DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Although
VA has made someOne in every six federal non-Defense employees works
for VA. These employees perform functions as varied as cemetery operations,
benefits claims processing, and direct health care. VA’s overall
performance on the President’s Management Agenda has been one
marked by steady improvement. progress in addressing its financial performance
shortcomings, it has made little progress elsewhere. The Department
is working to develop a satisfactory plan to achieve the President's
goals for competitive sourcing, E-Government, and human resources. The
scorecard below shows VA’s 2001 status on the President's management
initiatives.
| Initiative |
Status |
Progress |
| Human
Capital — VA delivered a workforce restructuring plan,
as well as a workforce planning recruitment and marketing plan.
VA also launched a new recruitment web-site. These will assist
VA in addressing identified human capital shortages. |
•
|
• |
| Competitive
Sourcing — VA completed a plan to compete 52,000 jobs
over the next five years, such as laundry, food and sanitation
services. This will result in an estimated savings of as much
as $3 billion over 5 years. |
•
|
• |
| Financial
Performance — VA initiated the first of two building
phases for its new financial management system. In addition, it
plans to resolve four of the six material weaknesses reported
in its 2001 audit. |
•
|
• |
| Enhanced
E-Government —
VA has made a good business case for all information technology
efforts, addressed concerns with its Enterprise Architecture,
and expanded its participation in E-Gov initiatives. |
•
|
• |
| Budget/Performance
Integration — VA submitted its 2004 budget on time,
and completed a comprehensive budget restructuring. VA needs to
improve its ability to make long-term budget projections of its
entitlement programs and their relationship to discretionary administrative
needs. |
•
|
• |
| Department
of Defense (DoD)/ VA Sharing — This is a high priority
for DoD and VA, and both recently created a joint Executive Council
to coordinate information technology, human resources, business
practices, facilities, and equipment sharing. |
• |
• |
|
|
arrows
indicate change in status since baseline evaluation on September 30,
2001. |
Program
Assessments
Veterans'
needs are always on the forefront of VA's management decisions, as it
strives to perfect service, access, and quality benefits. Three of VA's
major programs were evaluated and it has demonstrated good management
practices in all of them. Medical care and disability compensation were
rated "results not demonstrated" mainly because neither have
a clear mission nor a process to ensure that services and benefits support
the mission. The burial program's mission is well defined. However, the
program received a moderately effective rating because it needs to prefect
stratetic planning.
|