HHS Reduced FTE Levels for Welfare Programs and Management Positions

While the 1996 welfare reform law requires HHS to reduce its FTE levels by specific amounts, it does not direct HHS on how to implement this requirement. To address this provision, HHS reduced by 245 its authorized FTE levels within OFA. These reductions were achieved primarily through reassigning staff to other programs and eliminating vacant positions. Reductions in OFA Made Primarily Through Reassignments

HHS reduced authorized FTE levels in OFA by 245 between August 1995 and July 1997. States Concerned About Lack of TANF Regulations but Generally Satisfied With HHS Guidance Provided

Although states are concerned that TANF regulations are not yet published, they are generally satisfied with HHS’ TANF guidance, both written and oral.Due to the amount of time the regulatory process takes, HHS does not expect to issue final TANF regulations until spring 1998—more than 18 months after some states began implementing their new welfare programs. Given that the first bonus funds are to be awarded in fiscal year 1999, states are concerned that they will not have enough time to either design their program activities or collect the data necessary to compete for the bonuses. HHS asserts that the delay in issuing regulations is due to the complexities in developing performance measures, the need to consult a number of groups in the process, and HHS’ limited staff resources to work on both TANF and bonus program regulations. Final Bonus Regulations to Be Issued in 1998

While HHS developed a preliminary proposal for performance measures in July 1997, it does not expect to have its notice of proposed rulemaking ready for comment until March 1998 and a final rule published until the end of fiscal year 1998—over a year after the statutory deadline for implementing the high-performance bonus program. APWA officials contend that state administrative data will be used by HHS to sanction states for noncompliance; hence, they could also be used for awarding bonus money. HHS’ key effort in pursuing this mandate is its continued funding of evaluations of waiver programs. In addition to the waiver studies, HHS is funding research efforts on employment-related issues of welfare clients, various technical assistance grants to help states obtain needed expertise or technical assistance to develop their welfare assistance programs, and child well-being studies. Table 6 shows the general areas of research that HHS funded with the $44 million for fiscal year 1997. HHS Evaluations of Innovative Programs Focus on Waiver Studies

HHS is pursuing its research and evaluation mandates, in part, by providing states approximately $9 million in fiscal year 1997 to continue their evaluations of their waiver programs, which is specified as an allowable area of research under the new law. The research questions vary, but several states planned to focus their evaluations on the effects of time limits and mandatory work requirements. However, the Department is having difficulty meeting its responsibility for developing and issuing the TANF and high-performance bonus regulations. In order to define the law’s FTE reduction requirement in a way that it could be measured, we considered such additional criteria as (1) the programs subject to the reductions; (2) the type of FTE, either authorized or actual; (3) the start and end dates for measuring the reductions; and (4) the definition of “managerial position.” In addition, when a statute does not include detailed criteria for implementation, under principles of administrative law, the executive branch department is responsible for interpreting the law’s provisions. In addition to our interviews, we reviewed all policy guidance that HHS distributed to the states, including its January 1997 policy memorandum; April 1997 Compilation of Implementation Materials, which included summaries of the various sections of the law, HHS and other federal agency contacts, and letters from the Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families answering frequently asked implementation questions; and other miscellaneous program instructions and memorandums to states. 17, 1995).
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) implementation of the mandates resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, focusing on the: (1) extent to which HHS reduced its full-time equivalent (FTE) staff levels to the levels prescribed by the law; (2) clarity, timeliness, and usefulness of HHS' guidance and technical assistance to the states in implementing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; (3) status of HHS' work in establishing performance measures to use in implementing the high-performance bonus program; and (4) status of HHS' welfare research and evaluation efforts.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) between August 1995 and July 1997, HHS reduced by 245 its authorized FTE level for programs that were connected to block grants, and it reduced its authorized FTE level for managerial positions by more than 60 within the Department; (2) HHS achieved the 245 FTE reductions by reassigning almost three-quarters of them to other programs; (3) through GAO's survey, it found that states are generally satisfied with HHS' guidance but are concerned about the delay in TANF regulations, which HHS plans to issue in spring 1998; (4) HHS concedes that its rulemaking process to issue the regulations is lengthy because it requires the Department to obtain comments from many interested groups; (5) in the absence of regulations, states reported difficulties in designing and implementing their programs; (6) HHS missed the statutory deadline for implementing the high-performance bonus program; (7) while the law requires HHS to have implemented this program by August 1997, HHS is still writing regulations that will define the specific measures against which states are to be assessed; (8) HHS does not expect to issue final rules for the high-performance bonus program until the end of fiscal year (FY) 1998; (9) HHS attributes the delay to the inherent difficulties in developing performance measures; the large number of groups with whom HHS consulted, including advocacy and local government groups; and its limited number of staff with which to develop both TANF and bonus program regulations; (10) however, to be eligible for FY 1999 bonus money--the first year bonuses will be distributed--states are required to submit FY 1998 data; (11) HHS' funding for its welfare research generally follows the mandates outlined in the law; (12) a key effort for HHS in meeting these mandates is continuing the evaluations of state programs that were granted waivers from requirements that applied under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program; (13) of the $44 million appropriated to Administration for Children and Families in FY 1997 for research, approximately $9 million has been awarded to 17 states for waiver evaluations; (14) several of these states will be evaluating the effect of time limits and mandatory work requirements on their programs, as well as other topics; (15) in addition to the waiver evaluations, HHS has awarded approximately $12 million for studies of employment issues focused on welfare and former welfare clients; and (16) technical assistance to states and child impact studies are other areas of research that were funded.