Department of Homeland Security

Office of Inspector General 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and 


Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 


Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants
 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
 

OIG-10-21 December 2009 
 

 

 

 

Office of Inspector General 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Washington, DC 20528 

 December 3, 2009 

Preface 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was 

established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment to 

the Inspector General Act of 1978. This report is one of a series of audit, inspection, and 

special reports prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities for programs, grants and 

projects administered by the department under the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009. 

At the request of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, we distributed a 

survey to the DHS components that administer Recovery Act funds to obtain information 

about contracting and grant management capabilities. The Board prepared the survey to 

meet its responsibility to determine whether the federal government has a sufficient 

number of adequately trained acquisition personnel administering Recovery Act contracts 

and grants. 

Our report summarizes and highlights responses to the survey from the DHS components 

that administer Recovery Act funds - the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border 

Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security 

Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Office of the Under 

Secretary for Management of DHS. 

As this report is for information purposes only, it does not present any recommendations. 

We express our appreciation to those DHS officials who responded to this survey under 

very short time constraints. 

Richard L. Skinner 

Inspector General 
 

Table of Contents/Abbreviations 

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 

Background ......................................................................................................................... 2 

Results of Survey ................................................................................................................ 4 

Staffing Recovery Act Work...................................................................................... 5 

Impact on Recovery Act Work of Staffing Shortfalls................................................ 5 

Impact on Non-Recovery Act Work of Staffing Recovery Act Work....................... 6 

Qualifications of Acquisition and Grant Staff ........................................................... 7 

DHS Actions to Address Acquisition and Grant Workforce Staffing Needs ............ 7 

Appendices 

Appendix A: Objective, Scope, and Methodology........................................................ 9 

Appendix B: Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on 

Appendix C: Status of Recommendations Contained in the GAO Report Entitled 

 the Number and Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces......... 10 

A Strategic Approach is Needed to Better Ensure the Acquisition 

Workforce Can Meet Mission Needs, GAO-09-30 ................................ 16 

Appendix D: Major Contributors ................................................................................ 17 

Appendix E: Report Distribution................................................................................ 18 

Abbreviations 

ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

CBP U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency 

GAO Government Accountability Office 

ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

OIG Office of Inspector General 

TSA Transportation Security Administration 

USGS United States Coast Guard 

USM Office of the Under Secretary for Management 
 

 

OIG
 Department of Homeland Security 

Office of Inspector General 

Executive Summary 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2000 (Recovery 

Act) provided $787 billion to the federal government to provide an 

economic stimulus to the U.S. economy. Of that amount, the 

Department of Homeland Security received $2.75 billion for various 

projects run by the Office of the Under Secretary for Management, 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. 

Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

This report highlights and summarizes the department’s responses to 

a government-wide survey designed to measure the capability of the 

federal government’s acquisition and grant workforce to administer 

Recovery Act funds. The survey was prepared by the Recovery 

Accountability and Transparency Board as part of its responsibility 

to oversee Recovery Act funds. 

Of the six departmental components, the Transportation Security 

Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

which administer 58 percent of the department’s Recovery Act 

funds, reported that they do not have enough staff to adequately 

award and/or monitor Recovery Act funds. As a result, they 

forecasted decreased oversight on both Recovery Act and nonRecovery Act agreements. Regarding staff qualifications, all 

components said that their acquisition and grant staff, for the most 

part, would meet training requirements. 

This report is presented for informational purposes only and 

therefore does not contain any recommendations. However, we 

noted that the department has actions in process to upgrade its 

acquisition and grant staff in response to prior reviews. 

Finally, the Board will use the department’s responses and those 

from other federal agencies to prepare a government-wide report on 

the sufficiency of contract and grant staff to oversee Recovery Act 

funds. 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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 COMPONENT 

AMOUNT 

(in millions) ACTIVITY 

 

Office of the Under 

Secretary for 

Management 

 

 $200 • DHS Headquarters 

Building Consolidation 

U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection 

$420 

$100 

•

•

Land Ports of Entry 

Non-Intrusive Inspection 

Technology 

$100 • Southwest Border 

Technology 

$60 • Tactical Communications 

 

U.S. Immigration 

and Customs 

 $20 • Tactical Communications 

Enforcement 

 

Transportation 

Security 

 $1,000 •	 Baggage and Passenger 

Screening Equipment 

Administration 

 

Coast Guard $142 • Alteration of Bridges 

 $98 • Shore Facilities, Aids to 

Navigation, Priority 

Procurements, and Vessel 

Repairs 

 

Federal Emergency 

Management 

Agency 

 $210 

 $100 

•

•

Assistance to Firefighter 

Grants 

Emergency Food and 

Shelter Grants

 $150 • Transit and Rail Security 

Grants 

 $150 • Port Security Grants 

Background 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery 

Act or ARRA) made available to federal agencies approximately 

$787 billion for preserving and stimulating growth in the United 

States economy. Components within the the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) received $2.75 billion for the following 

activities: 

Based on the nature of the funded activities, the Office of the Under 

Secretary for Management (USM), U.S. Customs and Border 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Protection (CBP), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

(ICE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the U.S. 

Coast Guard (USGS) will be administering Recovery Act contracts 

and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be 

managing Recovery Act grants. 

Section 1521 of the ARRA created the Recovery Accountability and 

Transparency Board1

 to “coordinate and conduct oversight of 

covered [Recovery Act] funds to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.” 

The functions of the Board include “reviewing whether there are 

sufficient qualified acquisition and grant personnel overseeing 

covered funds; and . . . whether personnel whose duties involve 

acquisitions or grants made with covered funds receive adequate 

training.” 

To obtain a current benchmark of the acquisition and grant 

communities in the federal government while Recovery Act funds 

are being awarded, the Board, in consultation with the Department 

of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, developed a survey. 

Instructions from the Board explained that the survey is divided into 

seven sections corresponding to the categories of officials who make 

up the acquisition and grant workforce, as follows: 

•	 Acquisition 

1. Contracting Officer 

2. Contracting Officer Technical Representative/Contracting 

Officer Representative 

3. Contracting Program/Project Managers 

4. Contracting Support Personnel 

•	 Grant 

5. Grants Officer 

6. Grant Program/Project Managers 

7. Grant Support Specialists 

For each of the seven workforce categories, there are roughly 15 to 

20 questions designed to obtain: 

•	 Statistics on the number of total staff, number of staff on 

Recovery Act work, and percentage of time staff spent/will spend 

on Recovery Act activities from April 1, 2009, though June 30, 

2009; from July 1, 2009, through December 31, 2009; and from 

1

 The RAT Board consists of a Chairman and 12 Inspectors General from the Departments of 

Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, 

Interior, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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January 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010; 

• Number of additional staff needed for Recovery Act work; 

• Impact of not having enough staff; 

• Training requirements; and 

• Training received 

We provided the survey to the department’s Senior Accountable 

Official for the Recovery Act on August 5, 2009, and conducted an 

entrance conference to discuss the survey with department 

contracting and grant officials on August 6, 2009. The Senior 

Accountable Official distributed the survey on August 11, 2009, to 

the departmental components that received Recovery Act funds. 

The Senior Accountable Official requested that the components send 

the completed surveys to our office by August 31, 2009. 

We received one completed survey each from USM, CBP, ICE, 

TSA, and USCG. FEMA submitted five survey responses, one each 

for the three units that administer Recovery Act funds and two from 

its Grants Management Directorate. FEMA is the only DHS 

component administering Recovery Act grants; and does not 

manage any Recovery Act contracts. 

In accordance with Board instructions, we provided them with the 

survey responses on September 11, 2009. The Board will combine 

the responses from all applicable federal agencies administering 

Recovery Act funds and issue a consolidated report in December 

2009. The Board also authorized Inspectors General to issue a 

report on the survey responses for their agencies. 

Results of Survey 

Of the DHS components receiving Recovery Act funds, only TSA 

and FEMA reported that they do not have enough staff to adequately 

award and/or monitor Recovery Act funds. As a result, they 

forecasted decreased oversight on both Recovery Act and nonRecovery Act agreements. Regarding qualifications and training of 

staff who are required to have training, all components said that 

their acquisition and grant staff, for the most part, would meet 

training requirements. Further discussion of the survey responses 

are presented below. Summaries of selected data on the number and 

training of acquisition and grant workforces by DHS components 

are shown in Appendix B. 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Staffing Recovery Act Work 

•	 TSA replied that it has enough contracting officers but that it 

needs an additional six contracting officer’s technical 

representatives, six program managers, and three contract 

specialists. TSA received $1 billion (36 percent) of the $2.75 

billion. 

•	 FEMA answered that it does not have enough grant program 

mangers to award and administer Recovery Act grants totaling 

$610 million (22 percent) of the total DHS Recovery Act funds. 

In particular, the responses from the three units that administer 

the Port and Transit, Fire Assistance, and Emergency Food and 

Shelter grants indicated a need for two additional grant program 

managers per program. The response from FEMA’s Grants 

Management Division said that, prior to receipt of Recovery Act 

funds, it estimated a need for 34 additional grant program 

specialists/support personnel. The Grants Management Division 

response did not identify the additional staff needed for 

Recovery Act fund management, but it did say that staff will be 

working overtime to meet needs. 

•	 CBP, USCG, ICE, and USM responded that they have sufficient 

acquisition staff to award and monitor Recovery Act contracts. 

These components received $1.14 billion (42 percent) of the 

$2.75 billion received by DHS. 

Impact on Recovery Act Work of Staffing Shortfalls 

•	 TSA said that its Recovery Act work will be hindered by the 

lack of acquisition staff. For instance, the response said that: 

COTRs [Contracting Officers Technical 

Representatives] are performing their regular 

duties in addition to their Recovery Act 

responsibilities. This means that our resources 

are heavily overburdened. This situation has 

the potential to cause increased errors and 

difficulty with timely reporting as our staff is 

focused on performing multiple duties 

concurrently. 

•	 FEMA’s units that administer Recovery Act grant 

programs predicted that the lack of staff will cause 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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delays in the initiation of fire assistance 

construction projects and decreased oversight of 

port, transit, and emergency food and shelter grants. 

Impact on Non-Recovery Act Work of Staffing 

Recovery Act Work 

•	 TSA forecasted adverse impacts on its non-Recovery Act 

contracts including reduced quality of work, lack of sufficient 

oversight of contracts, slower response time to contractual issues, 

and missed deadlines. 

•	 FEMA anticipated delays in regular grant activities and that 

grantees may not get as much direct support, onsite program 

monitoring, and technical assistance as they might need. 

•	 CBP, ICE, and USM forecasted minimal impact on nonRecovery Act work. For example, CBP said that: 

In many instances, Recovery Act projects aligned 

with procurement and program work already 

underway, in these instances, economies of scale 

and efficiencies were leveraged. Also, delaying 

non-ARRA procurement and program work has 

allowed the agency to focus its resources on 

these projects. 

•	 USCG reported that, in addition to deferring non-Recovery Act 

work; there may be other unfavorable consequences. For 

example, USCG said that: 

Oversight of non-ARRA contracting actions 

has decreased, quality of work has decreased as 

staff tries to absorb ARRA responsibilities, 

new initiatives have been delayed, and training 

has been delayed. In addition, non-warranted 

support will have to award/administer nonARRA actions to allow time for the warranted 

support to award/administer the ARRA funded 

actions. 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Qualifications of Acquisition and Grant Staff 

•	 TSA, USCG, ICE, CPB and USM responded that most of the 

Contracting Officers, Contracting Officers Technical 

Representatives, and Program Managers are or will soon be 

certified.2 

•	 CBP stated that the Contracting Officers and Contracting 

Officers Technical Representatives will all be certified by June 

2010, with the majority being certified by December 2009. CPB 

also said that the program managers assigned to several 

Recovery Act projects are not certified to the appropriate level. 

CBP's goal is to ensure certification at the appropriate levels for 

all Program Managers supporting both Recovery and nonRecovery workload. 

•	 FEMA responded that they have no contracting staff in need of 

certification relative to Recovery Act work. The FEMA units 

supporting the Port and Transit, and Fire Assistance grants 

reported that all assigned grant program mangers will have 

satisfied FEMA’s training requirements.3

 However, FEMA 

reported that one Grant Program Manager supporting the 

Emergency Food and Shelter Program has not satisfied all 

agency-specific requirements. 

DHS Actions to Address Acquisition and Grant 

Workforce Staffing Needs 

DHS has actions in process to address acquisition and grant 

workforce staffing needs. 

In response to a report4

 issued by the Government Accountability 

Office (GAO), DHS is implementing five recommendations to 

enhance its acquisition workforce. The status of the 

recommendations as of September 2009 is presented in Appendix C. 

2

 Office of Federal Procurement Policy Letter 05-01, Developing and Managing the Acquisition Workforce, 

presents the requirements for federal agencies for training and certifying contracting officials (series GS – 1102). 3

To be a Grants Program Officer within FEMA, staff must: (1) have at least 3 to 5 years experience awarding 

and managing grants to states; and (2) be a certified grants manager or have equivalent professional 

experience with increasing levels of responsibility in grants management. 

4 Department of Homeland Security: A Strategic Approach Is Needed to Better Ensure the Acquisition 

Workforce Can Meet Mission Needs, GAO-09-30, issued November 19, 2008. 

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Our report on the Management Challenges Facing the Department 

of Homeland Security identified grants management as one of the 

department’s major challenges. In that regard, FEMA does not 

consistently and comprehensively execute its two major oversight 

activities, financial and program monitoring. This occurs, in part, 

because FEMA does not have sufficient grants management staff. 

FEMA has formed an Intra-Agency Grants Program Task Force that 

has developed a FEMA Grants Strategy to drive future 

enhancements in grants policies, procedures, systems, and processes. 

The task force has identified projects including the development of 

comprehensive grant management monitoring policies and 

procedures for the FEMA directorates with program management 

and oversight responsibilities. 

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Appendix A 

Objective, Scope, and Methodology 

The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board asked Inspectors General to 

distribute a survey of federal agency contracting and grant staffing and qualifications. 

The Board will use the results of the survey to issue a report on the sufficiency of the 

number and training of the federal government’s contracting and grants staff 

overseeing Recovery Act funds. The objective of our report is to highlight and 

summarize the survey responses from DHS. 

The survey was prepared for the Board by the Office of Inspector General, Department of 

Commerce. The Board instructed Inspectors General to issue the survey to the Senior 

Accountable Official for the Recovery Act in each Agency for subsequent distribution to 

agency components. We gave the survey to the Senior Accountable Official on August 6, 

2009, who directed the components to respond to us by August 31, 2009. One response 

was received from CBP, USM, ICE, TSA, and USCG. FEMA submitted five responses. 

All responses were received by September 11, 2009. 

From the completed surveys, we tallied key data from each of the respondents. We did not 

validate the data contained in the responses because it was not required by the Board. To 

familiarize our self with the subject matter, we reviewed the Recovery Act; related DHS, 

Office of Management and Budget, and Board guidance; recent General Accountability 

Office and DHS-OIG reports pertaining to acquisition and grant staffing; and related DHS 

responses to the reports. 

We prepared our report between September 14 and October 9, 2009. 

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Reported Information 

Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 15.0 22.0 23.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 3.0 3.0 3.0 Officers Staff Certified1 3.0 3.0 3.0 Representative FTE2 0.2 0.5 0.5 

 

Total Staff 15.0 19.0 20.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 15.0 19.0 20.0 Program Staff Certified1 15.0 19.0 20.0 Managers FTE2 3.8 9.5 10.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Support Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Personnel FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grant Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Officers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to ARRA work in the category and time period 

that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to ARRA work based 

of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed on the basis 

of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time period divided 

by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

Office of Under Secretary for Management 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

Total Staff 88.0 95.0 109.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 8.0 16.0 17.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 8.0 16.0 17.0 

FTE2 1.5 8.4 8.7 

 

Total Staff 1,385.0 1,510.0 1,710.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 9.0 14.0 15.0 Officers Staff Certified1 4.0 7.0 7.0 Representative FTE2 1.3 5.9 6.3 

 

Total Staff 813.0 813.0 813.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 6.0 8.0 7.0 Program Staff Certified1 4.0 6.0 7.0 Managers FTE2 1.0 2.6 2.3 

 

Total Staff 117.0 152.0 157.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 5.0 9.0 9.0 Support Staff Certified1 5.0 9.0 9.0 Personnel FTE2 0.4 2.6 2.6 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grant Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Officers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

Customs and Border Protection 

Reported Information 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to Recovery Act work in the category and time 

period that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to Recovery Act 

work based of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed 

on the basis of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time 

period divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Reported Information 

Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

 

Total Staff 105.0 115.0 125.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 2.0 2.0 2.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 2.0 2.0 2.0 

FTE2 0.2 0.6 0.4 

 

Total Staff 677.0 707.0 737.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 2.0 2.0 2.0 Officers Staff Certified1 2.0 2.0 2.0 Representative FTE2 0.3 0.7 0.7 

 

Total Staff 33.0 66.0 99.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 3.0 3.0 3.0 Program Staff Certified1 3.0 3.0 3.0 Managers FTE2 0.4 0.8 0.8 

 

Total Staff 98.0 98.0 98.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 2.0 2.0 2.0 Support Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Personnel FTE2 0.1 0.5 0.3 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grant Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Officers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to Recovery Act work in the category and time 

period that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to Recovery Act 

work based of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed 

on the basis of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time 

period divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Reported Information 

Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

 

Total Staff 44.0 46.0 46.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 6.0 6.0 6.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 6.0 6.0 6.0 

FTE2 1.5 4.1 4.1 

 

Total Staff 447.0 510.0 550.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 9.0 9.0 9.0 Officers Staff Certified1 8.0 8.0 9.0 Representative FTE2 0.8 1.7 1.6 

 

Total Staff 295.0 302.0 310.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 25.0 25.0 25.0 Program Staff Certified1 15.0 15.0 25.0 Managers FTE2 2.3 5.5 4.5 

 

Total Staff 57.0 59.0 59.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 4.0 5.0 5.0 Support Staff Certified1 4.0 5.0 5.0 Personnel FTE2 0.5 1.8 1.8 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grant Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Officers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to Recovery Act work in the category and time 

period that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to Recovery Act 

work based of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed 

on the basis of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time 

period divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

Transportation Security Administration 

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Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

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Reported Information 

Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

 

Total Staff 465.0 509.0 509.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 5.0 6.0 7.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 5.0 6.0 7.0 

FTE2 0.6 1.9 2.3 

 

Total Staff 1,830.0 1,941.0 2,060.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 11.0 11.0 11.0 Officers Staff Certified1 11.0 11.0 11.0 Representative FTE2 0.8 1.4 1.5 

 

Total Staff 104.0 92.0 92.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 7.0 7.0 7.0 Program Staff Certified1 6.0 7.0 7.0 Managers FTE2 0.9 1.8 1.8 

 

Total Staff 218.0 218.0 218.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 3.0 6.0 6.0 Support Staff Certified1 3.0 5.0 6.0 Personnel FTE2 0.4 1.5 1.5 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grant Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Officers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

U.S. Coast Guard 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to Recovery Act work in the category and time 

period that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to Recovery Act 

work based of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed 

on the basis of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time 

period divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

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Reported Information 

Actual Forecasted Forecasted 

04/01/09 07/01/09 01/10/10 

Staff to to to 

Category Description 06/30/09 12/31/09 06/30/10 

 

Total Staff 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Contracting Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 

Officers Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 9.0 14.0 16.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 2.0 4.0 4.0 Officers Staff Certified1 2.0 4.0 4.0 Representative FTE2 0.1 0.9 0.7 

 

Total Staff 10.0 12.0 17.0 Contracting Staff on ARRA 0.0 0.0 0.0 Program Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Managers FTE2 0.0 0.0 0.0 

 

Total Staff 4.5 7.5 7.5 Contracting Staff on ARRA 1.0 3.5 3.5 Support Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 Personnel FTE2 0.1 1.8 1.8 

 

Total Staff 16.0 16.0 16.0 

Staff on ARRA 16.0 16.0 16.0 Grant Staff Certified1 16.0 16.0 16.0 Officers FTE2 0.2 2.4 0.4 

 

Total Staff 42.0 54.0 66.0 

Grant Staff on ARRA 13.0 22.0 36.0 

Program Staff Certified1 10.0 19.0 33.0 

Managers FTE2 1.1 3.6 4.3 

 

Total Staff 56.0 57.0 70.0 

Grant Support Staff on ARRA 31.0 31.0 37.0 

Specialists Staff Certified1 0.0 0.0 0.0 

FTE2 0.4 4.5 1.0 

 

1

Indicates the number of staff assigned to Recovery Act work in the category and time 

period that have received requisite certifications and/or training. 2

Full time equivalent (FTE) represents the number of FTE assigned to Recovery Act 

work based of actual/forecasted hours worked for each time period. FTE’s are computed 

on the basis of total hours worked for all Recovery Act staff in the category and time 

period divided by the maximum number of compensable hours in a work year. 

Appendix B 

Summaries of Selected Data Reported by DHS Components on the Number and 

Training of Acquisition and Grant Workforces 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

15 
 

 

Recommendations Status as of September 2009 

 

1. Establish an interim working definition of Partially Complete. The definition is finished 

the acquisition workforce that more and DHS will add career fields to the definition 

accurately reflects the employees as it expands into those fields. 

performing acquisition-related functions to 

guide current efforts, while continuing to 

formally add career fields to the definition. 

 

2. Determine whether the department’s Partially Complete. The Office of the Chief 

current initiatives related to recruiting and Procurement Officer will expand the departmenthiring are appropriate for acquisition-related wide Acquisition Professional Career Program 

career fields other than contract specialists with 14 technical participants to generate a total 

and, if so, develop plans to implement the of 100 participants by the end of fiscal year 

initiatives within the broader acquisition 2009. DHS also partnered with the Federal 

workforce. Acquisition Institute to develop a plan to recruit 

mid-level career professionals. 

 

3. Develop a comprehensive Partially Complete. An Acquisition Workforce 

implementation plan to execute the existing Human Capital and Succession Plan has been 

DHS acquisition workforce initiatives. The submitted to the Office of Federal Procurement 

implementation plan should include Policy. Numerous related actions are in process 

elements such as performance goals, time such as growing the centralized hiring concept, 

frames, implementation actions and related executing a centralized training program, and 

milestones, and resource requirements. leveraging of direct hire and using reemployed 

annuitants to fill critical vacancies. 

 

4. Direct the Chief Human Capital Officer In Process. The Acquisition Workforce Human 

and the Chief Procurement Officer to Capital and Succession Plan was jointly 

establish a joint process for coordinating developed and all reporting requirements for use 

future acquisition workforce planning of the hiring flexibilities are being coordinated. 

efforts with the components for the The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer 

purposes of informing department-wide includes the Human Capital Office on the 

planning efforts. invitations and distribution lists for applicable 

meetings. 

 

5. Improve the collection and maintenance In Process. DHS is represented on the Office of 

of data on the acquisition workforce. Federal Procurement Policy working group that 

is addressing this issue on a government-wide 

basis. 

Appendix C 

Status of Recommendations Contained in the GAO Report Entitled Department of 

Homeland Security: A Strategic Approach is Needed to Better Ensure the Acquisition 

Workforce Can Meet Mission Needs, GAO-09-30 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

16 
 

Appendix D 

Major Contributors 

Roger LaRouche, Director 

Andrea Rambow, Desk Officer 

J. Eric Barnett, Auditor - Project Lead 

Virginia Feliciano, Auditor 

Jeffrey Balsewicz, Program Analyst 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

17 
 

Appendix E 

Report Distribution 

Department of Homeland Security 

Secretary 

Deputy Secretary 

Chief of Staff for Operations 

Chief of Staff for Policy 

General Counsel 

Executive Secretariat 

Director, GAO/OIG Liaison Office 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Policy 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Public Affairs 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Legislative Affairs 

Under Secretary for Management 

DHS Acting Chief Procurement Officer 

Director Office of Procurement Operations 

DHS Component Liaison, FEMA 

DHS Component Liaison, CBP 

DHS Component Liaison, TSA 

DHS Component Liaison, USCG 

DHS Component Liaison, ICE 

DHS component Liaison, USM 

Office of Management and Budget 

Chief, Homeland Security Branch 

DHS OIG Budget Examiner 

Congress 

Congressional Oversight and Appropriations Committees, as 

appropriate 

Survey of the Number, Qualifications, and Training of DHS Personnel Responsible for 

Administering Recovery Act Contracts and Grants 

18 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND COPIES 

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fax your request to (202) 254-4305, or visit the OIG web site at www.dhs.gov/oig. 

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