By Calvin Biesecker
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress in its oversight of major acquisition programs, including increasing the number of senior-level program reviews, but a slew of challenges and shortcomings still exist, leaving programs vulnerable to potential ills such as cost increases and schedule delays, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report.
In FY ’08, DHS reviewed seven programs and in FY ’09 it reviewed 25, which was more than planned, demonstrating increased oversight, GAO says in its report, Department of Homeland Security: Assessments of Selected Complex Acquisitions (GAO-10-588SP). However, it says, the senior most oversight panel, the Acquisition Review Board (ARB), only reviewed 24 of 67 major programs in FY ’09.
DHS says the reason for the limited number of senior-level program reviews is due to continued funding and staffing shortages, according to GAO. While DHS continues to increase its acquisition oversight staffing levels and plans to have 33 government employees for this by the end of FY ’10, “budget documentation suggests this staffing level will not provide the capacity needed to support the 50 to 60 annual ARB meetings that acquisition officials said would be needed to oversee all of DHS’ major acquisitions,” GAO says.
The congressional watchdog agency has previously recommended that DHS identify the management resources it needs to review programs throughout their life cycle but says that no plan exists yet.
For its report, GAO examined 18 DHS programs, 16 of them major acquisitions, which are valued at $300 million or greater for their life-cycle cost estimates.
DHS says that its acquisition oversight staff did examine 61 of the 67 major programs in FY ’09, which helped prioritize which programs would receive ARB attention, but GAO says these are not formal reviews.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on Wednesday evening the GAO’s findings are no surprise.
“Several factors have led to this situation, including the department’s decentralized acquisition system that permits individual components to have a direct impact on acquisitions,” Thompson said in a statement. “While this system has been called one of ‘dual accountability,’ the resulting cost overruns and delays would seem to indicate that it is a system that undermines accountability.”
GAO cites a number of factors that are contributing to both cost growth and schedule delays for programs. These include either poorly stated or unapproved baseline requirements, workforce shortages in program offices and acquisition cost planning.
DHS tells GAO that a factor in estimated program cost growth is due to “inaccurate or incomplete cost estimates.” DHS officials also say that many programs are not following best practices for cost estimating, such as “fully defining program requirements, accounting for sustainment costs, and including costs for the full life-cycle of a program. As a result, officials have doubts about the credibility, comprehensiveness, and accuracy of most program cost estimates.”
DHS says they are trying to remedy these problems by providing help to programs with cost estimating and obtaining independent estimates for selected high-risk programs.
Requirements issues continue to trouble the DHS acquisition process. At one time, the department had a Joint Requirements Council, although it no longer functions. GAO recommends reinstating this panel or one similar to it to help inform investment decisions. DHS says it is putting together a proposal for a Joint Requirements Council to be approved by the department’s leadership. That would be followed by a limited pilot program to review some programs, GAO says.
The agency notes that baseline requirements are important in helping to ultimately assess program performance. However, GAO notes that more than half of the programs it reviewed began acquisition activities without approved operational requirements and established program acquisition baselines.
Some of the programs examined by GAO include the Secure Border Initiative, the National Cybersecurity Protection System, and the next-generation BioWatch.