The requirement for no  fewer than 1,200 full-time-equivalent staff, including 900 full-time law  enforcement staff in DHS’s 2008 appropriations act was effective for 2008. This same requirement for FPS was included in  DHS’s fiscal year 2009 appropriations act, and FPS met this staffing level  in April 2009, with 1,239 employees on board, including 929 law  enforcement staff, by hiring 187 new LESOs. However, officials told us that  FPS was not able to meet the July 31, 2008, mandate because of the  challenges related to shifting its priorities from downsizing its workforce  to increasing it to comply with the mandate, inexperience working with  DHS’s shared service center, and delays in its candidate screening process. According to FPS, depending on class availability, it expects to have all  new hire and converted LESOs fully trained by September 2009. FPS Does Not Have A Strategic Human Capital Plan to Guide Its Current and Future Workforce Planning Efforts

FPS currently does not have a strategic human capital plan to guide its  current and future workforce planning efforts. Additionally, the lack of a current human capital plan has contributed to  inconsistent approaches in how FPS regions and headquarters are  managing human capital activities for the agency. FPS officials in three of  the five of the regions we visited said they implement their own strategies  for managing their workforce, including processes for performance  feedback, training, and mentoring. FPS’s Risk Assessment and  Management Program (RAMP) system is intended to address some of  these concerns, but this project has met with numerous delays, and  according to FPS officials, data will not be available until fiscal year 2011. FPS’s Customers Have Mixed Views on Its Services

		FPS Customers Generally Had Mixed Views about Its Law Enforcement and Physical Security Services, but Some Could Not Evaluate FPS Services

On the basis of our generalizable survey of building security committee  chairs and designated officials in facilities protected by FPS, we found that  FPS customers had mixed views about the law enforcement and physical  security services they paid FPS to provide. Overall, survey results showed that 58  percent were satisfied or very satisfied with FPS’s current level of service,  7 percent were dissatisfied, 18 percent were neutral, and 17 percent were  not able to comment on FPS’s current level of service. However, our  survey also showed that some of FPS’s customers could not evaluate  specific services. Our survey also suggests that the communication between FPS and its  customers about roles and responsibilities is unclear, in part because on  average one third of FPS’s customers could not comment on how satisfied  or dissatisfied they were with FPS’s level of communication on its  services, as shown in table 3. Respondents that  provided comments on our survey indicated they could not evaluate FPS’s  services mainly because they had little to no interaction with FPS. FPS Does Not Have Complete and Accurate Customer Contact Data to Increase Customer Awareness about Services

Although FPS is responsible for the protection of over 9,000 facilities  owned and leased by GSA, it does not have complete and accurate contact  data for the customers in these facilities who are responsible for working  with FPS to identify security issues and implement security standards for  their facility, typically the building security committee chair or a  designated official. While FPS acknowledges that it needs to improve customer service and  has developed some initiatives to increase customer education and  outreach, it will continue to face challenges implementing these initiatives  without complete and accurate customer contact information. Recommendations for Executive Action

To facilitate effective strategic management of its workforce, we  recommend that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Director of  FPS to take the following actions:  improve how FPS headquarters collects data on its workforce’s  knowledge, skills, and abilities to help it better manage and understand  current and future workforce needs, and    use these data in the development and implementation of a long-term  strategic human capital plan that addresses key principles for effective  strategic workforce planning, including establishing programs, policies,  and practices that will enable the agency to recruit, develop, and retain a  qualified workforce. Specifically, our  objectives were to provide information (1) on the extent that FPS has  hired and trained new staff to address its mandated staffing levels, (2) on  the extent that FPS has developed a strategic human capital plan to  manage its current and future workforce needs, and (3) on the satisfaction  of FPS’s customers with its services.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Federal Protective Service (FPS), as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for providing security services to about 9,000 federal facilities. In recent years, FPS downsized its workforce from 1,400 to about 1,000 full-time employees. In 2008, GAO expressed concerns about the impact that downsizing had on FPS's mission, and in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 Congress mandated FPS maintain no fewer than 1,200 employees. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which (1) FPS has hired and trained new staff to address its mandated staffing levels, (2) FPS has developed a strategic human capital plan to manage its current and future workforce needs, and (3) FPS's customers are satisfied with the services it provides. To address these objectives, we reviewed relevant laws and documents, interviewed officials from FPS and other federal agencies, and conducted a generalizable survey of FPS's customers.

What GAO Found

FPS did not meet its fiscal year 2008 mandated deadline of increasing its staffing level to no fewer than 1,200 full-time employees by July 31, 2008. This same mandate relating to FPS's staffing was included in DHS's fiscal year 2009 appropriations act. Although FPS currently has over 1,200 employees on board, it did not meet this mandate until April 2009, because of challenges in shifting its priorities from downsizing its workforce to increasing it, inexperience working with DHS's hiring processes, and delays in the candidate screening process. Also, not all of FPS's new law enforcement security officers have completed all required training. According to FPS officials, it expects to have all new hires fully trained by September 2009. FPS does not have a strategic human capital plan to guide its current and future workforce planning efforts, including effective processes for training, retention, and staff development. Instead, FPS has developed a short-term hiring plan that does not include key human capital principles, such as determining an agency's optimum staffing needs. The lack of a human capital plan has contributed to inconsistent approaches in how FPS regions and headquarters are managing human capital activities. For example, FPS officials in some of the regions GAO visited said they implement their own procedures for managing their workforce, including processes for performance feedback, training, and mentoring. Additionally, FPS does not collect data on its workforce's knowledge, skills, and abilities. These elements are necessary for successful workforce planning activities, such as identifying and filling skill gaps and succession planning. FPS is working on developing and implementing a data management system that will provide it with these data, but this system has experienced significant delays and will not be available for use until 2011 at the earliest. On the basis of GAO's generalizable survey of FPS customers, customers had mixed views about some of the services they pay FPS to provide. Survey results showed that 58 percent were satisfied, 7 percent were dissatisfied, 18 percent were neutral, and 17 percent were not able to comment on FPS's overall services. The survey also showed that many of FPS's customers did not rely on FPS for services. For example, in emergency situations, about 82 percent of FPS's customers primarily rely on other agencies such as local law enforcement, while 18 percent rely on FPS. The survey also suggests that the roles and responsibilities of FPS and its customers are unclear, primarily because on average about one-third of FPS's customers, i.e., tenant agencies, could not comment on how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with FPS's level of communication on its services, partly because they had little to no interaction with FPS officers. Although FPS plans to implement education and outreach initiatives to improve customer service, it will face challenges because of its lack of complete and accurate contact data. Complete and accurate contact information for its customers is critical for information sharing and an essential component of any customer service initiative.