U.S. Department of Agriculture: Problems in Processing Discrimination
Complaints (Testimony, 09/12/2000, GAO/T-RCED-00-286).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to process discrimination complaints,
focusing on the: (1) timeliness and ability of USDA's Office of Civil
Rights (OCR) to process employment discrimination complaints; and (2)
reasons for delays in the implementing GAO's previous recommendations.

GAO noted that: (1) a number of long-standing problems are impending
USDA's efforts to improve delays in its processing of discrimination
complaints within its Civil Rights Program, including: (a) continuing
management turnover and reorganizations in USDA's OCR; (b) inadequate
staff and managerial expertise; (c) a lack of clear, up-to-date guidance
and procedures; and (d) poor working relationships and communication
within OCR and between the office and other USDA entities; (2) USDA is
not consistently using alternative dispute resolution techniques, such
as mediation, to address workplace and other disputes before they become
formal complaints; (3) USDA has drafted a long-term improvement plan to
systematically address problems in the program which they plan to
implement in October 2000; (4) to address personnel problems in OCR,
USDA plans to: develop an (a) assessment of the skills needed for OCR;
(b) implement training programs to properly educate employees; and (c)
to conduct performance evaluations that would provide the basis for
taking appropriate action in regard to employees who are not performing
at acceptable levels; (5) OCR is in the process of issuing two
operations manuals and several standard operating procedures for
implementing regulations addressing complaint processing; (6) OCR's
implementation of the program complaint process was hindered by
agencies' disagreement with OCR about their role in the program
complaint process and by inadequate OCR guidance; (7) OCR also has
difficulties in developing effective working relationships with the
Office of General Counsel, which further lead to inefficiencies and
delays in processing complaints; (8) inadequate communication within OCR
also contributed to low morale and productivity; (9) according to USDA's
Assistant Secretary for Administration, OCR meets regularly with a
committee of agency civil rights directors; (10) GAO's 1999 report on
this matter found that USDA's Civil Rights Program had a long way to go
before it achieved the Secretary's stated goal of making USDA the civil
rights leader in the federal government; (11) plans to address civil
rights complaints will require long-term implementation, including
funding for hiring and training personnel; and (12) it appears as if the
Secretary's goal, at least in the short term, remains elusive.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-00-286
     TITLE:  U.S. Department of Agriculture: Problems in Processing
	     Discrimination Complaints
      DATE:  09/12/2000
   SUBJECT:  Civil rights
	     Fair employment programs
	     Human resources training
	     Employment discrimination
	     Personnel management
	     Dispute settlement
IDENTIFIER:  USDA Civil Rights Program

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GAO/T-RCED-00-286

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Problems in Processing Discrimination Complaints Statement of Robert E.
Robertson, Associate Director, Food and Agriculture Issues, Resources,
Community, and Economic Development Division

United States General Accounting Office

GAO Testimony Before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and

Forestry, U. S. Senate

For Release on Delivery Expected at 9: 00 a. m. EDT Tuesday Sept. 12, 2000

GAO/ T- RCED- 00- 286

1 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

We are here today to discuss the U. S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
civil rights program and, more specifically, the problems that have
contributed to delays in its processing of discrimination complaints. Our
statement is based on a report we issued last year, which discussed these
issues in detail. 1 In that report, we found that despite efforts to process
discrimination complaints more expeditiously, USDA was not processing these
complaints in a timely manner. We identified a number of longstanding
problems that were impeding USDA's efforts to improve its timeliness,
including

ï¿½ continuing management turnover and reorganizations in USDA's Office of
Civil Rights (OCR);

ï¿½ inadequate staff and managerial expertise;

ï¿½ a lack of clear, up- to- date guidance and procedures; and

ï¿½ poor working relationships and communication within OCR and between the
office and other USDA entities.

We also noted that the Department was not consistently using alternative
dispute resolution techniques, such as mediation, to address workplace and
other disputes before they become formal employment complaints. Federal law
encourages the use of alternative dispute resolution in resolving federal
workplace and other disputes.

We made four recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture to address the
problems identified in our report. In commenting on a draft of our report,
the Director, OCR, stated that the management weaknesses we cited were real
and that our recommended changes were necessary. Furthermore, she said that
USDA was actively moving toward the full adoption and implementation of our
recommendations. In preparation for this

1 U. S. Department of Agriculture: Problems Continue to Hinder the Timely
Processing of Discrimination Complaints( GAO/ RCED- 99- 38, Jan. 29, 1999).

2 hearing, we reviewed the status of USDA's implementation of our
recommendations. We

found that USDA has not fully implemented any of the four recommendations.
USDA officials note, however, that the agency has drafted a long- term
improvement plan to systematically address problems in the program. They
expect to begin implementing the plan in October 2000.

Background

USDA's civil rights program has long been hamstrung by a variety of problems
and internal discord. The years prior to our report's issuance in 1999 had
been a period of upheaval for civil rights at USDA. During that period,
increasing numbers of employees had filed discrimination complaints, and a
minority farmer class action suit charged the Department with discrimination
in lending and other farm programs.

In response to allegations of discrimination, the Secretary of Agriculture
appointed the Civil Rights Action Team in December 1996 to review civil
rights issues and develop recommendations as appropriate. In February 1997,
after holding “listening sessions” with USDA's customers and
employees nationwide, the action team issued its report. Among other things,
the report noted that (1) USDA's civil rights program had been in a
persistent state of chaos because of numerous changes since the 1980s, (2)
USDA's process for resolving complaints about the delivery of program
benefits and services was a failure, and (3) USDA's system for addressing
employment discrimination complaints was untimely and unresponsive. The
report made 92 recommendations to address problems in four major areas--
organizational structure, management commitment, program delivery and
outreach, and workforce diversity and employment practices. Shortly after
the report was issued, the Secretary established the Civil Rights
Implementation Team to implement the report's recommendations.

3 In March 1997, USDA consolidated its departmental civil rights functions
into a new

Office of Civil Rights. 2 While the new office had overall responsibility
for civil rights programs, USDA's agencies retained their own civil rights
offices that were responsible for ensuring agency- level compliance with
civil rights laws and regulations.

Several Problems Hampered USDA's Ability to Process Complaint Cases in a
Timely Manner

It was against this backdrop of change that we conducted our 1999 review on
USDA's processing of discrimination complaints. On the basis of the most
current information available to us at the time, we reported that OCR was
not processing discrimination complaints within its own deadlines for
program discrimination complaints or within the requirements of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission for employment complaints. 3

We identified the following factors as impediments to USDA's efforts to
improve processing timeliness: continuing management turnover and
reorganizations in OCR; inadequate staff and managerial expertise; lack of
clear, up- to- date guidance and procedures; and poor working relationships
and communication within OCR and between the office and other USDA entities.
Furthermore, we noted that USDA and its agencies were not consistently using
alternative dispute resolution techniques with a neutral third party to
address workplace disputes. We made recommendations to the Secretary of
Agriculture to address most of these problems.

2 Before the consolidation, departmental civil rights responsibilities were
divided between two offices- one office was responsible for employment and
program complaints and the other for all remaining civil rights issues,
including developing civil rights policy. In addition, most USDA agencies
had their own civil rights offices that performed some complaint- processing
functions. 3 Most of this information was as of October 1, 1998- it was
taken from reports from OCR's database on

dealing with the timeliness of program and employment complaints.

4 Management Turnover and Reorganizations Created Instability

Since October 1990, the various incarnations of OCR had eight different
directors. Similarly, the Program Investigation Division had six chiefs
between 1991 and 1998, and the Employment Complaints Division had eight
chiefs from 1993 through 1998. 4 To add to this instability, the
Department's civil rights program had been reorganized three times since
1993, resulting in numerous changes at the division and staff levels. Civil
rights officials and the USDA Office of Inspector General's reports cited a
number of examples that demonstrated how ongoing management turnover and
reorganizations had affected the quality of OCR's work and contributed to
poor morale and low productivity.

In the 19 months since our report was issued, OCR has continued to
experience a high level of management turnover. According to USDA's
Assistant Secretary for Administration, OCR's most recent reorganization was
intended to address this issue and the new Deputy Director has drafted a
long- term improvement plan that addresses many of the personnel concerns
within OCR. However, it is too soon to tell whether this initiative will
effectively resolve the many concerns that the Inspector General and we have
identified because implementing the draft plan will require a long- term
effort. Some of the key initiatives, particularly training and staffing,
depend on additional funding that USDA plans to request in its fiscal year
2002 budget.

Inadequate Expertise Contributed to Processing Delays The Civil Rights
Action Team's report noted that USDA employees generally viewed the
Department's civil rights offices as a “dumping ground” for many
staff who had settled their Equal Employment Opportunity complaints. The
issue of inadequate staff expertise surfaced throughout our review, and we
cited several examples of this in our report. The Acting Assistant Secretary
at the time cited inadequate staff expertise as an initial obstacle in
resolving the existing backlog of program complaints and the lack of
qualified staff as a significant contributor to delays in processing
employment complaints. She

4 These positions were held in either a permanent or an acting capacity.

5 noted that while many new staff had been hired, many individuals still
lacked the

necessary skills for their positions. To address this issue, she and the
Director, OCR, developed a list of 36 staff members (almost a third of the
office's staff) whom she described as being inappropriately placed in their
current positions. As of midNovember 1998, OCR was working with USDA's
personnel office to develop procedures for placing these individuals in
other positions within USDA; plans were to refill all 36 positions with
qualified individuals.

GAO's Recommendation: We recommended that USDA establish target dates and
ensure that they are met for having the Director, OCR, implement the
office's plans to relocate the OCR employees identified as lacking the
necessary skills and fill the vacated positions with employees who have
appropriate civil rights expertise. Additionally, we recommended that USDA
assess the training needs of OCR employees and implement a program to meet
current and future training needs.

Status of USDA's Implementation: USDA did not implement its plan to relocate
the 36 staff members. Instead, USDA officials told us that they plan to
address personnel problems through (1) a systematic assessment of the skills
needed for OCR, (2) the implementation of training programs to properly
educate employees, and (3) the use of performance evaluations that would
provide the basis for taking appropriate action in regard to employees who
are not performing at acceptable levels. These actions are outlined in OCR's
draft long- term improvement plan.

Clear, Up- to- Date Guidance and Procedures Were Lacking USDA did not have
clear, current guidance and procedures that would govern the receipt,
handling, and resolution of its program and employment complaints. Such
guidance and procedures are important in promoting departmentwide compliance
with, and standardization and effective enforcement of, civil rights
statutes and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations. However,
USDA had not issued regulations that establish program policies and
prescribe procedures for either type of

6 complaint. In addition, USDA's operations manuals, which provide more
detailed and

technical guidance and instructions than the regulations, did not accurately
reflect existing processes for program and employment complaints.

GAO's Recommendation: We recommended that USDA establish target dates and
ensure that they are met for (1) issuing departmental regulations for
program and employment complaint processes and (2) revising and/ or issuing
operations manuals so that they accurately reflect departmental regulations.
We also recommended that USDA develop procedures to ensure that departmental
regulations and manuals are kept current to reflect organizational, policy,
or procedural changes that can affect the implementation of USDA's civil
rights program.

Status of USDA's Implementation: In March 1999, USDA issued departmental
regulations that addressed the processing of both employment and program
complaints. OCR is in the process of issuing two operations manuals and
several standard operating procedures for implementing these regulations. In
particular, OCR's program complaint section has finalized 9 of 10 standard
operating procedures, while the employment complaint section has drafted,
but not finalized, its procedures.

Inadequate Working Relationships and Communication Complicated Efforts to
Process Complaints

Difficulties in establishing effective working relationships and
communication between OCR and some USDA agencies, between OCR and the Office
of General Counsel, and within OCR itself had hindered efforts to process
complaints more efficiently. Our 1999 report cited a number of specific
examples demonstrating this problem:

ï¿½ OCR's implementation of the program complaint process was hindered by
agencies' disagreement with OCR about their role in the program complaint
process and by inadequate OCR guidance.

7

ï¿½ OCR continued to experience difficulties in developing effective working
relationships with the Office of General Counsel; this contributed to
inefficiencies in processing program complaints. In particular, problems
were cited regarding lengthy General Counsel reviews of draft OCR decisions.
The Office of General Counsel attributed these delays to the fact that many
of OCR's draft decisions needed extensive revisions.

ï¿½ Inadequate communication within OCR contributed to low morale and
productivity. According to a 1998 Office of Inspector General report, many
Program Investigation Division employees said that they were never consulted
when decisions were made and that this lack of consultation resulted in the
establishment of timetables that they viewed as unreasonable and
unattainable.

GAO's Recommendation: We recommended that USDA establish procedures for
ensuring more effective consultation and communication by OCR with agency
civil rights offices, the Office of General Counsel, and other affected
entities, particularly in implementing new processes, policies, and
procedures that affect these organizations.

Status of USDA's Implementation: According to USDA's Assistant Secretary for
Administration, OCR meets regularly with a committee of agency civil rights
directors. While we did not evaluate the extent to which these meetings have
resulted in improved working relationships and communication, a recent
Office of Inspector General report found that problems continue to exist.

USDA's Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Addressing Workplace and
Other Disputes Was Sporadic

USDA did not consistently use alternative dispute resolution techniques to
address workplace and other disputes. These techniques, which typically
involve intervention or facilitation by a neutral third party, range from
more formal approaches (e. g., management review boards and arbitration) to
less formal techniques, such as mediation, where a neutral third party helps
craft a solution to the dispute. When used

8 early in a dispute, before positions solidify, mediation can resolve
workplace disputes

before they become formal complaints. By reducing the number of formal
complaints, OCR would be relieved of some of the burdens imposed by its
large caseload and could focus on streamlining its employment complaint
process to make it more timely.

In May 1996, the Secretary of Agriculture directed each USDA agency or
mission area to develop, by November 30, 1996, an alternative- dispute-
resolution- based conflict resolution program outside of the formal
employment complaint process. However, at the time of our report, USDA had
only five alternative dispute resolution programs, which covered (1) all
employees in 6 of USDA's 17 agencies, (2) employees in two regions of one
agency, and (3) some employees in a department- level office. In March 1998,
USDA established the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center to coordinate
its alternative dispute resolution and conflict prevention efforts, which
was not fully funded or staffed at the time of our report.

In addition, OCR's operations manual for program complaints called for
complainants to be offered mediation early in the complaint process.
However, at the time of our review, mediation was not being offered as part
of the program complaint process.

GAO's Recommendation: We recommended that USDA develop and implement a
program for using alternative dispute resolution early in the program
complaint process.

Status of USDA's Implementation: USDA's regulations for processing program
complaints do not include the use of alternative dispute resolution, nor has
OCR used alternative dispute resolution in the program complaint process.
OCR officials said that they plan to examine the potential use of
alternative dispute resolution in the program complaint process. However,
they noted that alternative dispute resolution may not always be effective
for resolving certain types of program complaints.

-----

9 In conclusion, our 1999 report found that USDA's civil rights program had
a long way to

go before it achieved the Secretary's stated goal of making USDA the civil
rights leader in the federal government. In recent months, USDA has taken
some initial steps to address the Department's chronic problems in
addressing civil rights complaints. Unfortunately, these plans will require
long- term implementation, including additional funding for hiring and
training personnel. As a result, it appears as if the Secretary's goal, at
least in the short term, remains elusive.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes our formal statement. If you or other Members
of the Committee have any questions, we will be pleased to respond to them.

Contact and Acknowledgments

For future contacts regarding this testimony, please contact Robert E.
Robertson on (202) 512- 5138. Individuals making key contributions to this
testimony include Jerilynn Hoy, Richard Cheston, Rosellen McCarthy, and
Jacqueline Cook.

(150293)

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