Streamlining of Administrative Activities and Federal Financial Assistance Functions in the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Report No. 03-27
August 2003
Office of the Inspector General

Objectives

The objective of the audit was to identify activities and functions that can be streamlined to increase operational efficiency within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Scope and Methodology

The audit was performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and included tests and procedures necessary to accomplish the objective.

Generally, the audit focused on the administrative activities and grant functions within OJP and the COPS Office, as well as between OJP and the COPS Office. We performed audit fieldwork at OJP and COPS offices in Washington, D.C.

To accomplish the audit objective, we conducted 76 interviews with 80 officials from OJP, the COPS Office, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), among others. OJP officials interviewed included the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for OJP and other officials in each of OJP's five bureaus, six program offices, and eight support offices. The COPS Office officials interviewed included the Director of COPS and other officials in the Director's office and each of the COPS Office's nine division offices. We also reviewed more than 360 documents, including OJP's and the COPS Office's management policies and procedures, grant management guidance, budget documentation, organization structures, Congressional testimony, and prior Office of the Inspector General reports. The interviews and analyses of documents included:

• Notifying OJP and COPS Office officials of the audit's purpose, objective, and scope;
• Reviewing applicable laws, program policies, procedures, organization charts, and mission statements;
• Reviewing prior audit reports and studies by the Department on related issues;
• Reviewing budgetary documents to determine the amount of funds budgeted and expended for each fiscal year;
• Interviewing OJP's and the COPS Office's component heads and officials to obtain an understanding of the operation of each office and to discuss special areas such as the e-government initiative, automated systems, and reorganization plans;
• Reviewing documents provided by the COPS Office and OJP to identify the Federal financial assistance programs administered;

Analyzing documents provided by the COPS Office and OJP to determine for each agency the ratio of management and administration funds budgeted and expended to the: 1) program dollars budgeted and expended, and 2) grants administered; and

• Evaluating the award process for each financial assistance program (grants, cooperative agreements, etc.).

The interviews and analyses of documents were completed to:

• Obtain an understanding of OJP's and the COPS Office's organization structures,
• Identify the different types of Federal financial assistance awarded by OJP and the COPS Office,
• Assess whether Federal financial assistance functions are duplicated within and/or between OJP's and the COPS Office's programs,
• Assess whether OJP's planned reorganization will minimize or eliminate duplication of administrative duties and Federal financial assistance functions, and
• Reconcile differences between what the COPS Office and OJP showed as funds passed through from COPS to OJP.