The transfer of FPS  to NPPD became effective when the fiscal year 2010 DHS appropriations  act was signed into law on October 28, 2009. DHS Transferred FPS’s Mission and Most Support Functions to NPPD, but Could Benefit from a Revised Schedule and Cost Estimate for Transferring IT Services

		FPS’s Facility Protection Mission Has Transferred to NPPD without Disruption

In October 2009, FPS’s facility protection mission transferred and its  reporting channels were shifted from ICE to NPPD. In August 2009, DHS reported to Congress that the transition would be  completed by October 2010 and estimated it would cost $14.6 million. However, DHS now reports that the transfer of 4 functions will not be  completed until the end of fiscal year 2011 or start of fiscal year 2012 and  one of these functions will not be transferred until October 2012. As reflected in table 2, the delays in the transition schedule for the  delayed mission-support functions range from almost 1 to 2 years. Specifically, DHS officials explained the following    All activities for the transfer of business continuity and emergency  preparedness have been completed but are waiting on NPPD to  complete the building of a continuity of operations site, which  according to NPPD officials, will be complete by October 2011. DHS’s transition plan called for  working groups to develop comprehensive project management plans  (i.e., detailed schedules) with detailed tasks and end dates for the  individual mission-support functions to ensure critical path activities were  identified, managed, and resourced. Because of the complexity of transferring IT  services, DHS developed a detailed schedule to manage the transfer of  IT services, as called for in the transition plan. Our analysis of the IT schedule found that it did not reflect our best  practices for scheduling, as seen in table 4. Nevertheless, if the schedule does not fully and  accurately reflect the project, it will not serve as an appropriate basis for  analysis and may result in unreliable completion dates, time extension  requests, and delays. Incorporating Cost Estimating Best Practices in the IT Transition Cost Estimate Could Enhance the Reliability of, and Better Inform, Decisions about the Cost to Complete the Transition

According to best practices for cost estimates, in addition to a reliable  schedule, a reliable cost estimate is critical to the success of any  program. Transition May Provide Opportunity to Address Previously Identified FPS Challenges, but It Is Too Early to Tell Its Impact

Since 2007, we have reported that FPS faces significant challenges with  protecting federal facilities, and in response, FPS has started to take  steps to address some of them. If successfully managed, the transfer of FPS to NPPD could provide DHS  the opportunity to better advance progress towards addressing FPS’s  challenges. Further, the transition plan noted that the transfer  would improve the mission effectiveness of both FPS and NPPD. According to NPPD officials, the agency has undertaken actions that  serve as a foundation for integrating FPS into NPPD. Second, NPPD officials stated that FPS has begun to develop a new  strategic plan to align FPS’s activities and resources to support NPPD  mission-related outcomes. For example, in consultation with NPPD, FPS is  developing a human capital strategic plan. While these are encouraging steps, it  is too early to tell if these planned actions will help address the challenges  we have previously identified. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure that DHS and Congress have reliable, accurate  information on the timeframes and costs of transferring FPS from ICE to  NPPD, we recommend that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the  Under Secretary for NPPD, in consultation with the Director of FPS and  the Director of ICE, to   improve the schedule for transferring IT services, in accordance with  the transition plan, and to reflect scheduling best practices, and    update the IT transition cost estimate, in accordance with cost- estimating best practices. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

We examined the transition of the Federal Protective Service (FPS) from  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the National Protection  and Programs Directorate (NPPD). To determine the extent to which the FPS transition has been  implemented and what challenges, if any, FPS and NPPD faced in  implementing the transition, we reviewed documents related to the  transition, including the August 2009 FPS-NPPD Transition Plan, all  transition plan updates, DHS delegations of authority related to the  execution and administration of FPS, and Memorandum of Agreement,  Memorandum of Understanding, and all service level agreements signed  among FPS, NPPD, and ICE.
Why GAO Did This Study

Events such as the February 2010 attack on the Internal Revenue Service offices in Texas, and the shooting in the lobby of the Nevada federal courthouse, demonstrate the vulnerabilities of federal facilities and the safety of the federal employees who occupy them. The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is the primary agency responsible for the security of over 9,000 federal government facilities across the country. The fiscal year 2010 DHS appropriations act transferred FPS from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This report addresses (1) the extent to which the FPS transition has been implemented and any remaining related challenges, and (2) the extent to which the transition will help address previously identified challenges to protecting federal facilities. GAO reviewed the 2009 FPS-NPPD transition plan; agreements between FPS, NPPD, and ICE, and best practices for scheduling and cost estimating; and interviewed DHS officials.

What GAO Found

Since October 2009, FPS's facility protection mission and 13 of 18 mission-support functions have transferred from ICE to NPPD; however, the transition schedule for the 5 remaining mission-support functions has been delayed. For example, while functions such as human capital and budget formulation have been transferred, information technology (IT) services, business continuity and emergency preparedness, facilities, personnel security, and equal employment opportunity have not. In August 2009, DHS reported to Congress that the transition of these functions would be completed by October 2010. DHS now reports that it plans to complete the transfer of 4 of the 5 remaining mission-support functions by September or October 2011, and estimates that the transfer of IT services will not be complete until October 2012. DHS developed a transition plan to guide the planning and execution of the transfer. Among other things, the plan called for schedules with detailed tasks and end dates to be developed for all mission-support functions to ensure critical path activities were identified, managed, and resourced. DHS also developed a detailed schedule to manage the transfer of IT services, as called for in the transition plan. However, GAO's analysis of the schedule found that it did not reflect GAO's best practices for scheduling such as capturing, sequencing, and assigning resources to all activities necessary to accomplish the work. When a schedule does not accurately reflect the project, it will not serve as an appropriate basis for analysis and may result in unreliable completion dates and delays. As of May 2011, DHS estimated that it would cost $6.2 million to complete the IT transition. GAO's analysis of this cost estimate found it did not meet all the characteristics of a reliable cost estimate. For example, the estimate was not well documented because it was not supported by detailed explanation describing how the estimate was derived and did not include sufficient detail so that GAO could corroborate it. By incorporating cost estimation best practices for the IT transition cost estimate, DHS could enhance the estimate's reliability and better inform decisions about the cost to complete the transition. The transfer of FPS to NPPD could provide DHS the opportunity to better advance progress towards addressing FPS's challenges to protecting federal facilities that have been previously identified by GAO. Since 2007, GAO has reported that FPS faces significant challenges with protecting federal facilities. The transition plan noted that the transfer of FPS to NPPD would improve the mission effectiveness of both agencies. NPPD officials explained that the agency has undertaken actions that serve as a foundation for integrating FPS into NPPD. For example, FPS has begun to develop a new strategic plan to align FPS's activities and resources to support NPPD mission-related outcomes. Additionally, NPPD is assisting FPS in developing a human capital strategic plan, as recommended by GAO in July 2009. These steps are encouraging, but it is too early to tell if these planned actions will help address challenges previously identified by GAO.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DHS improve the schedule for transferring IT services to reflect scheduling best practices, and update the IT transition cost estimate, in accordance with cost-estimating best practices. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendations.