In November 2010, a National Engagement  Task Force, led by DHS and DOJ, was established to help coordinate  community engagement efforts to counter violent extremism. The interagency CVE Task Force  was established to: (1) synchronize and integrate whole-of-government  CVE programs and activities; (2) conduct ongoing strategic planning; and  (3) assess and evaluate CVE efforts. Moreover, as of December 2016,  there had been no comprehensive assessment of the federal  government’s CVE efforts’ effectiveness. The 44 domestically-oriented tasks identified in the 2011 SIP were  focused on addressing three core CVE objectives: community outreach,  research and training, and capacity building. For example, DOJ expanded CVE activities to  communities targeted by violent extremism through a series of outreach  meetings led by the U.S. Attorney’s offices. For  example, DHS aims to build relationships with the high-tech and social  media industry and continues to meet with officials to discuss how to  address violent extremism online. Despite  progress in 7 of 8 capacity building tasks, action had not yet been taken  on a task related to learning from former violent extremists to directly  challenge violent extremist narratives. The Federal CVE Effort Lacks a Cohesive Strategy with Measureable Outcomes and a Process for Assessing Progress

		A Cohesive CVE Strategy with Measurable Outcomes Has Not Been Established

Although we were able to determine the status of the 44 domestically  focused CVE tasks from the 2011 SIP, we could not determine the extent  to which the United States is better off today as a result of its CVE effort  than it was in 2011. That is because no cohesive strategy with  measurable outcomes has been established to guide the multi-agency  CVE effort towards its goals. However, DHS’s CVE strategy does not demonstrate how these activities  will integrate with the overall federal CVE effort. DHS, in its comment letter, recognized that such a process will drive an  understanding of the contributions of individual activities in the federal  CVE effort. As noted in our report, the CVE Task  Force’s approach of providing guidance on evaluations might enhance  the evaluation efforts of individual programs, but establishing a process  that assesses progress and effectiveness across the federal CVE effort  can provide better insight into the successes and gaps within this multi- agency collaborative effort. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report addresses the extent to which (1) the Department of  Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other  key stakeholders tasked with Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in the  United States have implemented the 2011 Strategic Implementation Plan  (SIP) and (2) the federal government has developed a strategy to  implement CVE activities, and the CVE Task Force has developed a  process for assessing overall progress. To assess the extent to which DHS, DOJ, and other key stakeholders  tasked with CVE in the United States implemented the 2011 SIP, we  collected and analyzed information from each agency responsible for  leading a task in the 2011 SIP, which included DHS, DOJ, the Federal  Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Counterterrorism Center  (NCTC). To determine the extent to which the federal government has developed a  strategy to implement CVE activities and the CVE Task Force has  developed a process for assessing overall progress, we reviewed the  National Strategy for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent  Extremism in the United States, the 2011 and 2016 Strategic  Implementation Plans for the strategy, and other documents related to the  creation and activities of the CVE Task Force. From December  2011 through December 2016, federal agencies implemented 19 tasks,  had 23 tasks in progress, and had not yet taken action on 2 tasks.
Why GAO Did This Study

Violent extremism—generally defined as ideologically, religious, or politically- motivated acts of violence—has been perpetrated in the United States by white supremacists, anti-government groups, and radical Islamist entities, among others. In 2011, the U.S. government developed a national strategy and SIP for CVE aimed at providing information and resources to communities. In 2016, an interagency CVE Task Force led by DHS and DOJ was created to coordinate CVE efforts.
GAO was asked to review domestic federal CVE efforts. This report addresses the extent to which (1) DHS, DOJ, and other key stakeholders tasked with CVE in the United States have implemented the 2011 SIP and (2) the federal government has developed a strategy to implement CVE activities, and the CVE Task Force has assessed progress. GAO assessed the status of activities in the 2011 SIP; interviewed officials from agencies leading CVE efforts and a non-generalizable group of community-based entities selected from cities with CVE frameworks; and compared Task Force activities to selected best practices for multi- agency efforts.

What GAO Found

As of December 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and National Counterterrorism Center had implemented 19 of the 44 domestically-focused tasks identified in the 2011 Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) for countering violent extremism (CVE) in the United States. Twenty-three tasks were in progress and no action had yet been taken on 2 tasks. The 44 tasks aim to address three core CVE objectives: community outreach, research and training, and capacity building. Implemented tasks include, for example, DOJ conducting CVE outreach meetings to communities targeted by violent extremism and DHS integrating CVE content into law enforcement counterterrorism training. Tasks in progress include, for example, DHS building relationships with the social media industry and increasing training available to communities to counter violent extremists online. Tasks that had not yet been addressed include, implementing CVE activities in prisons and learning from former violent extremists. Federal CVE efforts aim to educate and prevent radicalization before a crime or terrorist act transpires, and differ from counterterrorism efforts such as collecting evidence and making arrests before an event has occurred.
The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort. Although GAO was able to determine the status of the 44 CVE tasks, it was not able to determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks. This is because no cohesive strategy with measurable outcomes has been established to guide the multi-agency CVE effort. Such a strategy could help ensure that the individual actions of stakeholder agencies are measureable and contributing to the overall goals of the federal government's CVE effort. The federal government also has not established a process by which to evaluate the effectiveness of the collective CVE effort. The CVE Task Force was established in part to evaluate and assess CVE efforts across the federal government, but has not established a process for doing so. Evaluating the progress and effectiveness of the overall federal CVE effort could better help identify successes, gaps, and resource needs across stakeholder agencies.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DHS and DOJ direct the CVE Task Force to (1) develop a cohesive strategy with measurable outcomes and (2) establish a process to assess the overall progress of CVE efforts. DHS and DOJ concurred with both recommendations and DHS described the CVE Task Force's planned actions for implementation.