Conclusions

Operation Safe Home does not have the necessary information systems and management controls to ensure that HUD’s OIG managers can readily monitor the obligation and expenditure of funds and track the numbers of arrests and convictions. As a result, the OIG does not have a reliable mechanism for effectively allocating program resources or for accurately estimating its funding needs. Furthermore, in the absence of complete, consistent, or accurate information, the OIG has not had the means to accurately report the results of its investigations and thus to provide the Congress with reliable and supportable information on what Operation Safe Home has accomplished. The OIG has recognized the need for more effective management controls within Operation Safe Home and has begun to address the problems. These actions, once implemented, should improve the ability of the OIG to allocate resources more effectively, better estimate future funding needs, and more accurately measure and report the program’s accomplishments. The OIG cannot independently and impartially audit or investigate Operation Safe Home, and may not be perceived as impartial when auditing other similar HUD programs. For these reasons, as we stated in August 2000, Operation Safe Home raises questions about the OIG’s ability to independently audit and investigate HUD programs designed to reduce violent and drug-related crime in public and assisted housing. Although the HUD OIG did not dispute our conclusions regarding its independence to conduct audits and investigations of HUD’s programs to reduce violent and drug-related crime in public and assisted housing, the Acting Deputy Inspector General questioned our matter for congressional consideration that the Congress should assess whether the long-term involvement of the OIG in Operation Safe Home is worth the actual or perceived impairment of the OIG’s independence.
Why GAO Did This Study

This report reviews the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) efforts to combat violent crime and drug trafficking in public housing through Operation Safe Home.

What GAO Found

GAO found that Operation Safe Home lacks the necessary information systems and management controls to ensure that HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) can readily monitor the obligation and expenditure of funds and track the numbers of arrests and convictions. As a result, the OIG cannot reliably allocate program resources or accurately estimate its funding needs. Furthermore, in the absence of complete, consistent, or accurate information, the OIG cannot Congress with reliable and supportable information on Operation Safe Home's accomplishments. The OIG recognizes the need for more effective management controls within Operation Safe Home and has begun to address the problem. These actions, once implemented, should help the OIG to allocate resources more effectively, better estimate future funding needs, and more accurately measure and report the program's accomplishments. However, GAO remains concerned about OIG's long-term involvement in Operation Safe Home. The OIG cannot independently and impartially audit or investigate Operation Safe Home, and may not be perceived as impartial when auditing other similar HUD programs. For these reasons, Operation Safe Home raises questions about the OIG's ability to independently audit and investigate HUD programs designed to reduce violent and drug-related crime in public and assisted housing.