Work plans for GCD's major areas of responsibility are as follows: Law Enforcement and Justice Major work in fiscal years 1981 and 1982 will continue to (1) focus on critical issues that must be dealt with to improve the overall effectiveness of the justice system, and (2) identify ways justice system agencies may increase their efficiency by improving the management and allocation of resources, processes, and procedures essential to the fulfillment of their mandates to prevent, control, and reduce crime and delinquency and improve the administration of the total justice system. Specific review activities will concentrate on various aspects of law enforcement such as (1) the illegal manufacture of drugs in clandestine laboratories, (2) management procedures and practices in Federal district courts, (3) advisory and litigative services to client agencies, (4) enforcement and collection of fines and other judgments rendered by the courts, (5) identification and development of substantive policy and management issues on the prevention and control of juvenile delinquency and improvements to the juvenile justice system, and (6) effective and efficient management and operation of Federal and federally assisted State and Local correctional systems. Tax Administration During fiscal years 1981 and 1982, GGD will continue to review various aspects of tax administration and internal revenue operations. Our work will focus on such areas as (1) the quality of IRS audits of corporate income tax returns; (2) IRS' effectiveness in responding to special compliance problems; (3) the quality of IRS' assistance to taxpayers; (4) the difficulty of administering selected Internal Revenue Code provisions; (5) the tax treatment of tax-exempt organizations; (6) IRS' effectiveness in preventing and collecting delinquent taxes; and (7) IRS' effectiveness in detecting unreported income from illegal activities. Reviews will also be made of various operations in the Department of the Treasury. Statistics, Paperwork Management, Regulatory Reports During fiscal years 1981 and 1982, GGD will direct its statistical work at the utility of data collected by selected major statistical programs. This work will look at the effectiveness of the price statistics program in providing useful price data, whether the economic accounts adequately represent the volume and direction of current economic activity, and the effectiveness of the efforts to obtain accurate population counts. In the area of paperwork management, GGD will continue reviewing selected areas of reporting to identify ways in which the burden imposed could be reduced, and will review management controls established by Federal agencies to oversee and control their information collection efforts. GGD will also continue to carry out GAO's Federal Reports Act responsibilities for reviewing independent Federal regulatory agencies' reporting requirements as well as auditing their information gathering activities. Financial Institutions (Bank Regulatory Agencies) Public Law 95-320, approved July 21, 1978, directs the Comptroller General to conduct audits of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Home Loan Bank Board, National Credit Union Administration, and Farm Credit Administration. Under this authority, GGD has and will continue to review (1) the Federal regulation and supervision of commercial banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and regulation of bank holding companies; (2) condition and structure of the financial industry; (3) central bank and agent functions at the Federal Reserve; and (4) organizational and administrative management. GGD will also review the administration of programs carried out by the Farm Credit Administration. Intergovernmental Relations The principal objective of GAO's work in this area is to promote more effective operation of the Federal assistance system by identifying and analyzing major causes of intergovernmental conflict and recommending ways for improvement. Emphasis is placed on examining the impact of Federal policies and practices from the perspective of State and local governments. The area also includes evaluations of individual Federal programs if their principal objective is to provide general financial support for State and local governments. General revenue sharing and the New York City loan program are two examples of such programs. Also, as in prior years, a significant amount of work will be performed reviewing District of Columbia's governmental operations. Our work at the Postal Service is organizationally lodged in the groups responsible for intergovernmental relations. P-3 The Human Resources Division (HRD) is responsible for auditing, investigating, and reporting on the Departments of Labor, and Health and Human Services, and Education and Welfare; the Veterans and Community Services Administrations; ACTION; the Railroad Retirement Board; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; the Legal Services Corporation; the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; the Consumer Product Safety, Federal Trade, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions; and certain related agencies, boards, and commissions. The division also reviews the health programs of all Federal agencies and the interrelationships of Federal programs and activities dealing with health, employment and training, education, income security, consumer and worker protection, and non-discrimination and equal opportunity. The division's responsibilities exclude those assigned to other divisions for auditing international programs and the accounts of accountable officers. The following schedule shows the division's planned application of Washington professional staff resources during fiscal year 1981 and 1982. 1/Excludes field and overseas average positions. 2/ Funds for these resources for fiscal years 1981 and 1982 are $13,234,000 and $14,037,000 respectively. Q-1 The Division is organized along the lines of the principal purposes served by the agencies and programs it is responsible for: Health - Research, Resources, and Services The overall life expectancy rate for the American people continues to increase, a result primarily of a sustained decrease in deaths from heart disease and stroke. Also contributing is the decline, to an all time low, of the infant death rate. Despite progress made, problems-especially cost growth-still abound in the health area. Until costs can be contained, Federal policymaking will be dominated by economic considerations. During fiscal year 1982, we will address the following major issues: preventing disease through early diagnosis and control; assessing the effectiveness of Federal planning efforts in controlling costs and improving accessibility to health care; improving the quality, supply, distribution, and use of medical manpower and facilities; and improving the provision of health services through alternate delivery and financing mechanisms such as health maintenance organizations. Health Financing and Quality Control This area includes the evaluation of management, administration, and effectiveness of Federal health financing programs including Medicare, Medicaid, CHAMPUS, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits programs. Federal outlays for these programs in fiscal year 1982 should be more than $60 billion. The major aims are to minimize the fraud and abuse associated with health financing programs, to contain the costs of these programs, and to review the development of a quality assurance system for individuals who are beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid. Income Security and Social Services Estimated outlays for income security and social services programs should total over $332 billion in fiscal year 1982. These programs will touch the lives of nearly all of the 221 million Americans at some point. During fiscal years 1981 and 1982 increased emphasis will be placed on the efficiency, economy, effectiveness and equity of the welfare, retirement and disability programs of the Social Security Administration and the Railroad Retirement Board; ways to ensure the integrity and stability of the trust funds; criteria for workers' compensation and disability benefits; data gathering and analysis in support of continuing debate on welfare reform; the expressed concerns of the Congress regarding programs for the elderly; and examining various aspects of social services programs. Specifically, the division will address the following major issues: eligibility determinations; payment processes and systems; resource allocations and utilization; stability of funding mechanisms; impact of programs on the elderly; appropriateness of varying eligibility and benefit levels; streamlining and consolidating programs; stability of program funding mechanisms; and assessing the effectiveness of social services programs. Consumer and Worker Protection HRD will address several consumer and worker protection issues including: the purity and wholesomeness of foods; the safety and efficacy of drugs; assurance of a safe and healthful workplace for every employee; protection from unfair, misleading, or deceptive trade practices; whether labor standards laws are still needed and if so how they can be enforced; the adequacy of statutes and administrative control over employee pension and benefit plans; and long-term stability of pension and benefit programs. In the area of equal employment opport:mity and anti-discrimination, the division will review Federal agencies' effectiveness in achieving equal opportunity and nondiscrimination objectives, enforcement activities of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, handicapped assistance programs and discrimination in employment services programs. Education, Employment, and Training The Federal Government carries out a myriad of Education, Training, and Employment programs involving complex interaction between the Federal, State, and local levels as well as the public and private sectors. Estimated budget outlays for the major agencies administering these programs are expected to exceed $29 billion. Regarding Education, the Division plans to examine: the role of the Federal Government in identifying and overcoming problems with student learning levels; efforts to contain the cost of Federal programs for higher education; whether elementary and secondary education programs efficiently and effectively meet their intent; whether specialized education services are providing educational opportunities; and the role of the new Department of Education in improving education. In the Employment and Training area the Division will examine: Federal efforts to plan and coordinate a cohesive employment and training policy; whether comprehensive employment and training services have inproved the employability and earnings of potential participants; the efficiency and effectiveness of the centralized administration of employment and training programs; the management of special target group programs, and special assistance programs for workers affected by Federal policies and actions; whether employment and training programs are improving the employability of the nation's youth; the effectiveness of efforts to increase private sector involvement; the interrelationships of Federal, State and local employment and training programs; the use of research, development, and evaluation results; the cost and adequacy of the benefits of unemployment insurance; and the efforts of the job service in assisting the unemployed in finding jobs. Nonfunctional and Other Activities HRD is responsible for assuring that all non-functional aspects of agencies' operations are also adequately audited, principally their administrative and support activities. During fiscal year 1981 and 1982 it will review selected statistical and management information systems, automatic data processing systems, and budgeting and budget processes. 0-3 |