United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office General Government Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-07-22 monographic deposited born digital 130 p. GA 1.13:GGD-97-132 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132 P0b002ee1803876cb f:gg97132 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132 GGD-97-132 Federal agency reorganization Immigration or emigration Strategic information systems planning Financial management systems Federal agency accounting systems Internal controls Communication Requirements definition Systems design INS Financial Accounting and Control System INS Position Tracking System INS Hiring Tracking System Chapter Report GGD

GAO reviewed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) progress in addressing long-standing management problems, focusing on whether INS had: (1) developed goals and priorities to guide planning and resource allocation; (2) revised its organizational structure; (3) improved internal communications and updated its field and administrative manuals; (4) improved the process of allocating budgetary resources; and (5) improved its capability to monitor its financial status.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) INS has made progress toward addressing some of its management problems, but much remains to be done and top management attention is still required; (2) INS issued a strategic plan in 1994 to guide its decisionmaking and policymaking and to set the stage for the implementation of a priorities management process; (3) INS developed annual goals and priorities and used them in fiscal years 1995 and 1996 to plan and allocate new resources provided by Congress; (4) in addition, in 1994 the Commissioner established a new organizational structure with four Executive Associate Commissioners (EAC) and regional directors who report to one of the executive associate commissioners; (5) the reorganization reportedly has improved oversight of district offices and Border Patrol sectors but has also created some internal communication problems; (6) a lack of clear guidance has also hampered internal communication and may be impeding front-line employees in carrying out their mission-related activities; (7) INS implemented several initiatives intended to improve upon its processes for allocating budgetary resources; (8) INS made improvements in planning resource allocation to be more consistent with agencywide annual priorities and workload demands; (9) furthermore, INS has contracted with a consultant to develop a software program that is compatible with existing staffing models; (10) in addition, the consultant is to review and refine the deployment planning process and the prototype automated software support; (11) INS has had long-standing problems with its financial management system and is in the process of acquiring a new one; (12) INS selected a financial management system in March 1997, even though it had not defined its business processes before it selected the new system; (13) to mitigate the risks associated with its approach, INS plans to analyze its business processes during implementation of the new system, finalize a detailed implementation plan, and develop a risk management plan; (14) GAO did not determine how successful each individual INS action has been in addressing management problems; and (15) however, GAO's survey of INS managers conducted in the fall of 1995, a year after the Commissioner's initial policy and organizational changes, and subsequent interviews with INS managers indicated that although many managers perceived that some initiatives were having a positive effect, communications problems and other challenges remained. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132.pdf GAO/GGD-97-132 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GGD-97-132 Chapter Report GAO/GGD-97-132; INS Management: Follow-up on Selected Problems; Federal agency reorganization Immigration or emigration Strategic information systems planning Financial management systems Federal agency accounting systems Internal controls Communication Requirements definition Systems design INS Financial Accounting and Control System INS Position Tracking System INS Hiring Tracking System Title 8 Section 1255(i) Title 8 Section 1324a 8 U.S.C. 1255(i) 8 U.S.C. 1324a Title 31 Section 720 31 U.S.C. 720 Title 42 Section 14211 42 U.S.C. 14211 Public Law 96-132 Public Law 103-62 Public Law 103-317 Public Law 103-322 Public Law 104-193 Public Law 104-208