Officials had to distribute funds swiftly to meet immediate needs, while also being aware of new and changing program requirements. Image: ungvar/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffSpending boosts for pandemic relief strained agency workforces overseeing contracts and grants, and particularly those working on grants, says the Pandemic Response and Accountability Committee, a cross-agency council of IG and other offices overseeing that spending.
“The influx of federal COVID-19 funds in response to the extraordinary public health crisis created unique challenges across the federal government,” a report said, citing a 76 percent increase in 2021 grant obligations over 2019 and a 24 percent increase in contract obligations.
“Among these challenges, contracts and grants officials had to distribute funds swiftly to meet immediate needs, while also being aware of new and changing program requirements, creating new or repurposing existing programs, purchasing goods and services, and adapting oversight and monitoring strategies to a largely remote work environment given the health-related consequences of the pandemic,” it said the report, based on a survey of 29 federal agencies and other work.
It said that along with staffing, major challenges included IT and training, including having staff to develop and conduct the training for others. For example, it said that while most agencies said they had sufficient numbers of contract staff, the others “noted challenges such as workforce burnout and attrition, an inability to conduct proper oversight, and the need to divert resources to prioritize pandemic response contracts over non-pandemic contracts.”
Further, only about half of agencies said they had sufficient grants staff, and most of those with a shortage turned to steps such as hiring short-term employees and contractors. However, in doing so they faced issues including “resolving security clearances for contractors and new employees, finding sufficiently qualified candidates with federal grants management experience, and hiring specialized staff, such as financial analysts and grants specialists to monitor grants.”
They also increasingly used non-competitive grants, “which required less staff in the award process,” reduced monitoring and oversight of grant awards, and “delayed other mission-critical tasks and program oversight activities,” it said.
However, the report said the agencies considered themselves successful in ways including developing new ways to monitor awards remotely, providing training to grant and contract recipients, and leveraging existing programs, rather than developing new ones, to process and expedite awards under the pandemic relief laws.
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