PLCY Has Effectively Conducted Key Coordination Functions at the Senior Level

According to our analysis and interviews with operational components,  PLCY’s efforts to lead and coordinate departmentwide and crosscutting  strategies—a key organizational objective—have been effective in  providing opportunities for all relevant stakeholders to learn about and  contribute to departmentwide or crosscutting strategy development. Ambiguity in Roles and Responsibilities and a Lack of Predictable, Repeatable, and Accountable Procedures Have Limited PLCY’s Ability to Lead and Coordinate Policy

PLCY has encountered challenges leading and coordinating efforts to  develop, update, or harmonize policy—also a key organizational  objective—because it does not have clearly-defined roles, responsibilities,  and mechanisms to implement these responsibilities in a predictable,  repeatable, and accountable way. In the absence of clear roles and responsibilities, and processes and  procedures to support them, PLCY and officials in 5 of the 8 components  have encountered challenges in coordinating with each other. Uncertainty about PLCY’s role in driving policy harmonization. Past Efforts to Define and Codify PLCY’s Roles and Responsibilities in a Delegation of Authority Remain Incomplete

In addition to statutory authority that PLCY received in the NDAA, PLCY  officials stated that a separate, clear delegation of authority—a  mechanism by which the Secretary delegates responsibilities to other  organizational units within DHS—is needed to help confront the  ambiguous roles it has experienced in the past. As of  May 2018, the effort had been revived, but it is not clear whether and  when DHS will finalize it. PLCY Identifies Workforce Needs during the Annual Budget Cycle, but Could Apply DHS Workforce Planning Guidance to Better Identify and Communicate Resource Needs

PLCY determines its workforce needs through the annual budget  process, but systematic identification of workforce demand, capacity  gaps, and strategies to address them could help ensure that PLCY’s  workforce aligns with its and DHS’s priorities and goals. PLCY Has Not Used DHS’s Workforce Planning Guide to Analyze Workforce Gaps or Communicate Tradeoffs to DHS Management to Ensure Alignment with DHS Priorities

While PLCY completes some workforce planning activities as part of its  annual budgeting process, PLCY does not systematically address several  aspects of the DHS Workforce Planning Guide that may create more  efficient operations and greater alignment with DHS priorities. Additionally, PLCY officials said they have a number of vacancies, which  hamper the office’s ability to meet certain aspects of its mission. For  example, PLCY’s Office of Cyber, Infrastructure, and Resilience was  created in 2015. Employing workforce planning principles—in particular,  systematic identification of workforce demand, capacity gaps, and  strategies to address them—consistent with the DHS Workforce Planning  Guide could better position PLCY to use its workforce as effectively as  possible under uncertain conditions. Additional External Communication Practices Could Enhance PLCY’s Collaboration with DHS Stakeholders

As discussed earlier, officials from PLCY and DHS operational  components praised existing mechanisms to coordinate and  communicate at the senior level, especially about strategy. However,  component officials identified opportunities for PLCY to better connect at  the staff level to identify and respond to emerging policy and strategy  needs. Among these were:  conduct routine information sharing meetings with staff-level officials  who have policy and strategy responsibilities at each operational  component,  clearly articulate points of contact, their contact information, and their  portfolios at PLCY as well as at other policy and strategy  stakeholders, ensure the PLCY website is up-to-date with contact information for  PLCY and components that work in strategy and policy areas, and  with relevant information about crosscutting strategy and policy  initiatives underway, host a forum—such as an annual conference—to bring together policy  and strategy officials from PLCY and DHS components to share ideas  and make contacts, and prepare a standard briefing for component officials with strategy and  policy responsibilities to help ensure that staff at all levels understand  what PLCY does, how it works, and opportunities for engagement on  emerging policy and strategy needs or identified harmonization  opportunities. Recommendations for Executive Action

We are making the following four recommendations to DHS:  The Secretary of Homeland Security should finalize a delegation of  authority or similar document that clearly defines PLCY’s mission, roles,  and responsibilities relative to DHS’s operational and support  components. DHS concurred with three of our recommendations and  described actions planned to address them. DHS did not concur with one  recommendation.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO has designated DHS management as high risk because of challenges in building a cohesive department. PLCY supports cohesiveness by, among other things, coordinating departmentwide policy and strategy. In the past, however, questions have been raised about PLCY's efficacy. In December 2016, the NDAA codified PLCY's organizational structure, roles, and responsibilities.
GAO was asked to evaluate PLCY's effectiveness. This report addresses the extent to which (1) DHS established an organizational structure and processes and procedures that position PLCY to be effective, (2) DHS and PLCY have ensured alignment of workforce with priorities, and (3) PLCY has engaged relevant component staff to help identify and respond to emerging needs. GAO analyzed the NDAA, documents describing specific responsibilities, and departmentwide policies and strategies. GAO also interviewed officials in PLCY and all eight operational components.

What GAO Found

According to our analysis and interviews with operational components, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans' (PLCY) organizational structure and efforts to lead and coordinate departmentwide and crosscutting strategies—a key organizational objective–have been effective. For example, PLCY's coordination efforts for a strategy and policy executive steering committee have been successful, particularly for strategies. However, PLCY has encountered challenges leading and coordinating efforts to develop, update, or harmonize policies that affect multiple DHS components. In large part, these challenges are because DHS does not have clearly-defined roles and responsibilities with accompanying processes and procedures to help PLCY lead and coordinate policy in a predictable, repeatable, and accountable manner. Until PLCY's roles and responsibilities for policy are more clearly defined and corresponding processes and procedures are in place, situations where the lack of clarity hampers PLCY's effectiveness in driving policy are likely to continue. Development of a delegation of authority, which involves reaching agreement about PLCY's roles and responsibilities and clearly documenting them, had been underway. However, it stalled due to changes in department leadership. As of May 2018, the effort had been revived, but it is not clear whether and when DHS will finalize it.
PLCY does some workforce planning as part of its annual budgeting process, but does not systematically apply key principles of the DHS Workforce Planning Guide to help ensure that PLCY's workforce aligns with its and DHS's priorities and goals. According to PLCY officials, the nature of its mission requires a flexible staffing approach. As such, a portion of the staff functions as generalists who can be assigned to meet the needs of different situations, including unexpected changing priorities due to an emerging need. However, shifting short-term priorities requires tradeoffs, which may divert attention and resources from longer-term priorities. As of June 5, 2018, PLCY also had a number of vacancies in key leadership positions, which further limited attention to certain priorities. According to PLCY officials, PLCY recently began a review to identify the office's authorities in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA) and other statutes, compare these authorities to the current organization and operations, and address any workforce capacity gaps. Employing workforce planning principles—in particular, systematic identification of workforce demand, capacity gaps, and strategies to address them—consistent with the DHS Workforce Planning Guide could better position PLCY to use its workforce as effectively as possible under uncertain conditions and to communicate effectively with DHS leadership about tradeoffs.
Officials from PLCY and DHS operational components praised existing mechanisms to coordinate and communicate at the senior level, especially about strategy, but component officials identified opportunities to better connect PLCY and component staff to improve communication flow about emerging policy and strategy needs. Among the ideas offered by component officials to enhance communication and collaboration were holding routine small-group meetings, creating forums for periodic knowledge sharing, and maintaining accurate and up-to-date contact information for all staff-level stakeholders.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making four recommendations. DHS concurred with three recommendations, including that DHS finalize a delegation of authority defining PLCY's roles and responsibilities and develop corresponding processes and procedures. DHS did not concur with a recommendation to apply the DHS Workforce Planning Guide to identify and communicate workforce needs. GAO believes this recommendation is valid as discussed in the report.