prompt_front: You are given two reports by the government agency.



Question: Write a one-page summary of the report 1.



Report 2: T he Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of duty  The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program, a component of the PSOB program, provides higher-education assistance to the children and spouses of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty  Both programs are administered by the PSOB Office of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)  Congress appropriates funds for these programs in the annual Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act  For FY2019, the one-time lump-sum PSOB benefit is $359,316 and the monthly full-time attendance PSOEA assistance is $1,224  The PSOB and PSOEA benefit amounts are indexed to reflect changes in the cost of living  Table 1 shows PSOB and PSOEA claims and approvals as reported by DOJ  To be eligible for PSOB benefits for death or disability, a person must have served in one of the following categories of public safety officers: law enforcement officer, firefighter, or chaplain in a public agency; FEMA employee or a state, local, or tribal emergency management agency employee; or emergency medical services member  There is no minimum amount of time a person must have served to be eligible for benefits  To be eligible for PSOB benefits as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or chaplain, a person must have served in a "public agency" in an official capacity, with or without compensation  For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, a public agency is defined as the federal government and any department, agency, or instrumentality of the federal government; and any state government, the District of Columbia government, and any U S  territory or possession; and any local government, department, agency, or instrumentality of a state, the District of Columbia, or any U S  territory or possession  For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, a law enforcement officer is defined as "an individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of the criminal laws (including juvenile delinquency), including, but not limited to, police, corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers " For the purposes of PSOB eligibility, the definition of firefighter includes both professional firefighters and persons serving as an "officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department " A chaplain is eligible for PSOB benefits (1) if he or she is either an "officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized police department" or public employee of a police or fire department and (2) only if he or she was performing the duties of a chaplain in an official capacity while responding to a police, fire, or rescue emergency  Employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state, local, or tribal emergency management agencies may be eligible for PSOB benefits under certain conditions provided in statute  A FEMA employee or an employee of a state, local, or tribal emergency management agency working with FEMA is eligible for PSOB benefits if he or she is performing official duties that are related to a major disaster or an emergency declared under the Robert T  Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) and that are considered hazardous by the FEMA Administrator or the head of the state, local, or tribal agency  A member, including a volunteer member, of a rescue squad or "ambulance crew" who is authorized or licensed by law and the applicable agency and is engaging in rescue services or providing emergency medical services may be eligible for PSOB benefits  The rescue squad or ambulance service may provide ground or air ambulance services and may be either a public agency or a nonprofit entity authorized to provide rescue or emergency medical services  By PSOB regulation, eligible emergency medical services workers include rescue workers, ambulance drivers, paramedics, health care responders, emergency medical technicians, or others who are trained in rescue activity or emergency medical services and have the legal authority and responsibility to provide such services  The PSOB program pays benefits if a public safety officer becomes permanently and totally disabled or dies "as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty " To qualify for coverage under the PSOB program, a public safety officer's disability or death must have been the result of a personal injury  The PSOB regulation defines an injury for the purposes of benefit eligibility as a traumatic physical wound (or a traumatized physical condition of the body) directly and proximately caused by external force (such as bullets, explosives, sharp instruments, blunt objects, or physical blows), chemicals, electricity, climatic conditions, infectious disease, radiation, virii, or bacteria     The regulation also provides that the definition of an injury does not include an occupational disease or a condition of the body caused by stress or strain, including psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder  However, the PSOB statute specifically provides for deaths caused by certain cardiovascular conditions  The death of a public safety officer due to a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture shall be presumed to be a death from a personal injury for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if the officer engaged in nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity as part of an emergency response or training exercise; and if the condition began during the physical activity, while the officer remained on duty after the physical activity, or within 24 hours of the physical activity  The PSOB program covers a public safety officer's death or disability if it occurred as the result of an injury incurred in the line of duty  The PSOB regulations provide that an injury occurs in the line of duty if it (1) is the result of the public safety officer's authorized activities while on duty, (2) occurs while responding to an emergency or request for assistance, or (3) occurs while commuting to or from duty in an authorized department or personal vehicle  In addition, if there is convincing evidence that the injury was the result of the individual's status as a public safety officer, that injury is covered by the PSOB program  The lump-sum PSOB death and disability benefit for FY2019 is $359,316  The benefit amount is adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living using the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the one-year period ending in the previous June  If a public safety officer receives a disability benefit and later dies from the same injury, the officer's survivors may not receive a PSOB death benefit  The payable benefit amount is based on the date of the public safety officer's death or the date of the injury that caused the disability, rather than on the date of application for benefits or disability determination  Thus, if a benefit increase occurs while an application is pending, the benefit is payable at the previous, lower, benefit level  Death and disability benefits are not subject to the federal income tax  In general, PSOB death and disability benefits are paid in addition to any other workers' compensation, life insurance, or other benefits paid for the death of a public safety officer  However, the PSOB death benefit is offset by the following benefits: benefits under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) payable to state and local law enforcement officers injured or killed while enforcing federal law; benefits under the D C  Retirement and Disability Act of 1916 for certain police officers and firefighters in the District of Columbia; and payments from the September 11 th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF)  PSOB death benefits are payable to the eligible spouse and children of a public safety officer  A spouse is the person to whom the officer is legally married, even if physically separated, under the marriage laws of the jurisdiction where the marriage took place  Pursuant to regulations issued after the Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act in United States v  Windsor , the legally married spouse of a public safety office may be of the same sex as the officer  A child is defined as any "natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild" of the public safety officer who, at the time of the public safety officer's fatal or catastrophic injury, is 18 years of age or under; between 18 and 23 years of age and a full-time student in high school or undergraduate higher education; or over 18 years of age and incapable of self-support because of physical or mental disability  PSOB death benefits are paid to eligible survivors in the following order: 1
Report 2:  This bonus is not provided for breakfast, but funds may be used to support schools' breakfast programs  NSLP lunch reimbursement rates are listed in Table B -1   In addition to federal cash subsidies, schools participating in NSLP receive USDA-acquired commodity food s   Schools are entitled to a specific, inflation-indexed value of USDA commodity foods for each lunch they serve  Also, schools may receive donations of bonus commodities acquired by USDA in support of the farm economy  In FY2017, the value of federal commodity food aid to schools totaled nearly $1 4 billion  The per-meal rate for commodity food assistance is included in Table B-4   While the vast majority of NSLP funding is for lunches served during the school day, NSLP may also be used to support snack service during the school year and to serve meals during the summer  These features are discussed in subsequent sections, " Summer Meals " and " After-School Meals and Snacks: CACFP, NSLP Options  " Reimbursement rates for snacks are listed in Table B -2   The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides per-meal cash subsidies for breakfasts served in schools  Participating schools receive subsidies based on their status as a severe need or nonsevere need institution  Schools can qualify as a severe need school if 40% or more of their lunches are served free or at reduced prices  See Table B -3 for SBP reimbursement rates  Figure 4 displays SBP participation data for FY2017  In that year, SBP subsidized over 2 4 billion breakfasts in over 88,000 schools and nearly 3,200 RCCIs  Average daily participation was 14 7 million children (30 1% of the students enrolled in participating schools and RCCIs)  The majority of meals served through SBP are free or reduced-price  Of the participating students, 79 1% (11 6 million) received free meals and 5 7% (835,000) purchased reduced-price meals  Federal school breakfast costs for the fiscal year totaled approximately $4 3 billion (see Table 3 for the various components of this total)  Significantly fewer schools and students participate in SBP than in NSLP  Participation in SBP tends to be lower for several reasons, including the traditionally required early arrival by students in order to receive a meal and eat before school starts  Some schools offer (and anti-hunger groups have encouraged) models of breakfast service that can result in greater SBP participation, such as Breakfast in the Classroom, where meals are delivered in the classroom; "grab and go" carts, where students receive a bagged breakfast that they bring to class, or serving breakfast later in the day in middle and high schools  Unlike NSLP, commodity food assistance is not a formal part of SBP funding; however, commodities provided through NSLP may be used for school breakfasts as well  In addition to the school meals programs discussed above, other federal child nutrition programs provide federal subsidies and commodity food assistance for schools and other institutions that offer meals and snacks to children in early childhood, summer, and after-school settings  This assistance is provided to (1) schools and other governmental institutions, (2) private for-profit and nonprofit child care centers, (3) family/group day care homes, and (4) nongovernmental institutions/organizations that offer outside-of-school programs for children  (Although this report focuses on the programs that serve children, one child nutrition program (CACFP) also serves day care centers for chronically impaired adults and elderly persons under the same general per-meal/snack subsidy terms ) The programs in the sections to follow serve comparatively fewer children and spend comparatively fewer federal funds than the school meal programs  CACFP subsidizes meals and snacks served in early childhood, day care, and after-school settings  CACFP provides subsidies for meals and snacks served at participating nonresidential child care centers, family day care homes, and (to a lesser extent) adult day care centers  The program also provides assistance for meals served at after-school programs  CACFP reimbursements are available for meals and snacks served to children age 12 or under, migrant children age 15 or under, children with disabilities of any age, and, in the case of adult care centers, chronically impaired and elderly adults  Children in early childhood settings are the overwhelming majority of those served by the program  CACFP provides federal reimbursements for breakfasts, lunches, suppers, and snacks served in participating centers (facilities or institutions) or day care homes (private homes)  The eligibility and funding rules for CACFP meals and snacks depend first on whether the participating institution is a center or a day care home (the next two sections discuss the rules specific to centers and day care homes)  According to FY2017 CACFP data, child care centers have an average daily attendance of about 56 children per center, day care homes have an average daily attendance of approximately 7 children per home, and adult day care centers typically care for an average of 48 chronically ill or elderly adults per center  Providers must demonstrate that they comply with government-established standards for other child care programs  Like in school meals, federal assistance is made up overwhelmingly of cash reimbursements calculated based on the number of meals/snacks served and federal per-meal/snack reimbursements rates, but a far smaller share of federal aid (4 3% in FY2017) is in the form of federal USDA commodity foods (or cash in lieu of foods)  Federal CACFP reimbursements flow to individual providers either directly from the administering state agency (this is the case with many child/adult care centers able to handle their own CACFP administrative functions) or through "sponsors" who oversee and provide administrative support for a number of local providers (this is the case with some child/adult care centers and with all day care homes)  In FY2017, total CACFP spending was over $3 5 billion, including cash reimbursement, commodity food assistance, and costs for sponsor audits  (See Table 3 for a further breakdown of CACFP costs ) This total also includes the after-school meals and snacks provided through CACFP's "at-risk after-school" pathway; this aspect of the program is discussed later in " After-School Meals and Snacks: CACFP, NSLP Options  " As with school foods, the HHFKA required USDA to update CACFP's meal patterns  USDA's final rule revised the meal patterns for both meals served in child care centers and day care homes, as well as preschool meals served through the NSLP and SBP, effective October 1, 2017  For infants (under 12 months of age), the new meal patterns eliminated juice, supported breastfeeding, and set guidelines for the introduction of solid foods, among other changes  For children ages one and older, the new meal patterns increased whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat and fat-free milk; limited sugar in cereals and yogurts; and prohibited frying, among other requirements  Child care centers in CACFP can be (1) public or private nonprofit centers, (2) Head Start centers, (3) for-profit proprietary centers (if they meet certain requirements as to the proportion of low-income children they enroll), and (4) shelters for homeless families  Adult day care centers include public or private nonprofit centers and for-profit proprietary centers (if they meet minimum requirements related to serving low-income disabled and elderly adults)  In FY2017, over 65,000 child care centers with an average daily attendance of over 3 6 million children participated in CACFP  Over 2,700 adult care centers served nearly 132,000 adults through CACFP  Participating centers may receive daily reimbursements for up to either two meals and one snack or one meal and two snacks for each participant, so long as the meals and snacks meet federal nutrition standards  The eligibility rules for CACFP centers largely track those of NSLP: children in households at or below 130% of the current poverty line qualify for free meals/snacks while those between 130% and 185% of poverty qualify for reduced-price meals/snacks (see Table 2 )  In addition, participation in the same categorical eligibility programs as NSLP as well as foster child status convey eligibility for free meals in CACFP  Like school meals, eligibility is determined through paper applications or direct certification processes  Like school meals, all meals and snacks served in the centers are federally subsidized to some degree, even those that are paid  Different reimbursement amounts are provided for breakfasts, lunches/suppers, and snacks, and reimbursement rates are set in law and indexed for inflation annually  The largest subsidies are paid for meals and snacks served to participants with family income below 130% of the federal poverty income guidelines (the income limit for free school meals), and the smallest to those who have not met a means test  See Table B -5 for current CACFP center reimbursement rates  Unlike school meals, CACFP institutions are less likely to collect per-meal payments  Although federal assistance for day care centers differentiates by household income, centers have discretion on their pricing of meals  Centers may adjust their regular fees (tuition) to account for federal payments, but CACFP itself does not regulate these fees  In addition, centers can charge families separately for meals/snacks, so long as there are no charges for children meeting free-meal/snack income tests and limited charges for those meeting reduced-price income tests  Independent centers are those without sponsors handling administrative responsibilities  These centers must pay for administrative costs associated with CACFP out of nonfederal funds or a portion of their meal subsidy payments  For centers with sponsors, the sponsors may retain a proportion of the meal reimbursement payments they receive on behalf of their centers to cover such costs  CACFP-supported day care homes serve a smaller number of children than CACFP-supported centers , both in terms of the total number of children served and the average number of children per facility  Roughly 17% of children in CACFP (approximately 757,000 in FY2017 average daily attendance) are served through day care homes  In FY2017, approximately 103,000 homes (with just over 700 sponsors) received CACFP support  As with centers, payments to day care homes are provided for up to either two meals and one snack or one meal and two snacks a day for each child  Unlike centers, day care homes must participate under the auspices of a public or, more often, private nonprofit sponsor that typically has 100 or more homes under its supervision  CACFP day care home sponsors receive monthly administrative payments based on the number of homes for which they are responsible  Federal reimbursements for family day care homes differ by the home's status as "Tier I" or "Tier II " Unlike centers, day care homes receive cash reimbursements (but not commodity foods) that generally are not based on the child participants' household income  Instead, there are two distinct, annually indexed reimbursement rates that are based on area or operator eligibility criteria Tier I homes are located in low-income areas (defined as areas in which at least 50% of school-age and enrolled children qualify for free or reduced-price meals) or operated by low-income providers whose household income meets the free or reduced-price income standards  They receive higher subsidies for each meal/snack they serve  Tier II (lower) rates are by default those for homes that do not qualify for Tier I rates; however, Tier II providers may seek the higher Tier I subsidy rates for individual low-income children for whom financial information is collected and verified  (See Table B-6 for current Tier I and Tier II reimbursement rates ) Additionally, HHFKA introduced a number of additional ways (as compared to prior law) by which family day care homes can qualify as low-income and get Tier I rates for the entire home or for individual children  As with centers, there is no requirement that meals/snacks specifically identified as free or reduced-price be offered; however, unlike centers, federal rules prohibit any separate meal charges  Current law SFSP and the NSLP/SBP Seamless Summer Option provide meals in congregate settings nationwide; the related Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBTC or Summer EBT) demonstration project is an alternative to congregate settings  SFSP supports meals for children during the summer months  The program provides assistance to local public institutions and private nonprofit service institutions running summer youth/recreation programs, summer feeding projects, and camps  Assistance is primarily in the form of cash reimbursements for each meal or snack served; however, federally donated commodity foods are also offered  Participating service institutions are often entities that provide ongoing year-round service to the community including schools, local governments, camps, colleges and universities in the National Youth Sports program, and private nonprofit organizations like churches  Similar to the CACFP model, sponsors are institutions that manage the food preparation, financial, and administrative responsibilities of SFSP  Sites are the places where food is served and eaten  At times, a sponsor may also be a site  State agencies authorize sponsors, monitor and inspect sponsors and sites, and implement USDA policy  Unlike CACFP, sponsors are required for an institution's participation in SFSP as a site  In FY2017, nearly 5,500 sponsors with 50,000 food service sites participated in the SFSP and served an average of approximately 2 7 million children daily (according to July data)  Participation of sites and children in SFSP has increased in recent years  Program costs for FY2017 totaled over $485 million, including cash assistance, commodity foods, administrative cost assistance, and health inspection costs  There are several options for eligibility and meal/snack service for SFSP sponsors (and their sites) Open sites provide summer food to all children in the community  These sites are certified based on area eligibility measures, where 50% or more of area children have family income that would make them eligible for free or reduced-price school meals (see Table 2 )  Closed or Enrolled sites provide summer meals/snacks free to all children enrolled at the site  The eligibility test for these sites is that 50% or more of the children enrolled in the sponsor's program must be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals based on household income  Closed/enrolled sites may also become eligible based on area eligibility measures noted above  Summer camps (that are not enrolled sites) receive subsidies only for those children with household eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals  Other programs specified in law , such as the National Youth Sports Program and centers for homeless or migrant children  Summer sponsors get operating cost (food, storage, labor) subsidies for all meals/snacks they serve—up to one meal and one snack, or two meals per child per day  In addition, sponsors receive payments for administrative costs, and states are provided with subsidies for administrative costs and health and meal-quality inspections  See Table B -7 for current SFSP reimbursement rates  Actual payments vary slightly (e g , by about 5 cents for lunches) depending on the location of the site (e g , rural vs  urban) and whether meals are prepared on-site or by a vendor  Although SFSP is the child nutrition program most associated with providing meals during summer months, it is not the only program option for providing these meals and snacks  The Seamless Summer Option, run through NSLP or SBP programs, is also a means through which food can be provided to students during summer months  Much like SFSP, Seamless Summer operates in summer sites (summer camps, sports programs, churches, private nonprofit organizations, etc ) and for a similar duration of time  Unlike SFSP, schools are the only eligible sponsors , although schools may operate the program at other sites  Reimbursement rates for Seamless Summer meals are the same as current NSLP/SBP rates  Beginning in summer 2011 and (as of the date of this report) each summer since, USDA-FNS has operated Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (SEBTC or "Summer EBT") demonstration projects in a limited number of states and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs)  These Summer EBT projects provide electronic food benefits over summer months to households with children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals  Depending on the site and year, either $30 or $60 per month is provided, through a WIC or SNAP EBT card model  In the demonstration projects, these benefits were provided as a supplement to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) meals available in congregate settings  Summer EBT and other alternatives to congregate meals through SFSP were first authorized and funded by the FY2010 appropriations law ( P L  111-80 )  Although a number of alternatives were tested and evaluated, findings from Summer EBT were among the most promising, and Congress provided subsequent funding  Summer EBT evaluations showed significant impacts on reducing child food insecurity and improving nutritional intake   Summer EBT was funded by P L  111-80 in the summers from 2011 to 2014  Projects have continued to operate and were annually funded by FY2015-FY2018 appropriations; most recently, the FY2018 appropriations law ( P L  115-141 ) provided $28 million  According to USDA-FNS, in summer 2016 Summer EBT served over 209,000 children in nine states and two tribal nations—an increase from the 11,400 children served when the demonstration began in summer 2011  Schools (and institutions like summer camps and child care facilities) that are not already participating in the other child nutrition programs can participate in the Special Milk Program  Schools may also administer SMP for their part-day sessions for kindergartners or pre-kindergartners  Under SMP, participating institutions provide milk to children for free and/or at a subsidized paid price, depending on how the enrolled institution opts to administer the program (see Table B -8 for current Special Milk reimbursement rates for each of these options) An institution that only sells milk will receive the same per-half pint federal reimbursement for each milk sold (approximately 20 cents)  An institution that sells milk and provides free milk to eligible children (income eligibility is the same as free school meals, see Table 2 ), receives a reimbursement for the milk sold (approximately 20 cents) and a higher reimbursement for the free milks  An institution that does not sell milk provides milk free to all children and receives the same reimbursement for all milk (approximately 20 cents)  This option is sometimes called nonpricing  In FY2017, over 41 million half-pints were subsidized, 9 5% of which were served free  Federal expenditures for this program were approximately $8 3 million in FY2017  States receive formula grants through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, under which state-selected schools receive funds to purchase and distribute fresh fruit and vegetable snacks to all children in attendance (regardless of family income)  Money is distributed by a formula under which about half the funding is distributed equally to each state and the remainder is allocated by state population  States select participating schools (with an emphasis on those with a higher proportion of low-income children) and set annual per-student grant amounts (between $50 and $75)  Funding is set by law at $150 million for school year 2011-2012 and inflation-indexed for every year after  In FY2017, states used approximately $184 million in FFVP funds  FFVP is funded by a mandatory transfer of funds from USDA's Section 32 program—a permanent appropriation of 30% of the previous year's customs receipts  This transfer is required by FFVP's authorizing laws (Section 19 of the Richard B  Russell National School Lunch Act and Section 4304 of P L  110-246 )  Up until FY2018's law, annual appropriations laws delayed a portion of the funds to the next fiscal year  After a pilot period, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 ( P L  108-265 ) permanently authorized and funded FFVP for a limited number of states and Indian reservations  In recent years, FFVP has been amended by omnibus farm bill laws rather than through child nutrition reauthorizations  The 2008 farm bill ( P L  110-246 ) expanded FFVP's mandatory funding, specifically providing funds through Section 32, and enabled all states to participate in the program  The 2014 farm bill ( P L  113-79 ) essentially made no changes to this program but did include, and fund at $5 million in FY2014, a pilot project that requires USDA to test offering frozen, dried, and canned fruits and vegetables and publish an evaluation of the pilot  Four states (Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, and Maine) participated in the pilot in SY2014-2015 and the evaluation was published in 2017  Other proposals to expand fruits and vegetables offered in FFVP have been introduced in both the 114 th and 115 th Congress  Two of the child nutrition programs discussed in previous sections, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), provide federal support for snacks and meals served during after-school programs  NSLP provides reimbursements for after-school snacks; however, this option is open only to schools that already participate in NSLP  These schools may operate after-school snack-only programs during the school year, and can do so in two ways: (1) if low-income area eligibility criteria are met, provide free snacks in lower-income areas; or (2) if area eligibility criteria are not met, offer free, reduced-price, or fully paid-for snacks, based on household income eligibility (like lunches in NSLP)  The vast majority of snacks provided through this program are through the first option  Through this program, approximately 206 million snacks were served in FY2017 (a daily average of nearly 1 3 million)  This compares with nearly 4 9 billion lunches served (a daily average of 27 8 million)  CACFP provides assistance for after-school food in two ways  First, centers and homes that participate in CACFP and provide after-school care may participate in traditional CACFP (the eligibility and administration described earlier)  Second, centers in areas where at least half the children in the community are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals can opt to participate in the CACFP At-Risk Afterschool program, which provides free snacks and suppers  Expansion of the At-Risk After-School meals program was a major policy change included in HHFKA  Prior to the law, 13 states were permitted to offer CACFP At-Risk After-School meals (instead of just a snack); the law allowed all CACFP state agencies to offer such meals  In FY2017, the At-Risk Afterschool program served a total of approximately 242 6 million free meals and snacks to a daily average of more than 1 7 million children  Federal child nutrition laws authorize and program funding supports a range of additional programs, initiatives, and activities  Through State Administrative Expenses funding, states are entitled to federal grants to help cover administrative and oversight/monitoring costs associated with child nutrition programs  The national amount each year is equal to about 2% of child nutrition reimbursements  The majority of this money is allocated to states based on their share of spending on the covered programs; about 15% is allocated under a discretionary formula granting each state additional amounts for CACFP, commodity distribution, and Administrative Review efforts  In addition, states receive payments for their role in overseeing summer programs (about 2 5% of their summer program aid)  States are free to apportion their federal administrative expense payments among child nutrition initiatives (including commodity distribution activities) as they see fit, and appropriated funding is available to states for two years  State Administrative Expense spending in FY2017 totaled approximately $279 million  Team Nutrition is a USDA-FNS program that includes a variety of school meals initiatives around nutrition education and the nutritional content of the foods children eat in schools  This includes Team Nutrition Training Grants, which provide funding to state agencies for training and technical assistance, such as help implementing USDA's nutrition requirements and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans  From 2004 to 2018, Team Nutrition also included the HealthierUS Schools Challenge (HUSSC), which originated in the 2004 reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act  HUSSC was a voluntary certification initiative designed to recognize schools that have created a healthy school environment through the promotion of nutrition and physical activity  Farm-to-school programs broadly refer to "efforts that bring regionally and locally produced foods into school cafeterias," with a focus on enhancing child nutrition  The goals of these efforts include increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among students, supporting local farmers and rural communities, and providing nutrition and agriculture education to school districts and farmers  HHFKA amended existing child nutrition programs to establish mandatory funding of $5 million per year for competitive farm-to-school grants that support schools and nonprofit entities in establishing farm-to-school programs that improve a school's access to locally produced foods  The FY2018 appropriations law provided an additional $5 million in discretionary funding to remain available until expended  Grants may be used for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm-to-school programs  USDA's Office of Community Food Systems provides additional resources on farm-to-school issues  Through an Administrative Review process (formerly referred to as Coordinated Review Effort (CRE)), USDA-FNS, in cooperation with state agencies, conducts periodic on-site NSLP school compliance and accountability evaluations to improve management and identify administrative, subsidy claim, and meal quality problems  State agencies are required to conduct administrative reviews of all school food authorities (SFAs) that operate the NSLP under their jurisdiction at least once during a three-year review cycle  Federal Administrative Review expenditures were approximately $9 9 million in FY2017  USDA-FNS and state agencies conduct many other child nutrition program support activities for which dedicated funding is provided  Among other examples, there is the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), which provides technical assistance, instruction, and materials related to nutrition and food service management; it receives $5 million a year in mandatory funding appropriated in statute  ICN is located at the University of Mississippi  USDA-FNS provides training on food safety education  Funding is also provided for USDA-FNS to conduct studies, provide training and technical assistance, and oversee payment accuracy  Appendix A  Acronyms Used in This Report Appendix B  Per-meal or Per-snack Reimbursement Rates for Child Nutrition Programs This appendix lists the specific reimbursement rates discussed in the earlier sections of the report  Reimbursement rates are adjusted for inflation for each school or calendar year according to terms laid out in the programs' authorizing laws  Each year, the new rates are announced in the Federal Register   

ground_truth: The Forest Service, an agency within USDA, performs a variety of tasks as steward of 193 million acres of public forests and grasslands. Its budget execution process for carrying out its mission includes (1) allotments, which are authorizations by an agency to incur obligations within a specified amount, and (2) unliquidated obligations, which represent budgetary resources that have been committed but not yet paid. Deobligation refers to an agency's cancellation or downward adjustments of previously incurred obligations, which may result in funds that may be available for reobligation. GAO was asked to review the Forest Service's internal controls over its budget execution processes. This report examines the extent to which the Forest Service properly designed control activities over (1) allotments of budgetary resources, its system for administrative control of funds, and any fund transfers between Forest Service appropriations; (2) reimbursables and related collections; and (3) review and certification of unliquidated obligations. GAO reviewed the Forest Service's policies, procedures, and other documentation and interviewed agency officials. In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, the Forest Service received discretionary no-year appropriations of $5.1 billion and $5.7 billion, respectively. It is critical for the Forest Service to manage its budgetary resources efficiently and effectively. While the Forest Service had processes over certain of its budget execution activities, GAO found the following internal control deficiencies: Budgetary resources . The purpose statute requires that amounts designated in appropriations acts for specific purposes are used as designated. The Forest Service did not have an adequate process and related control activities to reasonably assure that amounts were used as designated. In fiscal year 2017, GAO issued a legal opinion that the Forest Service had failed to comply with the purpose statute with regard to a $65 million line-item appropriation specifically provided for the purpose of acquiring aircraft for the next-generation airtanker fleet. Further, the Forest Service lacked a process and related control activities to reasonably assure that unobligated no-year appropriation balances from prior years were reviewed for their continuing need; did not have a properly designed system for administrative control of funds, which keeps obligations and expenditures from exceeding limits authorized by law; and had not properly designed control activities for fund transfers to its Wildland Fire Management program. These deficiencies increase the risk that the Forest Service may make budget requests in excess of its needs. Reimbursable agreements . To carry out its mission, the Forest Service enters into reimbursable agreements with agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), other federal agencies, state and local government agencies, and nongovernment entities. The Forest Service (1) did not have adequately described processes and related control activities in manuals and handbooks for its reimbursable agreement processes and (2) lacked control activities related to segregating incompatible duties performed by line officers and program managers. For example, line officers may be responsible for initiating cost sharing agreements, modifying cost settlement packages, and changing or canceling the related receivable, which represent incompatible duties. As a result, programs and resources may not be protected from waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Unliquidated obligations . The Forest Service's processes and control activities over the review and certification of unliquidated obligations were not properly designed to reasonably assure the best use of funds and that unliquidated obligations would be efficiently and effectively deobligated and made available for other program needs. Further, the current process, as designed, was inconsistent with USDA and Forest Service policy. In addition, the Forest Service's manuals and handbooks, which provide directives for the areas that GAO reviewed, had not been reviewed by management in accordance with the Forest Service's 5-year review policy. Further, standard operating procedures and desk guides prepared by staff to supplement the manuals and handbooks were not issued as directives and therefore were not considered official policy. This increases the risk that control activities may not be consistently performed across the agency. GAO is making 11 recommendations to improve processes and related internal control activities over the management of the Forest Service's budgetary resources, reimbursable receivables and collections, and its process for reviewing unliquidated obligations. The Forest Service generally agreed with the report and stated that it has made significant progress to address the report findings.

prompt_front: You are given two reports by the government agency.



Question: Write a one-page summary of the report 2.

Report 1: The Forest Service’s mission includes sustaining the nation’s forests and grasslands; managing the productivity of those lands for the benefit of citizens; conserving open space; enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities; and conducting research and development in the biological, physical, and social sciences  The agency carries out its responsibilities in three main program areas: (1) managing public lands, known collectively as the National Forest System, through nine regional offices, 154 national forests, 20 national grasslands, and over 600 ranger districts; (2) conducting research through its network of seven research stations, multiple associated research laboratories, and 81 experimental forests and ranges; and (3) working with state and local governments, forest industries, and private landowners and forest users in the management, protection, and development of forest land in nonfederal ownership, largely through its nine regional offices  According to the Forest Service, it employs a workforce of over 30,000 employees across the country  However, this number grows by thousands in the summer months, when the agency hires seasonal employees to conduct fieldwork, respond to wildland fires, and meet the visiting public’s needs  The Office of the Chief of the Forest Service is located in Washington, D C , with 27 offices reporting directly to the Office of the Chief, as illustrated in figure 1  The nine national forest regions, each led by a regional forester, oversee the national forests and grasslands located in their respective regions  Each national forest or grassland is headed by a supervisor, the seven research stations are each led by a station director, and a state and private forestry area is headed by an area director  The Forest Service collectively refers to its forest regions, research stations, and area as RSAs  The RSAs are organized differently according to their operations, and comparable operations within the RSAs, such as collections from reimbursable agreements, may be processed differently in the various regions and stations, resulting in highly decentralized operations  In addition, the offices of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO); Deputy Chief of Business Operations (includes the budget office); and eight other offices located in the Washington, D C , headquarters also report directly to the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service  The Forest Service receives appropriations for its various programs and for specific purposes to meet its mission goals  Prior to fiscal year 2017, the Forest Service’s budgetary resources consisted primarily of no-year funds  Its budget office in Washington, D C , initiates apportionment requests and monitors the receipt of Department of the Treasury (Treasury) warrants  Upon receipt of the warrant, the apportionment is recorded in the financial system and then the budget office develops an allocation summary detailing the allocation of its budget authority by fund, programs within the funds, and distribution of funds at the regional, station, and area levels  The Forest Service may also transfer funds from other appropriations to the appropriations account that funds its fire suppression activities when available funds appropriated for fire suppression and the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement (FLAME) fund will be exhausted within 30 days  The Forest Service’s administrative policies, practices, and procedures are issued in its Directive System, which provides a unified system for issuing, storing, and retrieving internal direction that governs Forest Service programs and activities  The Directive System consists of the Forest Service’s manuals and handbooks  The manuals contain management objectives, policies, and responsibilities and provide general direction to Forest Service line officers and staff directors for planning and executing their assigned programs and activities  The handbooks provide detailed direction to employees and are the principal source of specialized guidance and instruction for carrying out directions issued in the manuals  Line officers at the national and RSA levels have authority to issue directives in the manuals and handbooks under their respective jurisdictions  The Forest Service’s policy states that the Directive System is the only place where Forest Service policy and procedures are issued  In addition to the Directive System, Forest Service staff have also developed standard operating procedures (SOP) and desk guides to supplement guidance provided in directives  However, the SOPs and desk guides are not part of the Forest Service Directive System and therefore are not official policy and procedures  While the Forest Service had documented processes for allotting its budgetary resources, it did not have an adequate process and related control activities for reasonably assuring that (1) amounts designated in appropriations acts for specific purposes are used as designated and (2) unobligated no-year appropriation balances from prior years were reviewed for their continuing need  In addition, the Forest Service did not have a properly designed and documented system for administrative control of funds  Finally, the Forest Service had not properly designed control activities for fund transfers for fire suppression activities under its Wildland Fire Management program  While the Forest Service had documented processes for allotting its budgetary resources, it did not have an adequate process and related control activities to reasonably assure that amounts designated in appropriations acts for specific purposes are used as designated—as required by the purpose statute, which states that “appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided by law ” We reviewed Forest Service documents about its budget authority processes, which included control objectives, related control activities, and processes over the allotment of its budgetary resources  We found that these documents, including manuals and handbooks, did not include an adequate process and related control activities for assuring that appropriated amounts are used for the purposes designated  For example, such a process would include the Forest Service allotting appropriated funds for specific programs or objects as provided in the applicable appropriation act, by either using specific budget line items already defined in the Forest Service’s financial system or creating new budget line items, as needed  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that management should define objectives clearly to enable the identification of risks and design appropriate control activities to achieve objectives and respond to the risks identified  As a result of the Forest Service not having an adequate process and related control activities for assuring that appropriated amounts are used for the purposes designated, the Forest Service did not properly allocate certain funds for specific purposes detailed in the appropriations acts for fiscal years 2015 and 2016  For example, in fiscal year 2015, the Forest Service did not set aside in its financial system the $65 million specified in the fiscal year 2015 appropriations act for acquiring aircraft for the next- generation airtanker fleet  According to Forest Service documents, as of January 6, 2016, $35 million of the designated funds was used for other purposes  In February 2017, we issued a legal opinion, related to the Forest Service’s use of the $65 million, which concluded that the Forest Service had failed to comply with the purpose statute  According to USDA’s Office of General Counsel, “this lack of any separate apportionment or account for the next-generation airtanker fleet was due to the fact that it was a new item, not included in the agency’s budget request, and added late in the appropriations process ” Similarly, in fiscal year 2016, the Forest Service did not create new budget line items to reserve in its financial system $75 million for the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program specified in the fiscal year 2016 appropriations act  Rather than creating a new budget line item for the program specified in the appropriations act, the funds were combined with an existing budget line item, making it difficult to track related budget amounts and actual expenditures  The lack of an adequate process and related control activities to reasonably assure that appropriated amounts are used for the purpose designated also increases the risk that the Forest Service may violate the Antideficiency Act  The Forest Service did not have a process and related control activities to reasonably assure that unobligated, no-year funds from prior years were reviewed for continuing need  We reviewed the Forest Service’s budget authority process document and related manuals and handbooks, which documented control objectives and procedures over its budgetary resources and the guidance for administrative control of funds  We found that these documents did not include a process for reviewing the Forest Service’s unobligated, no-year funds from prior years and related control activities to reasonably assure that such funds were reviewed for continuing need  Such reviews, if performed, may identify unneeded funds that could be reallocated to other programs needing additional budgetary resources, if consistent with the purposes designated in appropriations acts  The USDA Budget Manual states as a department policy that “agencies of the Department have a responsibility to review their programs continually and recommend, when appropriate, deferrals or rescissions ” The USDA Budget Manual further states the following: “Agency officials should remain alert to this responsibility since the establishment of reserves is an important phase of budgetary administration  If it becomes evident during the fiscal year that any amount of funds available will not be needed to carry out foreseeable program requirements, it is in the interest of good management to recommend appropriate actions, thereby maintaining a realistic relationship between apportionments, allotments, and obligations ” However, the Forest Service did not develop a directive addressing the control objectives, related risks, and control activities for implementing this USDA policy  Up until fiscal year 2017, Forest Service budgetary resources consisted primarily of no-year funds  At the beginning of each fiscal year, unobligated balances of no-year funds are carried forward and reapportioned to become part of budget authority available for obligation in the new fiscal year  Unobligated balances can increase during the fiscal year due to deobligation of prior years’ unliquidated obligations that the Forest Service determines it no longer needs  These resources are immediately available to the Forest Service to the extent authorized by law without further legislation or action from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) unless the apportionment states otherwise  According to Forest Service officials, unobligated funds reported in the Forest Service’s September 30, 2016, Statement of Budgetary Resources included $351 million in discretionary unobligated no-year funds, appropriated as far back as fiscal year 1999  The Forest Service did not identify and define a process and control objectives related to its review of unobligated no-year funds from prior years for continuing need  As a result, the Forest Service did not have reasonable assurance that prior no-year unobligated balances were properly managed and considered in its annual budget requests  This increased the risk that the Forest Service may make budget requests in excess of its needs  Additionally, the Forest Service could miss opportunities to use its prior year unobligated no-year funds more timely and effectively, for example, using these funds for other Forest Service program needs, if consistent with the purposes designated in appropriations acts  During our work, we brought this issue to management’s attention, and in response, Forest Service officials stated that the Forest Service is planning to develop a quarterly process to review available balances and, as needed, redirect funds to agency priorities  However, as of July 2017, the Forest Service had not yet developed this review process  Further, Congress rescinded about $18 million of the Forest Service’s prior year unobligated balances and required it to report unobligated balances quarterly within 30 days after the close of each quarter and appropriated multi-year funds instead of no- year funds to the Forest Service for fiscal year 2017  The Forest Service issued guidance related to administrative control of funds in manuals and handbooks, which USDA did not review and approve prior to their issuance  Based on our review of these documents, we found that the processes and related control activities over the administrative control of funds were dispersed in numerous manuals and handbooks, which may hamper a clear understanding of the overall system  Further, the system lacked key elements that would allow it to serve as an adequate system of administrative control of funds  For example, in its manuals and handbooks the Forest Service did not identify, by title or office, those officials with the authority and responsibility for obligating the service’s appropriated funds, such as funds for contracts, travel, and training  As a result, the responsibility for obligating funds was not clearly described and properly assigned in Forest Service policy as required by the USDA Budget Manual and OMB Circular No  A-11  OMB Circular No  A-11 states that the Antideficiency Act requires that the agency head prescribe, by regulation, a system of administrative control of funds, and OMB provided a checklist in appendix H to the circular that agencies can use for drafting their fund control regulations  This requirement is consistent with those in the USDA Budget Manual, which prescribes budgetary administration through a system of administrative controls for its component agencies, including the Forest Service  The USDA Budget Manual states that to the extent necessary for effective administration, (1) the heads of USDA component agencies may delegate to subordinate officials responsibilities in connection with the administrative distribution of funds within apportionments and allotments and the monitoring, control, and reporting of the occurrence of obligations and expenditures under apportionments and allotments and (2) the chain of such responsibility shall be clearly defined  In addition, USDA requires its component agencies to promulgate and maintain administrative control of funds regulation and to send such regulation to USDA’s Office of Program and Budget Analysis for review and approval prior to issuance  Because the Forest Service has not developed and issued a comprehensive system for administrative control of funds that considers all aspects of the budget execution processes, it cannot reasonably assure that (1) programs will achieve their intended results; (2) the use of resources is consistent with the agency’s mission; (3) programs and resources are protected from waste, fraud, and mismanagement; and (4) laws and regulations are followed  We also found that the Forest Service had not reviewed and updated most of its administrative control of funds guidance in the manuals and handbooks for over 5 years  The USDA Budget Manual requires each component to periodically review its funds control system for overall effectiveness and to assure that it is consistent with its agency programs and organizational structures  Further, Forest Service policy also requires routine review, every 5 years, of policies and procedures in its Directive System  According to Forest Service officials, when directives are up for review and update, a staff from the Office of Regulatory and Management Services (ORMS) sends an e-mail reminder to notify responsible personnel that updates to applicable directives are needed  However, we found that the Forest Service does not have adequate controls in place to monitor the reviews and any updates of the manuals and handbooks in its Directive System to reasonably assure that their efforts resulted in timely updates  As a result, the Forest Service is at risk that guidance for its system for administrative control of funds may lose relevance as processes change over time and control activities may become inadequate  The Forest Service did not have properly designed control activities over its process for fund transfers related to wildland fire suppression activities  The Forest Service receives appropriations for necessary expenses for (1) fire suppression activities on National Forest System lands, (2) emergency fire suppression on or adjacent to such lands or other lands under fire protection agreement, (3) hazardous fuels management on or adjacent to such lands, and (4) state and volunteer fire assistance  Transfer of funds from other Forest Service programs to its fire suppression activities occurs when the Forest Service has exhausted all available funds appropriated for the purpose of fire suppression and the FLAME fund  A key aspect of this process is assessing the FLAME forecast, which the Forest Service uses to predict the costs of fighting wildland fires for a given season, and developing a strategy to identify specific programs and the amounts that may be transferred to pay for fire suppression activities when needed  The process for reviewing the FLAME forecast and strategizing the fund transfers was documented in the Basic Budget Desk Guide created by staff in the Forest Service’s Strategic Planning and Budget Analysis Office  However, the desk guide did not contain evidence of review by responsible officials  As a result, the Forest Service lacked reasonable assurance that the desk guide was complete and appropriate for its use  The Basic Budget Desk Guide included a listing of actions to be performed by the analyst for reviewing the FLAME forecast report and developing a strategy for fund transfer from other programs  However, the desk guide did not specify the factors to be considered when developing the strategy  For example, it did not call for documentation addressing the rationale for the strategy or an assessment of the risk that the fund transfer could have on the programs from which the funds would be transferred  The desk guide also did not describe the review and approval of the strategy by a responsible official(s) prior to the fund transfer request sent to the Chief of the Forest Service  According to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, management should design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks and that such control activities should be designed at the appropriate levels in the organizational structure  Further, management may design a variety of transaction control activities for operational processes, which may include verifications, authorizations and approvals, and supervisory control activities  The lack of properly designed control activities for supervisory review of the desk guide and strategy to identify the amounts for fund transfers does not provide the Forest Service reasonable assurance that the objectives of the fund transfers—including mitigating the risk of a shortfall of funding for other critical Forest Service program activities, such as payroll or other day-to-day operating costs—will be efficiently and effectively achieved  The Forest Service enters into various reimbursable agreements with agencies within USDA, other federal agencies, state and local government agencies, and nongovernment entities to carry out its mission for public benefit  The reimbursable agreements may be for the Forest Service to provide goods and services to a third party or to receive goods and services from a third party, or may be a partnership agreement with a third party for a common goal  According to Forest Service officials, the two distinct types of Forest Service reimbursable agreements are (1) fire incident cooperative agreements and (2) reimbursable and advanced collection agreements (RACA)  The Forest Service did not have documented processes and related control activities for its fire incident cooperative agreements to reasonably assure the effectiveness and efficiency of its related fire incident operations  In addition, processes and related control activities applicable to RACAs were not adequately described in applicable manuals and handbooks in the Directive System, to reasonably assure that control activities could be performed consistently and effectively  Further, certain RACA processes in the Directive System had not been timely reviewed by management and did not reflect current processes  Moreover, as previously discussed, SOPs and desk guides developed in field offices related to RACA processes were not in the Forest Service’s Directive System  Finally, the Forest Service lacked control activities segregating incompatible duties performed by line officers and program managers in creating reimbursable agreements and the final disposition of related receivables  The Forest Service did not have documented processes and related control activities for its fire incident cooperative agreements to reasonably assure the effectiveness and efficiency of its related fire incident operations and reliable reporting internally and externally  As part of the service’s mission objective to suppress wildland fires, Forest Service officials stated that they enter into 5-year agreements referred to as master cooperative agreements with federal, state, and other entities  These agreements document the framework for commitment and support efficient and effective coordination and cooperation among the parties in suppressing fires, when they occur  The master cooperative agreements do not require specific funding commitments as amounts are not yet known  These agreements vary from region to region because of the differing laws and regulations pertaining to the participating states and other entities  These variations can also result in different billing and collection processes between regions  When a fire occurs, supplemental agreements, which are based on the framework established in the applicable master cooperative agreements, are signed by relevant parties for each fire incident  These agreements establish the share of fire suppression costs incurred by the Forest Service and amounts related to entities that benefitted from those fire suppression efforts  These supplemental agreements require commitment and obligation of funds  As indicated in figure 2, the Forest Service’s obligations for fire suppression activities ranged from $412 million to $1 4 billion over the 10-year period from fiscal years 2007 through 2016  In response to our request for documentation of processes and related control activities over its fire incident cooperative agreements, Forest Service officials stated that processes and related control activities over reimbursable agreements were applicable to both fire incident cooperative agreements and RACAs  However, based on our review of the Forest Service’s processes and related control activities over its reimbursable agreements, we found that the unique features of fire incident cooperative agreements (as compared to features of RACAs) were not addressed in the processes and related controls for reimbursable agreements  For example, there was no process and related control activities over the negotiation and review of (1) a fire incident master cooperative agreement, which is developed before a fire occurs, and (2) supplemental agreements, which are signed by all relevant parties after the start of a fire incident  These supplemental agreements detail, among other things, the terms for (1) fire department resource use, (2) financial arrangements, and (3) specific cost-sharing agreements  Another unique feature of fire incident cooperative agreements, which was not covered in process documents for its reimbursable agreements, was the preparation of the Cost Settlement Package  The preparation of this package does not start until after the fire has ended and the Forest Service has received and paid all bills  According to Forest Service officials, a fire incident is deemed to have ended when there are no more resources (firefighters and equipment) on the ground putting out the fire  However, this definition was not documented in the Forest Service’s manuals and handbooks in the Directive System  Based on our review of documentation that the Forest Service provided for four fire incidents, we found that for these incidents the Cost Settlement Packages and the billings took several months to years to complete after the fire incident  According to Forest Service officials, delays in preparing the Cost Settlement Package in many cases were due to parties involved in suppressing the fires taking a long time to submit their invoices to the Forest Service for payment  Because the preparation of Cost Settlement Packages was not included in the process documents, the Forest Service did not have a defined time frame for when, in relation to the end of the fire, the Cost Settlement Package must be completed  For example, in one case we reviewed, the bill for a cost settlement was sent 9 months after the fire occurred, and in another case, settlement occurred approximately 2 years after the fire occurred  For both fire incidents, based on the reports we reviewed, the fires were contained within a week or two, but the Forest Service does not have a policy for documenting the date when the fire incident is deemed to have ended  Because of the complexity of the process for negotiating and determining the reimbursable amounts from all the costs that the Forest Service pays for a fire incident, the reimbursable amounts may take time to negotiate, and subsequent billing to and collection from parties may take much longer  Forest Service officials stated that some receivables that were not going to be collected until after its financial system’s aging process for receivables deemed such receivables uncollectible and a bad debt are tracked in a spreadsheet outside its financial system  We found that the Forest Service did not have a documented process and related control activities to reasonably assure that its Budget Office was informed of these older receivables being tracked in a spreadsheet and the related progress of collection activities that local program managers and line officers perform, which could affect the reliability of the reported reimbursable receivable amounts  According to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, management should internally communicate the necessary quality information to achieve the entity’s objectives  Without proper communication, important information, such as amounts that the Forest Service will receive from fire incident cost settlement negotiations, may not be considered in the Forest Service’s strategy for the effective and efficient management of fund transfers for fire suppression activities  Processes and related control activities applicable to RACAs were not adequately described in Forest Service manuals and handbooks in its Directive System  RACAs, which may be for research or other nonemergency purposes, are billed and collected based on previously agreed upon billing and collection terms  In accordance with the Forest Service’s Directive System, policies related to business processes, such as RACAs, are documented in its manuals while procedures for performing specialized activities are documented in its handbooks  We found that the manuals and handbooks in the Directive System did not adequately describe the processes and related control activities over the RACA processes to enable efficient and effective performance of the work by appropriate and responsible personnel  The manuals and handbooks related to RACAs state that a manager review the documentation to ensure that the funding supports the objective of the agreement, the agreement is the correct instrument for funding the project, all relevant terms and conditions have been included in the agreement, the entity’s financial strength and capability are acceptable, and all applicable regulations and OMB circulars have been addressed  However, there was no discussion in the manuals and handbooks about when the manager needs to perform the reviews and how these reviews were to be documented  Further, in response to our inquiry regarding procedures performed to assess the entity’s financial strength and capability are acceptable before a RACA is signed, Forest Service officials stated that there is currently no formal process for determining financial capability for RACAs  For reimbursable agreements, the Forest Service’s process documented in its handbook consisted of completing a creditworthiness checklist  However, the handbook did not describe procedures for (1) completing the checklist and (2) documenting responsible personnel’s review and approval of an entity’s acceptable financial capability  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that management should design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks  Management’s design of internal control establishes and communicates the who, what, when, where, and why of internal control execution to personnel  Documentation also provides a means to retain organizational knowledge and mitigate the risk of having that knowledge limited to a few personnel  Further, the standards also explain that management clearly document internal control in a manner that allows the documentation to be readily available and properly managed and maintained  In addition, the manuals and handbooks applicable to the RACAs have not been timely reviewed by management, and had not been updated to reflect current processes  For example, the document that serves as direction for Forest Service personnel on how to enter into RACAs referred to an outdated financial system that was replaced in fiscal year 2013  Further, the manuals and handbooks for the RACA processes had no indication that they had been reviewed within the past 5 years  Forest Service policy requires routine review, every 5 years, of policies and procedures in its Directive System  According to Forest Service officials, a staff member from ORMS sends an e-mail to officials responsible for updating these policies and procedures  However, appropriate control activities have not been designed to reasonably assure that updates were made, reviewed, approved, and issued as needed for continued relevance and effectiveness  Without adequate descriptions of processes and related control activities in its manuals and handbooks over RACAs, the Forest Service is at risk that processes and related control activities may not be properly, consistently, and timely performed  Further, because it lacks a process and related controls for monitoring and reviewing the updates of the guidance and various process documents in the Directive System, the Forest Service is at risk that its policies and procedures may not provide appropriate agency-wide direction in achieving control objectives, particularly when financial systems change and old processes may no longer be applicable  SOPs and desk guides related to RACA processes were not in the Directive System and are not considered official Forest Service policy and procedures  Forest Service field staff responsible for various processes generally developed SOPs and desk guides to document day-to-day procedures for employees in carrying out RACA processes to supplement the manuals and handbooks  However, the SOPs and desk guides did not reference the applicable manuals and handbooks they supplemented  Further, the SOPs and desk guides did not provide descriptions of (1) review procedures for authorization, completeness, and validity of RACAs and related receivables; (2) detailed review procedures to be performed and by whom; (3) timing of review procedures; and (4) how to document the completion of the review procedures  Finally, SOPs and desk guides did not have evidence that responsible officials reviewed and approved them to authorize their use  These SOPs and desk guides are only available in the field office where these were developed, and if similar SOPs and desk guides were developed in other field offices, control activities and how they are performed could vary  We also noted that these SOPs and desk guides were not timely updated to reflect processes and systems currently in use  For example, there were many instances where the SOPs and desk guides referred to systems that the Forest Service no longer used  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that management should establish an organizational structure, assign responsibility, and delegate authority to achieve the entity’s objectives  Effective documentation assists in management’s design of internal control by establishing and communicating the who, what, when, where, and why of internal control execution to personnel  Documentation also provides a means to retain organizational knowledge and mitigate the risk of having that knowledge limited to a few personnel and to achieve the entity’s objectives  Management assigns responsibility and delegates authority to key roles throughout the entity  As a result of the issues discussed above, the Forest Service is at risk that control activities may not be properly and consistently performed and its related control objectives may not be achieved efficiently and effectively  In addition, the Forest Service is at risk that knowledge for performing the control activities may be limited to a few personnel or lost altogether in the event of employee turnover  The Forest Service lacked control activities over the segregation of incompatible duties performed by line officers and program managers for reimbursable agreements and any adjustments affecting the final disposition of related receivables  Field offices manage the majority of Forest Service projects, including authorizing the agreements and monitoring related collection  The Forest Service line officer for fire incident cooperative agreements and program managers for RACA at the RSA, unit, or field levels initiate and develop the terms of the agreements and are also responsible for any subsequent negotiation of the agreements  In the process of negotiating and settling costs, the line officer or program manager has the authority to cancel or change related receivables that they deemed uncollectible  For example, in a fire incident, the line officer at the region or field level is involved in both developing a Cost Share Agreement and after the fire incident has ended, negotiating the Cost Settlement Package with parties involved in the agreement to determine the final settlement amount that the Forest Service will be reimbursed for expenses paid in suppressing the fire incident  Therefore, the line officer is responsible for initiating the Cost Share Agreement, modifying the Cost Settlement Package, and changing or canceling the related receivable, which represent conflicting duties  We also found that the Forest Service did not have any mitigating controls, such as independent approval of any adjustments affecting the final disposition of receivables, to mitigate the risk of these incompatible duties  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that management should design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks  Segregation of duties contributes to the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of control activities  To achieve segregation of key functions, management can divide responsibilities among different people to reduce the risk of error, misuse, or fraud  This may include separating the responsibilities for authorizing or approving transactions, processing and recording them, and reviewing the transactions so that no one individual controls all key aspects of a transaction or event  Forest Service officials stated they did not consider segregating the conflicting duties related to reimbursable agreements because these line officers and program managers were most familiar with the terms of the agreement and the activities performed  However, a lack of adequate segregation of conflicting duties or proper monitoring and review of conflicting duties for receivables from reimbursable agreements could result in receivables not being collected, and an increased risk of fraud  The Forest Service’s processes and related control activities over review of unliquidated obligations were not properly designed to reasonably assure optimum utilization of funds and were inconsistent with USDA and Forest Service policy  Further, Forest Service manuals and handbooks related to the review of unliquidated obligations did not clearly describe control activities and were not timely reviewed by management  The Forest Service reported unliquidated obligations of approximately $2 6 billion and $2 5 billion in its financial statements as of September 30, 2015, and 2016, respectively  In fiscal year 2016, the Forest Service deobligated about $319 million of its unliquidated obligations from prior years  The Forest Service’s procedures related to the review of unliquidated obligations were not properly designed and were inconsistent with USDA and Forest Service policy  In accordance with USDA Departmental Regulation (Regulation 2230-001) and related Forest Service policy, the Forest Service identifies and reviews unliquidated obligations that have been inactive for at least 12 months to determine whether delivery or performance of goods or services is still expected to occur  Once a determination has been made that an unliquidated obligation can be deobligated, program or procurement personnel are to notify finance personnel, in writing, within 5 days of the determination to process the deobligation  Within 15 days of receipt of the written notification, the unliquidated obligations are to be adjusted in the financial management system  The Forest Service CFO is then to be notified in writing that the deobligation was processed  Within 1 month of the close of each quarter, the Forest Service CFO is to submit to USDA’s Associate CFO for Financial Operations a certification stating that the Forest Service has performed reviews of its unliquidated obligations and taken appropriate actions, such as promptly deobligating an unliquidated obligation that is no longer needed  However, the Forest Service’s quarterly certifications are inconsistent with USDA and Forest Service policy because the months included in each quarterly review do not line up with the months outlined in policy  For example, as shown in table 1, based on policy the certification due on October 31, covers the months July through September  However in practice, the certification that the Forest Service prepared for October 31 covers May through July  As a result, the review and certification for August and September would be delayed an entire quarter  According to Forest Service officials, it takes considerable time to produce accurate unliquidated obligations reports from USDA’s financial system and then distribute them to field offices  Therefore, there is not sufficient time for the field offices to review and deobligate amounts not needed from the unliquidated obligations balances to meet USDA’s certification timing and requirements  However, the Forest Service has not developed other processes and control activities that could help meet USDA and Forest Service policy and reasonably assure that unliquidated obligations are reviewed timely and appropriate actions are taken  As a result, there is an increased risk that the Forest Service may not achieve its control objectives of optimum utilization of funds and timely adjustments of obligated balances  The Forest Service’s process and related control activities over its review of unliquidated obligations and resulting certifications were not adequately described in manuals and handbooks in its Directive System  Further, the manuals and handbooks were not timely reviewed and updated to reflect processes and systems currently in use  In accordance with the Forest Service’s Directive System, policies are documented in its manuals while procedures for performing specialized activities are documented in its handbooks  However, we found that the Forest Service’s processes and related control activities for reviewing unliquidated obligations were not adequately described and documented in such manuals and handbooks  Although parts of the applicable section of the handbook referred to procedures, there were no detailed descriptions of the processes, and only references to objectives of the procedures for reviewing unliquidated obligations were listed  For example, in identifying unliquidated obligations for review, the narrative description of the procedures in the handbook states that the responsible obligating official must review each selected unliquidated obligation to determine whether (1) delivery or performance of goods or services has occurred or is expected to occur and (2) accounting corrections to the obligation data in the accounting system are necessary  The handbook also refers to an unliquidated obligations report listing the unliquidated obligations that must be reviewed  The narrative does not provide any detailed procedures that obligating officials or responsible personnel need to perform, how to perform those procedures, and how those control activities are to be documented  The guidance in the handbook was supplemented by two desk guides  However, the desk guides are outside the Forest Service’s Directive System and, as previously noted, the Directive System is the only place where the Forest Service’s policy and procedures are issued  In addition, these desk guides did not reference the applicable guidance in the Directive System that they were supplementing  Further, the process and related control activities for adjusting unliquidated obligations within 15 days of receipt of written notification, as stated in USDA’s policy, were not described in either the handbooks or the desk guides  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that management should design control activities to achieve objectives and respond to risks to achieve an effective internal control system  Management’s design of internal control establishes and communicates the who, what, when, where, and why of internal control execution to personnel  Documentation also provides a means to retain organizational knowledge and mitigate the risk of having that knowledge limited to a few personnel  Further, the standards also explain that management clearly document internal control in a manner that allows documentation to be readily available and that documentation be properly managed and maintained  In addition, manuals and handbooks for processes related to review and certification of unliquidated obligations had no evidence that they had been reviewed within the past 5 years for ongoing relevance and effectiveness  According to a Forest Service manual, all service-wide directives, except interim directives, shall be reviewed at least once every 5 years  The Forest Service does not have an effective process in place to monitor the reviews and any updates of the manuals and handbooks in its Directive System  As previously discussed, while ORMS sends an e- mail requesting that the applicable officials review and update the guidance in the manuals and handbooks, there is no follow-up process to help ensure that documents were reviewed and updated as needed  Because the Forest Service’s process and related control activities over its review and certification of unliquidated obligations were not adequately described in its manuals and handbooks, the Forest Service is at risk that its control activities may not reasonably assure that control objectives provide (1) optimum utilization of funds and (2) for unliquidated obligations that are no longer needed to be efficiently and effectively deobligated and made available for other program needs  Adequate processes and related control activities over the Forest Service’s budgetary resources are critical in reasonably assuring that these resources are timely and effectively available for its mission operations, including fire suppression  However, we identified deficiencies in the Forest Service’s processes and related controls over allotments, unobligated no-year funds from prior years, administrative control of funds, fund transfers, reimbursable agreements, and available funds from deobligation of unliquidated obligations  Deficiencies ranged from a lack of processes to control activities that were not properly designed, resulting in an increased risk that Forest Service funds may not be effectively and efficiently monitored and used  In addition, the Forest Service’s manuals and handbooks, which provide the directives for the areas we reviewed, had not been reviewed by management in accordance with the Forest Service’s 5-year review policy  Further, Forest Service staff prepared SOPs and desk guides that documented control activities, but they were not issued as official policy and had not been reviewed and approved by responsible officials  As a result, the Forest Service is at increased risk that the control activities may not be consistently performed across the agency and that the guidance in the SOPs and desk guides may not comply with agency policy in the Directive System  To improve internal controls over the Forest Service’s budget execution processes, we are making the following 11 recommendations: The Chief of the Forest Service should (1) revise its process and (2) design, document, and implement related control activities to reasonably assure that amounts designated in appropriations acts for specific purposes are properly used for the purposes specifically designated  (Recommendation 1) The Chief of the Forest Service should (1) develop a process and (2) design, document, and implement related control activities to reasonably assure that unobligated no-year funds from prior years are reviewed for continuing need  (Recommendation 2) The Chief of the Forest Service should (1) design, document, and implement a comprehensive system for administrative control of funds and (2) submit it for review and approval by USDA before issuance, as required by the USDA Budget Manual  (Recommendation 3) The Chief of the Forest Service should design, document, and implement control activities over the preparation and approval of a fire suppression fund transfers strategy, to specify all appropriate factors to be considered in developing and documenting the strategy, and incorporate these control activities into the Directive System  (Recommendation 4) The Chief of the Forest Service should design, document, and implement processes and related control activities for its fire incident cooperative agreements to reasonably assure efficient and effective operations and timely and reliable reporting of reimbursable receivables related to fire incident cooperative agreements, and incorporate them in the Directive System  (Recommendation 5) The Chief of the Forest Service should update the RACA manuals and handbooks to adequately describe the processes and related control activities applicable to RACAs to reasonably assure that staff will know (1) how and when to perform processes and control activities and (2) how to document their performance  (Recommendation 6) The Chief of the Forest Service should design, document, and implement segregation of duties or mitigating control activities over reimbursable agreements and any adjustments affecting the final disposition of related receivables  (Recommendation 7) The Chief of the Forest Service should modify, document, and implement control activities consistent with USDA and Forest Service policy to reasonably assure that unliquidated obligations are reviewed timely and appropriate actions are taken  (Recommendation 8) The Chief of the Forest Service should adequately describe the processes and related control activities for unliquidated obligations review and certification processes in manuals and handbooks within the Directive System  (Recommendation 9) The Chief of the Forest Service should develop, document, and implement a process and related control activities to reasonably assure that manuals and handbooks for allotments, reimbursable agreements, and review of unliquidated obligations are reviewed and updated every 5 years, consistent with Forest Service policy  (Recommendation 10) The Chief of the Forest Service should develop, document, and implement a process and related control activities to reasonably assure that SOPs and desk guides (1) clearly refer to guidance in the Directive System for allotments, reimbursable agreements, and review of unliquidated obligations and (2) are reviewed and approved by responsible officials prior to use  (Recommendation 11) We provided a draft of this report to USDA for comment  In its comments, reproduced in appendix III, the Forest Service stated that it generally agreed with the report and that it has made significant progress to address the report’s findings  Specifically, the Forest Service stated that its financial policies concerning budget execution have been revised to address our concerns with allotments, unliquidated obligations, commitments, and administrative control of funds as prescribed by OMB Circular No  A-11  Further, the Forest Service stated that it has undertaken an in-depth review of its unliquidated obligations and modified the certification process to comply with the USDA requirement  We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees and to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chief of the Forest Service  In addition, this report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www gao gov  If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-9869 or khana@gao gov  Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report  GAO staff members who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV  Our objectives were to determine the extent to which the Forest Service properly designed control activities over (1) allotments of budgetary resources, its system for administrative control of funds, and any fund transfers between Forest Service appropriations; (2) reimbursables and related collections; and (3) unliquidated obligations  We reviewed the Forest Service’s process documents and control activities, policies and procedures from its manual and handbooks in its Directive System, and other guidance in the form of standard operating procedures (SOP) and desk guides to obtain an understanding of internal controls at the Forest Service related to our three objectives  We reviewed the control activities that the Forest Service identified to determine whether the activities would achieve the control objectives that the service identified and whether the activities were consistent with Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government  We also reviewed recent relevant GAO and U S  Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General reports to obtain background information related to the Forest Service’s budget execution processes  We evaluated the design of the Forest Service’s control activities based on data for fiscal year 2016  To address our first objective, we reviewed Forest Service process documents related to allotments and budget authority to obtain an understanding of control activities over the allotments of budgetary resources, its system for administrative control of funds, and any related fund transfers between Forest Service appropriations  The process documents included a list of control objectives and related control activities that the Forest Service had used to assess its internal controls  We also reviewed the related guidance in appendix H to Office of Management and Budget Circular No  A-11, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget for Administrative Control of Funds, to identify requirements that agencies must meet to ascertain whether their controls over funds management are properly designed  We interviewed key officials from the Forest Service’s Strategic Planning, Budget and Accountability Office to gain an understanding of their processes for allotments of budgetary resources, its system for administrative control of funds, and fund transfers between Forest Service appropriations for wildland fire suppression activities, including how each of their risk assessments were performed and their plans to mitigate the risks  We reviewed and analyzed the processes documented in the manuals and handbooks collectively referred to as directives to determine whether the processes and control activities were designed to achieve the Forest Service’s stated objectives  Specifically, we examined the Forest Service’s control activities to determine whether these sufficiently communicated the procedures to be performed and the documentation to be prepared  We also reviewed USDA Budget Manual to determine whether Forest Service guidance was consistent with USDA’s requirements for all of its component agencies, specifically requirements related to the administrative control of funds  To address our second objective, we reviewed the Forest Service’s policies, procedures, and other documentation and interviewed agency officials to develop an understanding of its processes related to reimbursable agreements and related collection activities  We first identified, through interviews with Forest Service officials, the different kinds of reimbursable agreements that the Forest Service enters into with other USDA components, other federal agencies, state and local government agencies, and nongovernment entities to carry out its mission for the benefit of the public  Two distinct types of reimbursable agreements include (1) fire incident cooperative agreements and (2) reimbursable and advanced collection agreements  We reviewed Forest Service process documents and templates related to these two types of reimbursable agreements provided to obtain an understanding of control activities over reimbursable processes  We reviewed the list of control objectives and related control activities that the Forest Service identified to determine whether the control activities were designed to achieve the applicable control objectives  To address our third objective, we reviewed the Forest Service’s policies, procedures, and other documentation related to and interviewed agency officials about unliquidated obligations to develop an understanding of the Forest Service’s review and certification processes for unliquidated obligations balances  We reviewed the Forest Service’s control activities related to its process for reviewing unliquidated obligations to obtain an understanding of control activities around its process and to determine whether the control activities were designed to achieve the applicable control objectives  Based on the results of our evaluation of the Forest Service’s design of internal control activities over the budget execution processes, we did not evaluate the implementation of the control activities or whether they were operating as designed  While our audit objectives focused on certain control activities related to (1) allotments of budgetary resources, the Forest Service’s system for administrative control of funds, and related fund transfers; (2) reimbursables and related collections for reimbursable agreements; and (3) unliquidated obligations, we did not evaluate all control activities and other components of internal control  If we had done so, additional deficiencies may or may not have been identified that could impair the effectiveness of the control activities evaluated as part of this audit  We conducted this performance audit from August 2016 to January 2018 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives  We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives  Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government provides the overall framework for establishing and maintaining internal control  Internal control represents an agency’s plans, methods, policies, and procedures used to fulfill its mission, strategic plan, goals, and objectives  Internal control is a process by an entity’s oversight body, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance that the objectives of the entity will be achieved  When properly designed, implemented, and operating effectively, it provides reasonable assurance that the following objectives are achieved: (1) effectiveness and efficiency of operations, (2) reliability of internal and external reporting, and (3) compliance with applicable laws and regulations  Internal control is not one event, but a series of actions that occur throughout an entity’s operations  The five components of internal control are as follows: Control Environment - The foundation for an internal control system that provides the discipline and structure to help an entity achieve its objectives  Risk Assessment - Assesses the risks facing the entity as it seeks to achieve its objectives and provides the basis for developing appropriate risk responses  Control Activities - The actions management establishes through policies and procedures to achieve objectives and respond to risks in the internal control system, which includes the entity’s information system  Information and Communication - The quality information management and personnel communicate and use to support the internal control system  Monitoring - Activities management establishes and operates to assess the quality of performance over time and promptly resolve the findings of audits and other reviews  An effective internal control system has each of the five components of internal control effectively designed, implemented, and operating with the components operating together in an integrated manner  In this audit, we assessed the design of control activities at the Forest Service related to its (1) allotments of budgetary resources and any related fund transfers between Forest Service appropriations, (2) reimbursables and related collections, and (3) review of unliquidated obligations  In addition to the contact named above, the following individuals made key contributions to this report: Roger Stoltz (Assistant Director), Meafelia P  Gusukuma (Auditor-in-Charge), Tulsi Bhojwani, Cory Mazer, Sabrina Rivera, and Randy Voorhees 


Report 2:  if the officer is survived by only a spouse, 100% of the death benefits are payable to the spouse; 2  if the officer is survived by a spouse and children, 50% of the death benefits are payable to the spouse and the remaining 50% is distributed equally among the officer's children; 3  if the officer is survived by only children, the death benefits are equally distributed among the officer's children; 4  if the officer has no surviving spouse or children, the death benefits are paid to the individual or individuals designated by the officer in the most recently executed designation of beneficiary on file at the time of the officer's death; or if the officer does not have a designation of beneficiary on file, the benefits are paid to the individual or individuals designated by the officer in the most recently executed life insurance policy on file at the time of the officer's death; 5  if the officer has no surviving spouse or eligible children, and the officer does not have a life insurance policy, the death benefits are equally distributed between the officer's surviving parents; or 6  if the officer has no surviving spouse, eligible children, or parents, and the officer did not have a designation of beneficiary or a life insurance policy on file at the time of his or her death, the death benefits are payable to surviving adult, nondependent, children of the officer  PSOB disability benefits are paid only in cases of permanent and total disability  There are no benefits payable for partial or short-term disabilities  A disability is considered permanent for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if, given the current state of medicine in the United States, there is a degree of medical certainty that the condition will remain constant or deteriorate over the person's lifetime or that the public safety officer has reached maximum medical improvement  A public safety officer is considered to be totally disabled for the purposes of PSOB eligibility if given the current state of medicine in the United States, there is a degree of medical certainty that the officer is unable to perform any gainful work  PSOB regulation defines gainful work as "full- or part-time activity that is compensated or commonly compensated " Applications for PSOB death and disability benefits are filed with the PSOB office, which determines benefit eligibility and commences benefit payment  Unless extended for good cause, application deadlines must be met  Complete benefit applications must be filed no later than for death benefits: three years after the death; one year after the determination of the officer's employing agency to award or deny death benefits payable by that agency; or one year after certification by the officer's employing agency that the agency is not authorized to pay any death benefits; and for disability benefits: three years after the date of the injury; one year after the determination of the officer's employing agency to award or deny workers' compensation or disability benefits payable by that agency; or one year after certification by the officer's employing agency that the agency is not authorized to pay any workers' compensation or disability benefits  A lump-sum interim payment of up to $3,000 may be made if a PSOB death benefit will "probably be paid " The interim payment amount reduces the final PSOB payment amount  If the ultimate decision is to deny death benefits, the interim payment must be returned to the federal government, unless this repayment is waived because it would create a hardship for the beneficiary  Section 611 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act; P L  107-56 ) provides for expedited payment of PSOB death and disability benefits if the officer's injury occurred "in connection with prevention, investigation, rescue, or recovery efforts related to a terrorist attack " In such cases, PSOB benefits must be paid within 30 days of certification from the officer's employing agency that the officer's death or disability was related to terrorism  The Public Safety Officers' Education Assistance (PSOEA) program provides financial assistance with costs associated with higher education to the spouse or children of a public safety officer who is eligible for PSOB death or disability benefits  The spouse or child of a public safety officer who is eligible for PSOB death or disability benefits may be eligible for PSOEA benefits  To be eligible for PSOEA benefits, a spouse must have been married to an eligible public safety officer at the time of the officer's death or injury  A child is eligible for PSOEA benefits until the age of 27  This age limit can be extended by the Attorney General in extraordinary circumstances, or, pursuant to Section 3 of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017 ( P L  115-36 ), if there is a delay of more than one year in approving PSOB or PSOEA benefits  In addition, to be eligible for PSOEA benefits, the spouse or child must be enrolled at an eligible educational institution  For the purposes of PSOEA eligibility, an eligible education institution is one that meets the definition of an "institution of higher education" as provided by Section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and that is eligible for federal student aid  PSOEA benefits are payable to the claimant and may be used only to defray costs associated with higher education attendance, including tuition, room, board, book and supplies, and education-related fees  The monthly PSOEA benefit amount is equal to the monthly benefit amount payable under the GI Bill Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) program, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for spouses and dependents of veterans with disabilities or who died as a result of service-connected conditions  The PSOEA benefit amounts are adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living in accordance with changes to the GI Bill DEA benefit amounts  For FY2019, the PSOEA monthly benefit for a student attending an educational institution full-time is $1,224  The PSOEA benefit rates are prorated for less than full-time attendance  The maximum duration of PSOEA benefits for any person is 45 months of full-time education or a proportionate duration of part-time education  A person is ineligible for PSOEA if he or she is in default on a federal student loan or is ineligible for federal benefits due to a drug trafficking or drug possession conviction  In addition, the Attorney General may discontinue PSOEA benefits for a student that fails to make satisfactory progress in his or her course of study as defined by Section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965  A claimant who is dissatisfied with a PSOB disability benefit denial may request a reconsideration  There is no reconsideration offered for denials of PSOB death or PSOEA benefits  A claimant who is dissatisfied with a PSOB or PSOEA benefit denial may request a de novo hearing before a hearing officer assigned by the director of the DOJ PSOB Office  The determination of a hearing officer may be appealed to the PSOB Office director  The director's determination is considered the final agency determination and is not subject to any further agency administrative review or appeal  However, provided all administrative appeals remedies have been exhausted, the PSOB Office director's determination may be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit  The PSOB statute authorizes the BJA to prescribe the maximum fee that an attorney or other representative may charge a claimant for services rendered in connection with a claim, with attorney fees generally limited to between 3% and 6% of the total benefit paid, depending on the level in the administrative appeals process the claim is approved  Program regulation prohibits stipulated-fee and contingency-fee arrangements for PSOB representation  Congress provides funding for PSOB and PSOE benefits and associated administrative expenses in the annual Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act  Funding for PSOB death benefits and associated administrative expenses is considered mandatory spending and Congress appropriates "such sums as may be necessary" for the payment of these benefits  Funding for PSOB disability and PSOEA benefits is considered discretionary and is subject to specific congressional appropriations  Annual appropriations language grants the Attorney General the authority to transfer from any available appropriations to the DOJ the funds necessary to respond to emergent circumstances that require additional funding for PSOB disability benefits and PSOEA benefits  

ground_truth: The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of duty. The Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA) program, a component of the PSOB program, provides higher-education assistance to the children and spouses of public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The PSOB and PSOEA programs are administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). However, claimants dissatisfied with denials of benefits may pursue administrative appeals within DOJ and may seek judicial review before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Each year, Congress appropriates funding for PSOB death benefits, which is considered mandatory spending, and for PSOB disability benefits and PSOEA benefits, which is subject to annual appropriations. For FY2019, the one-time lump-sum PSOB death and disability benefit is $359,316 and the PSOEA monthly benefit for a student attending an educational institution full-time is $1,224. In FY2017, the DOJ approved 399 claims for PSOB death benefits, 82 claims for PSOB disability benefits, and 601 claims for PSOEA benefits.