Among the difficulties still facing DHS following its creation more than a decade ago from nearly two dozen agencies and sub-agencies is keeping track of its training programs and facilities and how much it spends on them, according to GAO.
The issue is not a new one, a report added: various working groups have made 29 different recommendations to improve training since 2004 but DHS “has not adequately addressed” them and this “cannot ensure the most efficient use of resources.”
It said that DHS spends more than $1 billion a year to provide training to both its own employees and to external stakeholders such as state and local first responders. Nine separate DHS components operate 31 training centers. However, DHS “does not have an effective governance structure for its training oversight, including clearly defined roles, responsibilities and delegated authorities.”
Further, the department’s CFO could account for less than $270 million of the $1.4 billion appropriated for training in 2014. And while DHS has tasked at least three contractors to compile training data from nine different systems, the department’s reports on training are “incomplete and inaccurate” and it does not have access to its own components’ financial data, said GAO.
It said DHS agreed with its recommendations.