United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2006-06-23 monographic deposited born digital 42 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-567 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567 P0b002ee18038b202 f:d06567 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567 GAO-06-567 Allocation (Government accounting) Block grants Census Data integrity Formula grants Medicaid Population statistics Statistical data Statistical methods 1990 Decennial Census 2000 Decennial Census Census Bureau Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Program Other Written Product A55843 Decennial census data need to be as accurate as possible because the population counts are used for, among other purposes, allocating federal grants to states and local governments. The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) used statistical methods to estimate the accuracy of 1990 and 2000 Census data. Because the Bureau considered the estimates unreliable due to methodological uncertainties, they were not used to adjust the census results. Still, a key question is how sensitive are federal formula grants to alternative population estimates, such as those derived from statistical methods? GAO was asked to identify (1) the top 20 formula grant programs based on the amount of funds targeted by any means, and (2) the amount of money allocated for Medicaid and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and the prospective impact of estimated population counts from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses on state allocations for these two programs. Importantly, as agreed, GAO's analysis only simulates the formula grant reallocations. We used fiscal year 2004 Medicaid state expenditure and 2005 SSBG state allocation data, the most recent data available. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567.pdf GAO-06-567 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-567 Other Written Product GAO-06-567; Federal Assistance: Illustrative Simulations of Using Statistical Population Estimates for Reallocating Certain Federal Funding; Allocation (Government accounting) Block grants Census Data integrity Formula grants Medicaid Population statistics Statistical data Statistical methods 1990 Decennial Census 2000 Decennial Census Census Bureau Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Program