across FEMA programs.

Recommendation: The FEMA Administrator should communicate to Regional Administrators and Regional Disability Integration Specialists a written plan for implementing its new disability integration staffing approach, consistent with the objectives established for disability integration. Such a plan should include an implementation timeline and details on staff responsibilities, which regions could use to evaluate staff performance. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: DHS agreed with this recommendation, reporting that it is developing a project plan to implement the proposed staffing approach in the Regions. The plan will include implementation timelines, detailed roles and responsibilities for the proposed Disability Integration Advisor positions, a force structure for each Region, and recommendations to the Regional Administrator to establish performance metrics for the new positions that support the overall approach to disability integration. The plan will be presented to the Administrator for review and concurrence in 2019.

Recommendation: The FEMA Administrator should develop a plan for delivering training to FEMA staff that promotes competency in disability awareness. The plan should include milestones and performance measures, and outline how performance will be monitored. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open

Comments: FEMA agreed with this recommendation and has plans to improve disability competencies among FEMA staff, but it does not include training. Specifically, FEMA is developing a plan to include a disability integration competency in the position task books for all deployable staff, rather than through training. Position task books outline the required activities, tasks, and behaviors for each job, and serve as a record for task completion. The plan will also include a communications and outreach plan; milestones for measuring the effectiveness of the integration of this competency across the agency; and a monitoring plan and milestones to measure the overall integration of this competency across the deployable workforce. However, the plan doesn't cover how it will deliver training to promote competency in disability awareness among its staff, including milestones, performance measures, and how performance will be monitored.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should continue to work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that UN peacekeeping operations fully meet principles of effective peacekeeping. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation and stated that, as the report details, the United States has achieved significant successes increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of UN peacekeeping operations. According to State officials, the five peacekeeping principles provide a framework for honest, strategic reviews of peacekeeping operations in order to continue working to ensure that the UN is performing at its highest level in-country, and that the United States and United States taxpayers are receiving the best value for our financial contributions. U.S. leadership and effective collaboration within the UN Security Council has led to smart reductions of over $800 million in the UN peacekeeping budget since July 2016. In response to analysis of conditions on the ground, State has worked with the UN to reconfigure missions in Haiti and Darfur, bolstered the mission in the Central African Republic, made the mission in Lebanon more relevant to the challenges to peace presented by Hizballah, closed the mission in Cote d'Ivoire, and more. The United States will continue to engage in close interagency cooperation, as well as strong advocacy within the UN Security Council to continue improving UN peacekeeping. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that the United Nations provides information to member states on the estimated costs of mandated peacekeeping tasks to provide better cost information when the Security Council adjusts peacekeeping mandates. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation, noting that the report correctly states that there is a need for better financial information related to UN peacekeeping operations. While the UN Secretariat provides a large volume of financial information to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, that information does not correlate well with changes that the Security Council makes to specific peacekeeping mandates. Instead, the financial information represents the totality of resources that the UN Secretariat estimates needing to accomplish a given peacekeeping mission's overall mandate. Achieving the desired level of detail will require changes to UN financial management practices and reporting to the Fifth Committee. The United States will work to advance these changes, which may require adoption through a resolution by the UN General Assembly. In the meantime and in the absence of that structural change, the United States will continue to closely scrutinize all proposed UN peacekeeping budgets to ensure to the extent possible that approved resource levels are realistic and afford missions the ability to implement their mandates, based in part on historical forecasting and expenditure patterns. With the implementation of the UN reform agenda and the expected and related UN cultural shift to one that is results based in 2019 and beyond, the United States will continue to advocate for greater transparency and accountability in the use of peacekeeping resources. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State should continue to work with the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that the United Nations takes additional steps to address member states' concerns about complete and timely information on the performance of United Nations peacekeeping operations. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State (State) agreed with this recommendation, noting that the United States has been a leader on the UN Security Council in order to create a "culture of performance" in UN peacekeeping. The United States drafted and achieved Security Council approval of resolution 2436 in September 2018, the first-ever resolution focused on improving the performance of UN peacekeeping, and implementing a system of accountability. This resolution calls for a timely and transparent reporting process for performance failures, real accountability measures for when these failures occur, and the application of objective criteria - data, not politics - to match the right police and troops with the right peacekeeping roles. The United States will continue to work with the UN Secretary-General, the Security Council, General Assembly, UN Secretariat, as well as troop- and police-contributing countries in order to ensure effective implementation of resolution 2436 going forward. GAO will continue to monitor State's actions related to this recommendation and update information accordingly.

Recommendation: Building on ongoing efforts, the Administrator of FNS should develop and implement additional methods to widely distribute information to state agencies on an ongoing basis about successful efforts to adopt data analytics and strategies to leverage existing data, technology, and staff resources to enhance data analytics. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Agriculture: Office of the Secretary: Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services: Food and Nutrition Service
Status: Open

Comments: FNS agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted that it has been moving in the general direction of this recommendation and would build on current efforts to address it but noted that state readiness and technical capabilities are limiting factors in the adoption of data analytics.

Recommendation: The Administrator of CMS should ensure that all types of Medicaid HCBS programs have requirements for states to avoid or mitigate potential conflicts of interest on the part of entities that conduct needs assessments that are used to determine eligibility for HCBS and to develop HCBS plans of service. These requirements should address both service providers and managed care plans conducting such assessments. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS concurred with our recommendation. However, in an April 2018 update, HHS noted that the recommendation should be closed based on existing Medicaid regulations. GAO disagrees. The existing regulations--which GAO reviewed at the time of this study--do not address all types of Medicaid HCBS programs. For example, specific conflict of interest requirements are generally not in place for needs assessments that are used to inform HCBS eligibility determinations. Similarly, managed care plans may have a financial interest in the outcome of HCBS assessments used for both determining eligibility and service amounts. GAO maintains that states should be required to avoid or mitigate potential conflicts of interest on the part of entities-including both service providers and managed care plans-that perform the needs assessments that states use for eligibility determinations and to develop plans of service. As of December 2019, HHS officials have not informed us of any additional actions taken to ensure that states avoid or mitigate potential conflict of interests in needs assessments for all types of Medicaid HCBS programs. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To better ensure FEMA's regional activities effectively support individuals with disabilities, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the FEMA Administrator to take steps to establish written procedures for how regions should involve the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination in clarifying disability integration staff's roles, evaluating staff performance, and setting expectations for how staff communicate with headquarters and the regions.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: FEMA agreed with this recommendation and FEMA's Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC) is in the process of establishing a working group that will clarify and codify the roles, responsibilities, and expectations among the various agency offices and personnel involved in carrying out the agency's disability integration mission. In January 2018, FEMA reported that it had created Regional Integration Teams in the regions to improve the efficiency and efficacy of mission delivery. In August 2018, ODIC reported its goal to meet with Regional Administrators and other senior leaders across the agency by the end of CY 2018 to refine the role for disability integration staff. The reported intent of refining the role is to better align it with the FEMA Administrator's goal of empowering emergency managers in states, localities, tribes, and territories. In June 2019, ODIC officials reported plans to convene a workgroup to examine the role of the Regional Disability Integration Specialist, including their reporting chain and their roles and responsibilities in each of FEMA's ten regions. The workgroup will meet over two months and develop recommendations to be considered by FEMA's Chief of Staff by August 23, 2019. GAO is encouraged by FEMA's efforts to engage Regional Administrators and other senior leaders in its refinement of the role of disability integration staff, and awaits evidence of FEMA establishing documentation of the agency's procedures for carrying out its disability integration mission.

Recommendation: To help ensure its key training on incorporating access and functional needs into emergency planning reaches a sufficiently wide audience, the Secretary should direct the FEMA Administrator to collect information about the potential pool of participants, set general goals for the number of state and local emergency managers that will take this course, and implement the delivery methods needed to meet these goals.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: FEMA agreed with this recommendation and reported that it will work with its regional staff to map potential training participants in each state and set goals for delivery of the course to state and local emergency managers. The agency also reported that it may be able to use data in the State Preparedness Report and states' self-reporting on the need for training on integrating the needs of people with access and functional needs into emergency management. As of January 2018, the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination reported plans to hire a permanent staff person to review, assess, and recommend how FEMA should incorporate disability into all internal and external training. In August 2018, FEMA reported hiring a new Program and Policy Branch Chief in July 2018, and noted that this individual will formulate a plan to incorporate the needs of people with disabilities into internal and external training over several weeks. However, FEMA did not address whether this individual will seek information about the potential pool of external participants, or set goals for the number of state and local emergency managers who could participate in external training. FEMA also reported providing just-in-time training in the field to support field staff in providing services to people with disabilities. The agency anticipates completing these efforts by December 31, 2019 and we will consider closing this recommendation when the agency can document it has addressed the recommendation.

Recommendation: To improve the transparency and clarity of the Trafficking in Persons Report and improve its usefulness as a diplomatic tool to encourage countries to address trafficking, the Secretary of State should improve explanations in narratives for Tier 1 rankings, including using consistent language, as feasible, in the Trafficking in Persons Report.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In comments on the draft report, State concurred with this recommendation and said that it seeks to make the Trafficking in Persons Report as useful as possible to a broad array of stakeholders and will continue its commitment to ensure each narrative better serves this purpose. GAO analyzed State's 2017, 2018, and 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report and found improvements in the explanations in narratives for Tier 1 countries. However, narratives for some Tier 1 countries did not clearly explain their placement, including language that seemed contradictory to certain standards and criteria and ambiguous language that meant we were unable to determine how State had determined whether certain standards and criteria were met. As of December 2019, GAO is continuing to monitor State's efforts to fully implement the recommendation. GAO will review State's upcoming 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report.

Recommendation: To implement DOD guidance requiring the military departments to prepare readiness and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) budget impact assessments during drawdown planning, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretaries of the military departments to develop guidance that assigns responsibility for the preparation of impact assessments and includes direction on how such assessments should be conducted as part of drawdown planning.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: In commenting on the draft report, DOD concurred with the recommendation. As of August 2018, we are in the process of following up with the department to determine the current status.

Recommendation: To implement DOD guidance requiring the military departments to prepare readiness and O&M budget impact assessments during drawdown planning, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director, DSCA, to develop an internal control mechanism to determine whether the military departments have completed the required impact assessments before moving forward with drawdown planning and execution.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: In commenting on the draft report, DOD concurred with the recommendation. As of August 2018, we are in the process of following up with the department to determine the current status.

Recommendation: To enable a more effective approach in working with states to adopt the NDRF, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to clarify with regional offices and Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinators (FDRCs) the role of the regional implementation plans in FDRC performance plans and how they will be used to assess NDRF regional implementation efforts.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. According to FEMA, to achieve greater integration of FEMA's field leadership components, FEMA's Field Operations Directorate (FOD) convened a Field Leadership Working Group of senior subject matter experts to conduct a mission analysis of FEMA's Field Leadership function (which includes Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinators as well as Federal Coordinating Officers and Incident Management Assistance Teams team leads). According to FEMA, the Working Group was preparing a Field Leader Manual (FLM) for review by FOD leadership. FEMA officials told us that the 2018 Hurricane season led to the deployment of many of FEMA's FOD leaders. These deployments allowed FOD leaders to experience first-hand the connection between regional implementation plans and FDRC performance plans and FEMA said that this knowledge is being integrated into edits of the FLM. In February 2020, FEMA told us that the FOD leadership responsible for the oversight of FDRCs is still determining the timeline to update the FLM based on a realignment of the Field Leadership Cadre. This update will integrate the Federal Coordinating Officers (FCOs) and FDRCs into a single FCO title with professional development specializations in response or recovery. This integration will support all FCOs in having a common baseline of training and experience in both response and recovery. In an August 2020 update, FEMA stated that while they continue to work toward implementing this recommendation, the FOD is currently focused on COVID-19 response efforts and planning for a more severe than average hurricane season. We will continue to monitor FEMA's efforts to see what additional actions the agency takes in response to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To enable a more effective approach in working with states to adopt the NDRF, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to align the annual FDRC performance expectations with clearly defined organizational goals and priorities, consistent with key management practices.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. According to FEMA, the Field Leadership Working Group will implement the elements of this recommendation alongside efforts to clarify the role of the regional National Disaster Recovery Framework implementation plans. FEMA told us that the 2018 Hurricane season led to the deployment of many of FEMA's field leaders and these deployments allowed leaders to experience first-hand the connection between FDRC performance expectations and FEMA's organizational goals. According to FEMA, this knowledge is being integrated into edits of the Field Leader Manual (FLM). In February 2020, FEMA told us the FOD leadership responsible for the oversight of FDRCs is working with their partners in FEMA's Recovery and Resilience sections, as well as with the Regions to define performance expectations for steady-state recovery planning and preparedness under the NDRF. This will include identifying who is functionally accountable for these activities, any gaps, and best practices across Regions. In an August 2020 update, FEMA stated that while they continue to work toward implementing this recommendation, the FOD is currently focused on COVID-19 response efforts and planning for a more severe than average hurricane season. We will continue to monitor FEMA's efforts to see what additional actions the agency takes in response to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To help federal, state, local, and private sector decision makers access and use the best available climate information, the Executive Office of the President should designate a federal entity to develop and periodically update a set of authoritative climate change observations and projections for use in federal decision making, which state, local, and private sector decision makers could also access to obtain the best available climate information.

Agency: Executive Office of the President
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, the Executive Office of the President has yet to take action in response to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To help federal, state, local, and private sector decision makers access and use the best available climate information, the Executive Office of the President should designate a federal entity to create a national climate information system with defined roles for federal agencies and nonfederal entities with existing statutory authority.

Agency: Executive Office of the President
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, the Executive Office of the President has yet to take action in response to this recommendation.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish a mechanism to ensure that sponsors provide complete and consistent lists of fees that participants must pay.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish a mechanism to ensure that sponsor provide complete and consistent lists of fees that exchange visitors on the Summer Work Travel program must pay, State acknowledged it collected such fee information in 2016. As July 18, 2018, we are awaiting State's review and analysis of this information to ensure the price lists are consistent and comprehensive, as well as published guidance it is sending to sponsors on how fee and cost information must be listed on their websites so that there will be consistency among sponsors. State indicated its fee study will take place in 2019 to cover the period of 2018. As of August 2020, State indicated that it planned to complete the fee study following final Summer Work Travel rule, pending OMB approval.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish a mechanism to ensure that information about these participant fees is made publicly available.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish a mechanism to ensure that information about Summer Work Travel participant fees is made publicly available, State noted that it had published a notice for proposed rulemaking on January 12, 2017. When finalized, this would require each sponsor to include in its recruiting material, and post on its main Web site (e.g., with a visible link to such a page on the sponsors homepage), examples of the typical monthly budgets of exchange visitors placed in various regions of the United States to illustrate wages (based on the required weekly minimum of 32-hours of work at a typical host placement) balanced against itemized fees and estimated costs. Until State finalizes this rule, they cannot enforce this requirement. State anticipated releasing the final rule in the middle of 2019, pending OMB approval. As of August 2020 State has not issued a final rule; and OMB approval is still pending.

Recommendation: To enhance State's efforts to protect SWT participants from abuse and the SWT program from misuse, the Secretary of State should direct the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to establish detailed criteria that will allow State to assess the sufficiency and appropriateness of opportunities for cultural activities outside the workplace that sponsors provide to SWT participants.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation that the State Department (State) establish detailed criteria that will allow it to assess the sufficiency and appropriateness of opportunities for cultural activities outside the workplace that sponsors provide to Summer Work Travel participants, State published a notice for proposed rulemaking on January 12, 2017. When finalized, this would require sponsors and their host entities to create cultural opportunities at least once per month. The proposed rule also notes that State will issue guidance outlining best practices for cross-cultural programming. As of August 2020 this is not finalized.

Recommendation: To more effectively manage NDF's resources, increase program accountability, and ensure that NDF has the information necessary to improve program performance, the Secretary of State should direct ISN and NDF to periodically and systematically conduct and document program evaluations of NDF.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of State concurred with the recommendation. As of September 2020, State had provided some evidence that State was going to conduct an organizational evaluation of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund as called for under the Department's evaluation policy. GAO is now in the process of reviewing the evidence that State has provided.

Recommendation: In order to provide states with greater flexibility to pursue a range of strategies to address the various factors contributing to motorcycle crashes and fatalities, Congress should consider allowing states to use the Motorcyclist Safety Grants for purposes beyond motorcyclist training and raising motorist awareness of motorcycles.

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, Congress has taken no action to implement this matter. GAO will continue to monitor Congressional action related to this matter to determine if either an extension or reauthorization of the current surface transportation program includes changes that would allow states to use the Motorcyclist Safety Grants for purposed beyond motorcyclist training and raising motorist awareness of motorcycles.

Recommendation: As we have previously recommended, Congress should consider reexamining and refocusing surface transportation programs, including establishing well-defined goals with direct links to identified federal interests and roles. Based on this review, there may be areas where national interests are less evident and where Congress may wish to consider narrowing FHWA's responsibilities.

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of November 2019, Congress has not yet acted on this recommendation. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94), signed into law in December 2015, is due to be reauthorized in fiscal year 2021.