United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-06-30 monographic deposited born digital 103 p. GA 1.13:RCED-99-150 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150 P0b002ee18039e2a6 f:rc99150 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150 RCED-99-150 Native Americans Contract administration Administrative costs Funds management Appropriated funds Indian affairs legislation IHS Indian Self-Determination Fund Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) and the Indian Health Service's (IHS) management of contract support funding under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, focusing on: (1) to what extent and for what reasons contract support costs and the associated funding shortfalls changed over the past decade, and what can be expected in the future for these costs; (2) how the shortfalls in funding for contract support costs affected tribes; and (3) whether the act's provisions for contract support costs have been consistently implemented.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) tribes' allowable contract support costs have tripled from 1989 through 1998--increasing from about $125 million to about $375 million; (2) the total amount of program dollars contracted by tribes--upon which contract support costs are based--has increased; (3) the total cost of tribes' administration of contracts has increased; (4) although the amounts appropriated for contract support costs have increased, Congress has not funded contract support to keep pace with these increases, resulting in funding shortfalls; (5) in fiscal year (FY) 1998, almost $280 million of the about $375 million that was allowable for contract support costs was appropriated, resulting in a shortfall of about $95 million; (6) projections of future contract support costs are difficult to calculate because the number of programs tribes will elect to contract and the amount of funding they will receive are uncertain; (7) for the forseeable future, tribes' allowable contract support costs are unlikely to dip below the FY 1998 level of $375 million and will likely increase, as they have done in the past; (8) according to the 94 tribes that GAO communicated with during its review, shortfalls in funding for contract support costs have caused financial difficulties and frustration for the tribes administering the programs; (9) they have had to take a number of steps to cope with shortfalls in contract support funding; (10) reducing their contract support costs to within the amount of funding provided has been one such step; (11) however, the tribes noted that this has decreased the efficiency and productivity of their tribal administrative functions; (12) to make up for the shortfall, the tribes reported using program funds, which reduced services to tribal members, or using tribal resources, which precluded the use of those resources to supplement program funds or to develop tribal business ventures; (13) the contract support policies and practices of the Bureau, the Health Service, and the Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General have been inconsistent, which may result in some tribes receiving more contract support funding than they are allowed and in others receiving less; (14) GAO also found some inconsistencies in the calculation and the application of indirect cost rates that were used to determine tribes' allowable contract support costs; and (15) the impasse between providing full funding for contract support costs and limiting these costs continues in Congress. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150.pdf GAO/RCED-99-150 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-150 Letter Report GAO/RCED-99-150; Indian Self-Determination Act: Shortfalls in Indian; Native Americans Contract administration Administrative costs Funds management Appropriated funds Indian affairs legislation IHS Indian Self-Determination Fund Title 25 Section 450fnote Title 25 Section 450j-1 Title 25 Section 458cc 25 U.S.C. 450fnote 25 U.S.C. 450j-1 25 U.S.C. 458cc Volume 112 Page 2681-288 112 Stat. 2681-288 Public Law 93-638 Public Law 100-297 Public Law 105-277 S. Rept. 105-227