USCIS Transformation: Improvements to Performance, Human Capital,
and Information Technology Management Needed as Modernization	 
Proceeds (17-JUL-07, GAO-07-1013R).				 
                                                                 
GAO and Inspector General (IG) reports have noted that the U.S.  
Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) efforts to modernize 
over the last 4 years have been unfocused, conducted in an ad hoc
and decentralized manner, and, in certain instances, duplicative.
In 2006, USCIS decided to reexamine its modernization effort	 
within the context of an agencywide organizational and business  
transformation initiative. The agency embarked on a		 
transformation of its business processes and technology aimed at 
increasing national security and integrity, improving customer	 
service, and achieving operational efficiency. We agreed with	 
this approach and recommended that USCIS employ key practices for
successful organizational transformations to better ensure the	 
success of its efforts. USCIS plans to complete its		 
transformation by 2013 at an estimated cost of up to $536	 
million, mostly funded by fee revenues. The Department of	 
Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2007  
mandated that GAO review USCIS' transformation plans before the  
agency can obligate $47 million in funding for the		 
transformation. Congress also requested that specific information
be included in USCIS' plan: all resources associated with	 
transformation efforts (appropriations and fees), including a	 
detailed breakout of costs for fiscal year 2007, and the impact  
of availability of fee revenue; alignment of the transformation  
process with DHS' enterprise architecture; and details on	 
expected project performance and deliverables. Pursuant to the	 
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007, USCIS, 
in May 2007, submitted to the congressional appropriations	 
committees its Transformation Program Strategic Plan and	 
Expenditure Plan. As required by the act, we reviewed these	 
plans. Our objectives were to (1) describe the extent to which	 
USCIS' plans incorporate key practices identified by GAO for	 
organizational transformations, and (2) describe if and how	 
USCIS' plans include congressionally requested information.	 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-07-1013R					        
    ACCNO:   A72730						        
  TITLE:     USCIS Transformation: Improvements to Performance, Human 
Capital, and Information Technology Management Needed as	 
Modernization Proceeds						 
     DATE:   07/17/2007 
  SUBJECT:   Best practices					 
	     Citizenship					 
	     Federal agency reorganization			 
	     Homeland security					 
	     Performance measures				 
	     Reporting requirements				 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Business transformation				 
	     Policies and procedures				 
	     Program implementation				 

******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO Product.                                                 **
**                                                              **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced.  Tables are included, but    **
** may not resemble those in the printed version.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
******************************************************************
GAO-07-1013R

   

     * [1]end of correspond & Test.pdf

          * [2]PDF6-Ordering Information.pdf

               * [3]Order by Mail or Phone

July 17, 2007

Honorable David E. Price
Chairman
Honorable Harold Rogers
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives

Honorable Robert C. Byrd
Chairman
Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate

Subject: USCIS Transformation: Improvements to Performance, Human Capital,
and Information Technology Management Needed as Modernization Proceeds

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicates benefits
requests and petitions for individuals seeking to become citizens of the
United States or to study, live, or work in this country. However, as
previously reported,^1 USCIS' ability to annually process more than 7
million benefit applications has been hindered by inefficient, paper-based
processes, resulting in:

           o a backlog that peaked in 2004 at more than 3.8 million cases,
           o tens of thousands of files that are missing or not easily
           located,
           o difficulties in verifying the identity of applicants and
           providing other government agencies with the information necessary
           to identify criminals and potential terrorists, and
           o benefits that were issued to applicants whose eligibility and
           potential risk to national security were not yet determined.

USCIS also faces a potentially significant increase in workload as a
result of proposed legislation for a guest worker program, which could
further add to its performance problems.

^1Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, USCIS
Faces Challenges in Modernizing Information Technology, OIG-05-41
(Washington, D.C.: September 2005).

Background

GAO and DHS Inspector General reports have noted that USCIS efforts to
modernize over the last 4 years have been unfocused, conducted in an ad
hoc and decentralized manner, and, in certain instances, duplicative. In
2006, USCIS decided to reexamine its modernization effort within the
context of an agencywide organizational and business transformation
initiative. The agency embarked on a transformation of its business
processes and technology aimed at increasing national security and
integrity, improving customer service, and achieving operational
efficiency. We agreed with this approach and recommended that USCIS employ
key practices for successful organizational transformations to better
ensure the success of its efforts^2 (see appendix I in enclosure I for a
list of the practices).^3 USCIS plans to complete its transformation by
2013 at an estimated cost of up to $536 million, mostly funded by fee
revenues.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act for fiscal
year 2007 (the Act) mandated that GAO review USCIS' transformation plans
before the agency can obligate $47 million in funding.^4 Congress also
requested that specific information be included in USCIS' plan: all
resources associated with transformation efforts (appropriations and
fees), including a detailed breakout of costs for fiscal year 2007, and
the impact of availability of fee revenue; alignment of the transformation
process with DHS' enterprise architecture; and details on expected project
performance and deliverables.

Pursuant to the Act, USCIS, in May 2007, submitted to the congressional
appropriations committees its Transformation Program Strategic Plan and
its Expenditure Plan. As required by the Act, we reviewed these plans. Our
objectives were to (1) describe the extent to which USCIS' plans
incorporate key practices identified by GAO for organizational
transformations, and (2) describe if and how USCIS' plans include
congressionally requested information.

Scope and Methodology

To accomplish the objectives, we reviewed the USCIS Transformation Program
Strategic Plan, Expenditure Plan, subsidiary plans, and related documents.
We also reviewed related reports by GAO, the Inspector General, and the
USCIS Ombudsman. We interviewed officials from USCIS Headquarters, the DHS
Office of the Inspector General, the Office of the USCIS Ombudsman, and
the American Federation of Government Employees. We compared USCIS'
transformation and expenditure plans to our key practices for
organizational transformations and other good management practices we have
identified, such as in the areas of information technology management,
strategic planning, performance measurement, and strategic human capital
management. See appendix II in enclosure I for a list of the reports from
which we drew the practices. We also reviewed the USCIS transformation and
expenditure plans to determine whether they included congressionally
requested information. Because USCIS is in the early planning phases of
its transformation, we did not assess USCIS' efforts to implement its
plans. Further, we did not assess the quality of the technical solutions
USCIS is considering as a part of the transformation.

^2GAO, Information Technology: Near-Term Effort to Automate Paper-Based
Immigration Files Needs Planning Improvements, GAO-06-375 (Washington,
D.C.: Mar. 31, 2006).

^3GAO previously identified a number of key practices found at the center
of successful mergers, acquisitions, and transformations in a forum
convened by the Comptroller General. See GAO, Highlights of a GAO Forum:
Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland
Security and Other Federal Agencies, GAO-03-293SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov.
14, 2002) and Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist
Mergers and Organizational Transformations, GAO-03-669 (Washington, D.C.:
July 2, 2003).

^4Pub. L. No. 109-295, 120 Stat. 1355, 1374 (Oct. 4, 2006).

We conducted our work from December 2006 to May 2007 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. We provided a draft of
this briefing to the Director of USCIS for review. USCIS provided written
comments on June 25, 2007, which are presented in their entirety in
enclosure II.

On June 27, 2007, and July 2, 2007, we briefed your offices on the results
of this review to satisfy the requirements of this mandate. This report
transmits the results of our work. The full briefing is enclosed.

Results in Brief

USCIS' plans partially or fully address most key practices for
organizational transformations (see table on page 10 in the enclosure I
for a summary of our findings). For example, USCIS has taken initial steps
in addressing problems identified with past efforts to modernize by
establishing a Transformation Program Office (TPO) that reports directly
to the USCIS Deputy Director to ensure leadership commitment; dedicating
people and resources to the transformation; establishing a mission,
vision, and integrated strategic goals; focusing on a key set of
priorities and defining core values; and involving employees. However,
more attention is needed in certain areas, including:

           o Performance Measurement:  Leading organizations recognize that
           setting goals and measuring performance can create powerful
           incentives to influence organizational and individual behavior.
           USCIS has developed some draft performance measures for the
           transformed organization, but has not defined targets for the
           desired level of performance to be achieved, and many of the
           measures are ill-defined or difficult to evaluate.
           o Strategic Human Capital Management: USCIS' plans do not
           sufficiently address important elements of strategic workforce
           planning. For example, the agency's plans do not identify the
           skills and competencies needed in the transformed organization,
           outline a strategy to maintain ongoing coordination with the
           Office of Human Capital, or address past and present leadership
           fluctuations. In addition, while the TPO has established
           performance expectations for its own staff, USCIS as a whole has
           not developed transformation-related performance expectations and
           competencies for its executives and employees to hold them
           accountable for achieving the goals of the transformation.
           o Communications: Creating an effective, ongoing strategy for
           communicating with employees and stakeholders is critical to the
           success of any organizational transformation. USCIS has made
           efforts to communicate information about the transformation to its
           employees and stakeholders, and has developed an overall
           communication strategy. However, this strategy does not contain a
           clearly defined plan to conduct outreach beyond the current fiscal
           year, and lacks a detailed approach for targeting communications
           to individual government partners and stakeholders. 
           o Information Technology (IT) Management: It is important that
           USCIS acquire IT systems and services in a way that employs
           leading IT management practices, such as those embodied in federal
           guidance that we and others have issued relative to enterprise
           architecture management, IT systems development and acquisition,
           and IT services acquisition. USCIS is early in the process of
           developing its own enterprise architecture. However, USCIS' plans
           do not include a performance element, an important architectural
           component. Moreover, while the agency is following DHS' procedures
           to align the transformation with DHS' enterprise architecture, we
           have previously reported that these procedures are not sufficient,
           and that DHS' enterprise architecture is not complete.^5 

USCIS plans provide some information on transformation costs and revenues,
but USCIS has not finalized its acquisition strategy and therefore cost
estimates remain uncertain. In addition, the plans do not sufficiently
discuss enterprise architecture alignment and expected project performance
(see table on page 11 of enclosure I for a summary of our findings).

USCIS is in the very early stages of its transformation and its plans for
transformation reflect at least partially most of the practices associated
with successful organizational transformations. However, the gaps we have
identified in USCIS' plans create risks that could undermine its success
as it begins to implement its plans.

Recommendations

To improve its transformation strategy and fully address congressionally
requested information, we are making recommendations to the Secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security to direct the Director of USCIS to
address gaps in its plans in the areas of performance measurement,
strategic human capital management, communications, and information
technology management practices. The specific recommendations are listed
on pages 52-53 of the enclosure.

                                   - - - - -

^5GAO, Homeland Security: DHS Enterprise Architecture Continues to Evolve
but Improvements Needed, GAO-07-564 (Washington, D.C.: May 9, 2007).

We are sending copies of this report to the Chairmen and Ranking Members
of other Senate and House committees and subcommittees that have
authorization and oversight responsibilities for homeland security. We are
also sending copies to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security, the Director of USCIS, and upon their request, to other
interested parties. In addition, the report is available at no charge on
the GAO Web site at [4]http://www.gao.gov .

Should you or your offices have any questions on matters discussed in this
report, please contact me at (202) 512-6543 or at [5][email protected] .
Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public
Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to
this report were Elizabeth Curda, Assistant Director; Randy Hite; Anh Le;
Jessica Lemke; and Martha Tracy.

Bernice Steinhardt
Director, Strategic Issues

Enclosures

Enclosure I

USCIS Transformation: Improvements to Performance, Human Capital, and Information Technology Management Needed as Modernization Proceeds

Briefing to Congressional Staff
June 27, 2007

Enclosure II
                                Agency Comments

(450555)

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.

GAO's Mission

The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its
constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and
accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO
examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies;
and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help
Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's
commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of
accountability, integrity, and reliability.

Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost
is through GAO's Web site ( [6]www.gao.gov ). Each weekday, GAO posts
newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence on its Web site. To
have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted products every afternoon, go to
[7]www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe to Updates."

Order by Mail or Phone

The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2
each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of
Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more
copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders should
be sent to:

U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street NW, Room LM Washington,
D.C. 20548

To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000
TDD: (202) 512-2537
Fax: (202) 512-6061

To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs

Contact:

Web site: [8]www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm
E-mail: [9][email protected]
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Congressional Relations

Gloria Jarmon, Managing Director, [10][email protected] (202) 512-4400 U.S.
Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125 Washington,
D.C. 20548

Public Affairs

Paul Anderson, Managing Director, [11][email protected] (202) 512-4800
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149
Washington, D.C. 20548

References

Visible links
4. http://www.gao.gov/
5. mailto:[email protected]
6. http://www.gao.gov/
7. http://www.gao.gov/
8. http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm
9. mailto:[email protected]
  10. mailto:[email protected]
  11. mailto:[email protected]
*** End of document. ***