State Department: Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided to American Citizens Overseas, but Improved Monitoring Is Needed
Published: 2009-09-24T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: In 2008, the Department of State (State) estimated nearly 5 million U.S. citizens lived overseas, and 64 million trips were taken overseas by U.S. citizens. Since protecting and serving U.S. citizens abroad are among State's chief priorities, State must be prepared to provide emergency assistance to Americans abroad. This report describes (1) what services State provides to U.S. citizens who are the victims of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need emergency services; (2) how State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens who are in need of emergency services; and (3) how State monitors the assistance it provides to U.S. citizens in need of emergency services.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: State provides a number of emergency services to American citizens abroad through its network of 267 embassies and consulates in 174 countries. State's emergency services cover circumstances including deaths, arrests, medical or financial concerns, crime, and missing persons' cases. State provides emergency assistance to Americans at all hours, and provides information such as travel warnings to travelers and U.S. citizens living overseas through a variety of mechanisms, including the department's embassy and consulate Web sites. However, our review of a random sample of posts' Web sites found that only 14 percent had emergency phone numbers on the Web sites' main page. State also maintains a warden system to disseminate information from the embassy to U.S. citizens living in the country, and can send messages directly to Americans who provide contact information to the department. State has trained staff dedicated to providing emergency assistance overseas as well as in Washington, D.C. Depending on the size of the post, American Citizen Services (ACS) may be provided by multiple staff, or a single consular officer serving as the sole provider of all consular services including emergency services. Locally engaged staff are a key component of posts' provision of emergency services, as is State's ability to deploy staff where needed when emergencies arise. State provides guidance, largely through the Foreign Affairs Manual, formal on-the-job training, and other resources to ensure staff are able to carry out these services. The Bureau of Consular Affairs has a variety of mechanisms to monitor its provision of emergency services; however, all of these mechanisms have limitations and, as a result, Consular Affairs cannot be assured it is allocating its resources effectively. The ACS system, which is intended to track emergency services provided by posts, and the consular package, which provides post-specific workload information to guide consular resource allocations, both contain unreliable data. For example, reporting weaknesses and unclear guidance associated with the ACS system prevent posts from accurately monitoring and evaluating their workload or using the data to make management decisions. Although State shifts its consular resources to meet emergency demands, absent current and reliable data on the worldwide demand for emergency services, Consular Affairs may not make decisions based on a clear understanding of the global workload.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Serving and protecting the nearly 5 million Americans who reside overseas  as well as the U.S. citizens who take more than 64 million trips to foreign  countries each year are chief priorities of the Department of State (State).  State’s 260-plus embassies and consulates around the world have staff  dedicated to assisting Americans facing emergencies overseas, such as  providing death notification to the next of kin, or visiting Americans who  have been arrested to ensure they are being treated humanely and  understand the charges against them and the country’s judicial process. In  a high-profile case that took place during the 2008 Summer Olympics in  Beijing, the father-in-law of a U.S. coach was killed by a Chinese national.  In response, the U.S. embassy in Beijing aided the victim’s family by  coordinating assistance with Chinese officials and the police, as well as  the hospital and funeral home; assisting with repatriating the deceased’s  remains; and directing the family to the various services available to  victims of crime overseas.
Current State data indicate the number of U.S. citizens traveling, working,  and studying abroad continues to grow, leading to a growing number of  Americans who may need U.S. government-provided emergency services  during their travel. For example, State reported that about 3,500 American  citizens were arrested abroad in 2004, while close to 6,000 were arrested in  2008.
This report addresses: (1) what services State provides to U.S. citizens  who are the victims of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need  emergency services; (2) how State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens in  need of emergency services; and (3) how State monitors the assistance it  provides to U.S. citizens in need of emergency services.
To describe the services State provides to U.S. citizens who receive  emergency services overseas, we interviewed State officials from the  Bureau of Consular Affairs (Consular Affairs) and the Office of Overseas  Citizens Services and reviewed State guidance, specifically the Foreign  Affairs Manual (FAM) chapter dealing with Consular Protection of U.S.  nationals abroad. We also traveled to China, Germany, Mexico, Thailand,  and South Africa to observe how assistance is provided through U.S.  embassies and consulates. We reviewed a random sample of embassy and  consulate Web sites to identify the presence of emergency contact  information on those sites. To describe how State is prepared to assist U.S.  citizens in need of emergency services, we interviewed Consular Affairs  officials regarding the process for determining resource allocations to  posts that provide services to U.S. citizens. We also reviewed the training,  guidance, and support provided for consular staff, and interviewed  Foreign Service officers (FSO) and locally employed staff (LES) about the  training and resources available for American Citizen Services (ACS)  related activities. In addition, we reviewed guidance and support available  to assist staff, such as the FAM, post-specific operating procedures, and  the duty program; and observed FSOs and LES overseas in five countries  providing routine and emergency services such as visiting prisoners in jail.  To assess how State monitors emergency assistance to U.S. citizens and  how management uses this information, we interviewed officials from  Consular Affairs and FSOs overseas about two consular reporting systems.  In addition, we reviewed the 2010 Consular Bureau’s Strategic Plan, as  well as the Mission Strategic Plans for four of the five countries we visited.  We also interviewed all seven Regional Consular Officers who are  responsible for providing guidance to more than 90 small posts around the  world, and reviewed 43 of their trip reports, which included findings and  recommendations regarding the provision of ACS in the countries they  cover.
We conducted this performance audit from October 2008 to September  2009, 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. Appendix I contains a  more detailed description of our scope and methodology.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: The protection of American citizens overseas, including the provision of  emergency services, is one of State’s primary functions. Providing these  services is the responsibility of Consular Affairs and is carried out by  embassies and consulates. Emergency services available to American  citizens overseas include dealing with arrests, death cases, financial or  medical emergencies, welfare and whereabouts inquiries, and victims of  crimes.
State also assists victims of terrorism, kidnapping, child abduction, and  child abuse. In addition to providing assistance to American citizens in  need of emergency services, State also provides routine services, including  issuing citizenship documentation; overseeing federal benefit payments to  American citizens living in foreign countries; providing information on  absentee voting; and notarizing documents. These activities are referred to  as American Citizen Services, or ACS, both in Washington, D.C., and at  embassies and consulates. Before U.S. citizens can receive assistance, they  must first provide proof of U.S. citizenship. In cases where there is  uncertainty about citizenship, State regulations indicate that consular  officers should err on the side of providing services until U.S. citizenship  can be determined.
While U.S. citizens may seek assistance from State regarding American  citizens overseas, the Privacy Act of 1974 limits what written, oral, and  electronic information State can share about these citizens. Among the  protections the Privacy Act established for individuals, subject to certain  exceptions, federal agencies, including State, are required to seek consent  from a U.S. citizen before disclosing information held in a system of record  regarding that person. Only after consent is received may information  regarding a U.S. citizen be shared with family or friends, as well as other  U.S. government agencies or private entities. Exceptions include  instances in which State deems that an American citizen’s health and  safety are in jeopardy. Within Consular Affairs, the directorate of  Overseas Citizen Services in Washington, D.C., is charged with protecting  and providing services to U.S. citizens abroad. Consular Affairs also has  responsibility for several other activities, including issuing passports and  visas (see fig. 1). Within the Overseas Citizen Services, the Office of  American Citizens Services and Crisis Management is responsible for  providing emergency and routine services to U.S. citizens, and assistance  during major crises such as the 2006 Lebanon evacuation. The Office of  American Citizens Services and Crisis Management is organized according  to regional divisions that cover Africa; East Asia Pacific; Europe; Near  East, South, and Central Asia; and the Western Hemisphere.
Overseas, emergency services are provided by State’s 267 embassies and  consulates in 174 countries. Emergency assistance and some basic  consular services are also provided by 46 consular agencies, which are an  extension of existing embassies and consulates and generally service  locations that are far from a post but where a large number of U.S. citizens  live or visit. For example, Mexico has 14 consular agencies in addition to  its embassy in Mexico City and 9 consulates.
Approximately 5,000 people work in consular sections at posts overseas,  according to Consular Affairs. Of these consular positions overseas,  approximately 1,450 are FSOs, 3,000 are LES, and the remaining 550 are in  other positions. Each post has a consular section that assists American  citizens with services including routine and emergency services, and most  consular sections also issue nonimmigrant visas. The ACS sections of  these posts employ a variety of consular staff—FSOs, LES, employed  family members, consular associates, consular agents, and Regional  Consular Officers—to assist American citizens. Each consular section  must have at least one FSO who provides management and oversight to  the section and administers certain emergency services that only an FSO  can provide, such as issuing a passport or a report of death. LES perform  much of the routine and administrative services provided by the section,  and often assist FSOs with emergency services. In addition to FSOs and  LES, some posts also employ family members and consular associates.  Consular agencies are not assigned an FSO; rather they are assigned a  consular agent, which is a noncareer appointee of the Foreign Service,  who acts under the supervision and direction of the consular officer at the  supervisory post.
The provision of emergency services overseas, as well as the support  provided by Overseas Citizens Services in Washington, D.C., is funded  through a mixture of sources including limited direct appropriations and  various fees collected by State. According to State, for fiscal year 2008,  Consular Affairs collected revenues exceeding $2 billion of which it  retained just over $1 billion for its operating costs, with the remainder of  the funds provided to the Department of the Treasury or shared with other  bureaus in State. The majority of funding for Consular Affairs comes  from consular service fees, specifically Machine Readable Visa fees. These  fees are collected and retained by Consular Affairs to fund consular  operations domestically and overseas, and to fund part of the operations  of the regional bureaus. Consular Affairs was unable to provide us the  amount of funding that specifically supports ACS operations both  domestically and overseas because ACS costs are integrated into Consular  Affairs’ and the regional bureaus’ total costs and not broken out  separately.
section_title: State Provides a Variety of Emergency Services to Americans Abroad
paragraphs: State provides an extensive range of around-the-clock services to  Americans in need of emergency assistance overseas. State also provides  emergency information, through several means, to American travelers  citizens living abroad on travel and other information of concern, and  maintains a warden system for disseminating information, which is  particularly important in countries with poor communications  infrastructure.
subsections: section_title: Types of E Services
paragraphs: State provides a variety of services to assist American citizens who face  emergencies while traveling or living abroad, including assistance to citize involving deaths, arrests, financial and medical assistance, accidents and  crimes, and inquiries into the welfare and whereabouts of citizens.
Assistance in death cases: According to State, providing assistance fo next of kin of a deceased American citizen abroad is one of the most  important and difficult tasks for FSOs abroad. Since 2003, State has  reported more than 48,000 death cases involving Americans abroad, wit more than 4,500 of those deaths attributed to nonnatural causes. FSOs  are required to endeavor to notify next of kin of the death of an American  h  citizen abroad as soon as possible and issue the report of death. State  regulations and training highlight the need to provide effective service, but  also to exhibit empathy and understanding for the next of kin, who may be  unfamiliar with the foreign laws governing death and the disposition of  remains. State guidance indicates that FSOs should attempt to comply  with the family’s wishes to the extent possible, but must also comply with  local regulations and laws, as well as U.S. laws, governing the  identification of remains, the disposition of remains, and autopsies. For  example, in the event that the death is a result of homicide, suicide, or an  accident, the host country is responsible for investigating the death. In  addition, posts assist with and facilitate the disposition of the deceased’s  remains, while instructions and funds for this activity are the exclusive  responsibility of the deceased’s next of kin or legal representative.
Assistance to arrestees: FSOs are charged with helping to maintain the legal  and human rights of American citizens arrested and detained abroad,  although American citizens may not be accorded the same rights and  judicial processes they would receive under the U.S. judicial system.  According to State data, approximately 25,000 American citizens worldwide  were arrested overseas from fiscal year 2003 through 2008. The host country  is generally required to inform a detained U.S. citizen of his right to consular  notification and to perform such notification if requested if it is a party to  the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations or has a bilateral treaty with  the United States. For some countries, consular notification is required  regardless of the U.S. detainee’s wishes, and consular officers are typically  granted the right to visit. Furthermore, State regulations require each post to  initially visit or contact the citizen as soon as possible following consular  notification or information about the arrest from another source, and visit  prisoners after sentencing every 6 months; develop information on the  judicial process of each country; and maintain an up-to-date list of attorneys  who have indicated a willingness to represent American citizens. During  our visit overseas, we observed an FSO and an LES visit incarcerated  American citizens on two occasions. They asked prisoners about their  health, gave them vitamins, and asked if they needed assistance from the  post. In one instance, a prisoner requested a new passport and the officer  completed the application during the visit.
Medical assistance: State may provide medical emergency loans to an  American citizen in need of emergency medical or dietary assistance if the  individual is destitute or incarcerated and cannot receive medical  assistance. For example, in some countries prisoners must pay for medical  assistance as well as food. According to State, approximately 5,300  citizens were provided emergency medical and dietary assistance loans  from fiscal year 2003 through 2008. In addition, in circumstances where a  citizen is critically injured or ill overseas and a local physician determines  the citizen is stable for travel, consular officers assist families in arranging  medical transportation and provide information regarding the policies and  procedures for evacuating a citizen to the United States. State data show  that over 5,000 American citizens received medical evacuations between  fiscal years 2003 and 2008. For example, at one consulate we observed an  FSO and an LES assist in the arrangement of a medical transport to the  United States for a citizen who was injured in a traffic accident. Both the  FSO and the LES worked with medical and local police officials to  coordinate the medical transport and settle any demands with the other  parties involved in the accident.
Financial assistance: State provides loans to destitute American citizens  to return to the United States. Prior to issuing a loan, the post is required  to make attempts to find other parties, family members, or friends who  might be willing to pay the costs, including transportation and temporary  lodging. When no support can be found, the post may provide a loan. Until  the loan is repaid, the citizen is barred from using or renewing his or her  passport. From fiscal year 2003 through 2008, ACS provided approximately  $5.5 million in loans for over 4,000 cases; approximately 40 percent of the  loans were repaid, according to State officials. In addition, State may also  facilitate the transfer of funds from a family member or friend to a  destitute American through an account established at State. The “trust” is  funded by the family, and State disburses the funds to the individual  overseas. Unused funds are returned to the family.
Assistance to victims of crime: In cases of violent crimes committed  against an American citizen, State addresses the emergency needs of the  victim. In addition, FSOs and LES provide information on the country’s  criminal justice system and, in general, ensure that the victim receives  necessary services while in the country and is provided information on  assistance that is available after returning to the United States. State created  the Crime Victims’ Assistance Program in 2000 because the needs of victims  involved in serious or violent crimes are notably different from other ACS  cases; additionally, some states have programs to assist these victims once  they return. The program focuses on assisting victims of serious crimes,  including homicide, sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, armed  robbery, assault, and kidnapping. Assistance to a victim is not conditioned  on the prosecution of a crime or the certainty a crime occurred.
Welfare and whereabouts of U.S. citizens: FSOs we met with indicated  that inquiries regarding the welfare or whereabouts of American citizens  overseas are the most common emergency assistance provided by posts.  According to State data, consular officers helped concerned families and  friends locate over 200,000 American citizens abroad annually from fiscal  year 2003 through 2008. FSOs and LES will call local authorities, including  police and immigration, as well as airlines, hotels, and hospitals, to locate  a citizen. Although FSOs and LES may find, contact, and deliver a message  to the citizen, the officials generally cannot disclose information about  that person, even to the party that instigated the search, without the  citizen’s consent due to requirements in the Privacy Act.
section_title: Emergency Assistance Provided at All Hours
paragraphs: Emergency assistance to American citizens is available and provided by  posts at any time of day or night. During regular business hours, an  American citizen can come to the post and request assistance. After hours,  the duty officer, an embassy official who is on call nights and weekends,  can be reached by phone, either directly via an emergency phone number  or through the post’s guard station or operator, to handle emergencies  such as death and arrest cases. Consular Affairs also maintains a duty  officer in Washington, D.C., to respond to inquiries and emergencies both  domestically and from posts during nonbusiness hours. Additionally,  Consular Affairs contracts with a call center in Florida that handles both  routine information requests and emergency calls. Emergency service- related calls are forwarded by the center to consular officials in  Washington. According to call center data, from October through  December 2008, 92 percent of the calls were during normal business hours  and a small portion of these calls related to emergency services. For  example, 2 percent of the calls pertained to emergencies abroad, and less  than 1 percent pertained to locating people abroad.
section_title: Travel and Emergency Information Is Provided by Consular Affairs through Several Mechanisms
paragraphs: Consular Affairs provides information to travelers and Americans living  overseas through several of mechanisms. First, Consular Affairs provides a  variety of information on its consular Web site. Second, posts maintain a  warden system, which is used to communicate with Americans living  overseas. Third, in the event of an emergency, posts can directly contact  those individuals who registered their trip with the post.
Specifically, the Consular Affairs Web site includes the following  information:    Country-specific information such as the embassy or consulate location  and phone numbers in the host country, traffic and road safety  information, health conditions, entry regulations, crime and security  information, and drug penalties. The country-specific information is  updated semiannually.
Travel alerts that provide information on short-term conditions that pose  immediate risks. They generally remain in place for 90 days or less.
Travel warnings that describe long-term conditions that make countries  unsafe or unstable, and are updated every 6 months. Warnings recommend  that U.S. citizens defer or reconsider travel to a country.
Information for people studying overseas.
Embassies and consulates also maintain a warden system for American  citizens living overseas. Wardens are typically American citizens who have  lived in a country or region and have volunteered their assistance. They  distribute both routine messages, including information on absentee  voting or income tax information, and emergency messages, and might  help establish assembly areas and evacuation routes if necessary.  Although communication has improved with the introduction of cell  phones, e-mail, and text messaging, State nonetheless continues to  maintain its warden system to ensure it can communicate with American  citizens about events or threats that may affect their personal security.
Consular Affairs also provides a mechanism to register one’s presence  overseas. The Internet Based Registration System allows American  citizens to provide information about their travels. If an emergency  occurs or there is a disaster, and the person has registered his or her  whereabouts with the post, the post will attempt to contact the citizen if it  becomes necessary. Registering travel overseas is optional and, according  to Consular Affairs, most citizens do not register. About 1.8 million people  have used the online registration system since it was launched in July  2004. According to Consular Affairs officials, posts are making efforts to  increase registrations by American citizens. For example, at posts we  visited, FSOs distributed handouts with registration information to  American citizens and to travel agencies and hotels that serve American  citizens, and included registration information on their Web sites.
section_title: Embassy and Consular Emergency Contact Information Could Be Improved
paragraphs: While State uses a variety of means, including Web sites, to provide  information for American citizens in need of emergency assistance,  emergency contact information is not immediately apparent on many  embassy or consulate Web sites. State’s main Web site has a link on its  front page, under “Travel,” that includes a subdirectory on emergency  services, which includes emergency phone numbers to call from the  United States or abroad (see fig. 2).
Emergency contact information, however, is not readily available on many  individual posts’ main Web site page, which, according to a senior  Consular Affairs official, is a best practice posts are encouraged to follow.  Consular Affairs guidance directs posts to provide the phone numbers for  ACS during business hours, and indicates that, if the number is different  for emergency calls during nonbusiness hours, it should be identified as an  emergency number. Based on a random sample of embassy and consulate  Web sites, we estimate that 14 percent had the post’s phone number on  the main page of its Web site. In addition, none of these Web sites  identified the phone number as an emergency assistance number. In order  to identify the emergency contact information, we had to search the post’s  Web site. While all of the posts in our sample had emergency contact  information posted on the ACS portion of the Web site, Consular Affairs  has experienced problems in the past with some of the information on the  ACS sites being outdated or incorrect. In one instance, an agency other  than State received welfare and whereabouts inquiries from an American  citizen who found the agency’s e-mail address listed on the consulate Web  site, but the inquiries were not forwarded to the ACS section. After the  incident, the post removed the agency’s e-mail address from the Consulate  Web site. In another instance, the emergency number for the post was  correct, but once the post was reached, the emergency contact number for  the duty officer did not work. In addition to post Web sites lacking contact  information, some sites also contained incorrect information on other  topics. For example, two other posts listed incorrect information  regarding the number of reports of death abroad that can be obtained from  the post free of charge.
section_title: State’s Ability to Provide Emergency Services Depends on Having Trained and Experienced Consular Staff
paragraphs: State relies on a cadre of trained consular staff to provide assistance to  U.S. citizens in need of emergency services. Some staff may rotate through  the ACS section at a larger post, whereas at smaller posts, the consular  officer may be the sole provider of all consular services, including  emergency services. LES are a key component of posts’ provision of  emergency services, as is State’s ability to move both FSOs and LES from  post to post when emergencies arise. State provides guidance, training,  and other resources to ensure staff are able to carry out these services.
subsections: section_title: A Post’s Size, Rotational Policy, and Experience Levels Affect the Provision of Emergency Services
paragraphs: The size of a post and number of FSOs and LES assigned to the consular  section affect whether staff specialize in the provision of emergency  services or rotate among various consular activities. For example, at large  posts, such as those in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, FSOs and  LES may specialize within the ACS section working either on emergency  or routine services. Furthermore, the FSOs and LES may be assigned to  specific emergency activities, such as making prison visits, handling death  cases, or managing welfare and whereabouts cases. In contrast, at small  posts that may have one or two FSOs, the FSOs are more likely to be  responsible for all consular-related activities, such as ACS duties both  routine and emergency, and may even split time between sections at the  post. For example, at one post we visited, one of the two FSOs split his  time between the consular and political sections.
Larger posts may also have a rotational policy under which entry-level  FSOs—FSOs on their first or second overseas tour—work in the ACS  section for only a brief time. Although State does not have an established  mandatory post rotational schedule or policy, the posts we visited  typically had FSOs on 6-month rotations, which provided them the  opportunity to experience all the different facets of the consular sections,  such as providing ACS services, conducting visa interviews, and issuing  passports. Both FSOs and LES we interviewed indicated that the rotating  staff must complete a training period of a few weeks in the ACS section  before an FSO can perform and provide emergency services  independently. Senior-level FSOs and Consular Affairs officials stated that  the rotations are important developmental opportunities that provide a  comprehensive consular experience for entry-level FSOs.
The experience level of FSOs performing ACS emergency services may  differ based on the size of the embassy or consulate. Larger posts  generally have a hierarchy of FSOs, some of whom have extensive  experience and can guide inexperienced officers. For example, the  embassy in Berlin has a Minister Counselor who oversees all consular  services in Germany, an FSO who is also the head of the consular and ACS  sections, and an entry-level FSO for ACS. Nine of the 12 posts we visited  had mid- or senior-level ACS FSOs that managed and interacted with staff,  and we also observed mid- and senior-level FSOs assisting American  citizens directly. In contrast, smaller posts may only have one or two  officers with limited Foreign Service experience. For example, at many  small posts in Africa, the FSOs are on their first or second overseas  assignment, according to Consular Affairs officials. To address the lack of  experience, FSOs at these posts receive guidance from staff in Washington  or from a Regional Consular Officer. Regional Consular Officers are  assigned to provide support to small posts and conduct assessments of a  post’s consular operations, as well as advise, train, and support the post’s  less-experienced FSOs.
section_title: LES Are Integral to Posts’ Provision of Emergency Services
paragraphs: LES are integral to posts’ provision of emergency services, since they  generally have years of experience assisting American citizens in need of  emergency services, speak the local language, and understand the local  culture and political and legal policies. These LES are also familiar with  State’s policies and procedures and, according to Consular Affairs officials  and FSOs at posts we visited, provide the post with institutional  knowledge and continuity. In general, the posts we visited had LES who  had worked in the consular section for years. For example, in Berlin,  Germany, three of the four LES had worked in the ACS section for more  than 20 years; in Beijing, China, two LES had worked in the ACS section  for 8 and 11 years respectively; and in Johannesburg, South Africa, the  senior LES had worked at the post for 25 years.
According to LES at posts we visited, a LES is often the first person an  American citizen encounters at a post, handling initial discussions on  issues ranging from welfare and whereabouts to arrests and deaths. LES  may use their local contacts to check hospitals, police, and hotels to  address a welfare and whereabouts call, or may assist with prison visits,  including sending the notification of visit request and accompanying the  FSO to the prison. According to an FSO, LES also conduct much of the  administrative work associated with emergency services and therefore are  often familiar with many of the details associated with a case, enabling  them to provide continuity concerning case information for families and  the department in spite of FSO departures or rotations to other posts.
section_title: State Has the Flexibility to Move FSOs and LES to ACS in Emergencies
paragraphs: Although not all ACS sections have a large number of FSOs and LES,  Consular Affairs reported that it has the flexibility to move these  individuals in an emergency. FSOs and LES may be moved from one part  of the consular section to the ACS section when an emergency  necessitates more resources, as was confirmed at posts we visited and  consistently reiterated by Consular Affairs officials. For example,  according to the Minister Counselor of Consular Affairs in Mexico, in  response to a hurricane in 2008, two consulates in Mexico reduced  nonimmigrant visa appointments and moved FSOs and LES within the  consular sections to respond to an increase in emergency services. FSOs  from other posts may also be temporarily reassigned to assist another  post. For example, during the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, the  Beijing post received FSOs from 10 posts, including Japan, Latvia, and  Turkey, according to an FSO at the embassy.
section_title: State Provides Guidance and Training to Assist Consular Staff Provide Emergency Services
paragraphs: To support the provision of emergency services by FSOs and LES posted  overseas, State provides specific guidance through the FAM, which takes  into account the flexibility needed to address case- and country-specific  details, according to Consular Affairs officials. For example, the FAM  provides step-by-step procedures on making death notifications, but also  recognizes the importance of being familiar with the laws and practices of  the host country regarding such issues as disposition of remains,  autopsies, and issuance of death certificates, as it is the host country’s  practices that dictate how a death case will be handled. The FAM  describes every type of emergency service provided by ACS, and outlines  what FSOs and LES can and cannot do. While the section of the FAM  dealing with emergency services is over 800 pages long, it is online and  searchable. According to Consular Affairs officials, the department sends  cables notifying posts when significant changes to the FAM occur, and  State’s intranet site also has a section dealing with updates to the FAM.
In addition to the FAM, some posts develop their own tailored guidance,  such as specific standard operating procedures, which incorporate  country-specific information, as well as handbooks for the duty officers  performing emergency assistance (referred to as a duty book). The  standard operating procedures are based on regulations and FAM  guidance, but may allow an FSO to find guidance more easily than by  searching the FAM. For example, the standard operating procedure for  arrests for the embassy in Beijing indicates which FSOs and LES are  assigned to these cases; designates the responsibilities for prison visits  and administrative tasks; describes the notification and visitation process,  including obtaining a Privacy Act waiver; and details other specific  administrative requirements. In addition, every post is required to develop  and maintain a duty book, which is intended to contain concise  instructions, advice, and references to regulations on the types of cases or  situations that may arise outside of business hours and that the duty  officer may not have prior experience addressing, since not all duty  officers work in the consular section at post. The duty book also  generally contains the phone numbers of the ACS FSOs and often  indicates that the duty officer should call the head of the ACS section or  an FSO in the consular section if unsure how to handle a situation. Our  review of duty books from the posts we visited found that all contained  instructions on calling the head of the ACS section if the duty officer was  unsure how to respond to a call.
According to State officials, State also requires that FSOs and LES receive  training to provide emergency services, which includes both mandatory  and voluntary training for both FSOs and LES that perform ACS duties,  provided by the Foreign Service Institute either in the United States or  abroad. For example, prior to an assignment abroad, every entry-level  FSO is required to attend the mandatory 6-week basic consular course,  which focuses on all consular services and, according to State officials,  includes 6 days devoted to the provision of ACS emergency services.  According to State officials, LES must also take certain consular courses  such as the consular correspondence course on the Laws and Regulations  Regarding Overseas Citizens Services. The course is designed to help  LES understand the large and complex body of laws and regulations  regarding services for American citizens overseas. In addition, newly hired  consular agents are required to attend ACS-related portions of the basic  consular course at the Foreign Service Institute within 6 months of  receiving their appointments. State has additional training focused  primarily on ACS, including a course on Assisting Victims of Crime and a  workshop on ACS designed for LES.
Despite the emphasis placed on formal training, the entry-level FSOs we  spoke with indicated that on-the-job training was the primary means by  which they learned what is involved in providing emergency services,  including the associated policies and procedures. For example, according  to an FSO, although the FAM provides guidance about making a death  notification to the next of kin, the challenges encountered in the situation  are difficult to understand until an FSO performs such a notification. The  FSOs indicated that on-the-job training and shadowing of more  experienced ACS officers—or, at smaller posts, learning from Regional  Consular Officers—were the most effective means of ACS training. The  Regional Consular Officers we met with indicated that they also identify  and recommend training opportunities for FSOs and LES based on needs  they identified during their site visits.
section_title: Consular Affairs’ Mechanisms to Monitor the Provision of Emergency Services Have Limitations
paragraphs: The Bureau of Consular Affairs has a variety of mechanisms at the post  level to monitor its provision of emergency services to U.S. citizens. These  mechanisms include the ACS system, consular package reports, Regional  Consular Officer reviews, and consultations between Consular Affairs and  consular management at posts. However, ACS data in both the ACS system  and consular package reports are unreliable owing to incomplete and  inaccurate data case entry by posts. In addition, the ACS system has  functional problems that hamper producing accurate reports. As a result,  Consular Affairs and posts have difficulty using the ACS system’s data to  plan workload and make resource allocation decisions. Further, Consular  Affairs does not have adequate information to comprehensively monitor  and evaluate its provision of services worldwide, and therefore does not  know the global demand for its services or if it is allocating its resources  effectively.
subsections: section_title: The ACS System Tracks Emergency Services Provided Overseas and Domestically
paragraphs: The ACS system is a case management tracking system that is employed  worldwide and can be accessed by posts and in Washington, D.C. Posts  and staff both overseas and in Washington, D.C., use the ACS system to  maintain and organize information regarding cases and to track their  workload. The system is organized around nine categories of service; some  are routine, such as issuing a report of birth abroad or a passport, and  others are related to emergency services. Posts and staff in Washington,  D.C., use the ACS system to maintain and organize information regarding a  case. According to Consular Affairs officials, information in the ACS  system constitutes State’s official record of a case and, according to the  FAM, all “significant” details regarding a case should be entered into the  system. For example, if a person is arrested and sentenced to prison  overseas, details about the case, including when and where the arrest  occurred, the charges, the length of the sentence, and the post’s first  prison visit should be included in the ACS system.
section_title: The ACS System Has Data Reliability and Functional Problems Limiting Its Utility
paragraphs: Data in the ACS system are unreliable due to incomplete and inaccurate  data case entry by posts. We found that not all ACS cases are being  entered into the ACS system. Consular Affairs officials stated that not all  the welfare and whereabouts cases are entered into the system, which  results in incomplete reporting. According to the Embassy in Jakarta,  Indonesia, the post’s workload statistics for the first three quarters of 2008  were underrepresented because several welfare and whereabouts cases it  handled had not been entered into the ACS system. Furthermore, despite  clear guidance in the FAM that posts are supposed to close out financial  assistance cases in the ACS system 72 hours after a case has been  completed, 25 percent of posts do not close out such cases, according to  the Consular Affairs officer responsible for tracking financial assistance  cases. As a result of cases remaining open, Consular Affairs is unable to  determine how much money was borrowed, how much has been returned,  and how much is still owed to the U.S. government. For example, Consular  Affairs noted that at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, there  was more than $115,000 of authorized funds still not fully disbursed or  accounted for in the ACS system because some cases had not been closed.
The system’s lack of reliable data is partly attributable to unclear guidance  regarding whether certain kinds of information should be entered into the  system. A number of the officials at posts we visited stated there is a lack  of guidance on this issue and, as a result, not all ACS cases are being  entered into the ACS system. First, the FAM does not make it clear when  reporting case information through the ACS system is required and when it  is not. For example, the FAM section dealing with reporting cases related  to court trials states that “significant actions should be reported.”  However, “significant” is not defined, which could affect the number of  reports submitted, as officers’ interpretation of what is significant may  differ. Second, the FAM requires that officers report through the ACS  system on some types of cases, but not for others. For example, in death  and victims’ assistance cases, as well as cases that involve financial or  medical assistance, the FAM indicates what must be reported in the ACS  system, whereas there is no reference in the FAM to entry of data into the  ACS system on welfare and whereabouts cases. Rather, this is left to the  discretion of FSOs, according to Consular Affairs officials.
In addition to the ACS system’s lack of reliable data, functional difficulties  in generating reports from the system further limit the usefulness of its  data as a management tool for the posts. Many of the posts we visited  indicated they do not use the ACS system reports to track their workload  because the system often crashes when printing reports and the reports  are not always accurate. For example, when we asked posts in Germany  and Thailand during our visits to provide us a report listing the open and  closed victims’ assistance or death statistics cases from 2003 through 2008,  their computers crashed several times while attempting to produce the  reports. Posts also noted that the reports the ACS system generates are  not always accurate, limiting their usefulness as a management tool. For  example, at eight of the posts we visited, reports for open and closed  victims’ assistance cases for 2003 through 2008 were identical, even  though the cases listed in these reports should be mutually exclusive. At  the ninth post, the reports contained incorrect data—closed cases  appeared on the open case report and open cases appeared on the closed  cases report. In order to determine which cases were closed and which  were open, LES stated they relied on their local files rather than the ACS  system reports.
Many of the posts we visited created additional systems for tracking  emergency services, an inefficient use of resources necessitated by the  problems and limitations with the ACS system. In particular, a number of  the posts created spread sheets to track death and arrest cases. For  example, Bangkok kept a spread sheet with the names of American  citizens who had died and for whom next of kin were present and another  list of citizens for whom next of kin needed to be identified and contacted,  along with the name of an LES assigned to handle the case. In addition,  some of the posts we visited maintained a spreadsheet to track prison  visits for arrested and incarcerated American citizens, since the ACS  system does not produce a report containing this information. Consular  officers indicated that the prison spreadsheet assisted the post in  complying with the requirements for arrest cases, and one consular officer  stated that the spreadsheets helped the post maintain continuity in  visitations when staff turnover occurred.
section_title: Data in the Consular Package Are Unreliable and Affect Consular Affairs’ Ability to Evaluate Its Workload
paragraphs: Consular package reports, which are Consular Affairs’ main tool for  making resource allocation decisions for consular operations abroad, also  lack reliable data; as a result, Consular Affairs does not know if it is  effectively allocating its resources. The data in Consular Package reports  are unreliable in part because certain sections of the reports are  prepopulated with emergency services data obtained from the ACS  system, which, as noted above, is unreliable. In other instances, we  identified discrepancies in the consular package emergency services data  that could not be explained. Additionally, limitations with the guidance  regarding what information should be entered into the consular package  report hamper the data’s reliability.
Problems with the consular package reports’ reliability are partially  attributed to errors with the prepopulated data obtained from the ACS  system. In particular, FSOs at posts we visited informed us that data  directly transferred from the ACS system to the consular package reports,  such as the number of arrest and death cases, were often incorrect. For  example, FSOs at several of the posts we visited told us they needed to  correct arrest and death case data that had been provided in the consular  package. As a result, Consular Affairs cannot rely on the numbers that  appear in the consular package without first having posts verify the data.
We also found variations in the consular package data that called into  question its reliability. For example, data from the consular package  system showed variations over time that Consular Affairs could not  explain, such as:    FSOs in Tijuana, Mexico, performed over 10,000 hours of emergency  services in 2003, 644 hours in 2004, and more than 8,000 hours in 2005.
In London, England, the number of hours spent on public inquires  fluctuated substantially over several years—from 4,861 in 2004, to 200 in  2006, to 5,160 in 2008.
In Oslo, Norway, the number of emergency services hours performed by  both consular officers and LES dropped from 1,700 hours in 2004, to zero  in 2005, and then increased to 500 in 2006.
Discrepancies with emergency services data, such as deaths and arrests,  that Consular Affairs provided to us for fiscal year 2003 through 2008  further illustrated reliability problems with its data.  For example, State  initially reported there were 5,332 arrests in fiscal year 2007, but our  analysis of the consular package data indicated the number was 3,915.  After reviewing our analysis, Consular Affairs officials indicated that some  of the differences we identified were due to system errors, specifically that  data from the consular agencies were not included in the figures they  initially provided us. Consular Affairs reran the arrest data, and the  number of arrests decreased to 4,487 for fiscal year 2007.
Additional problems with the reliability of the data may be attributed to  limitations associated with the guidance for inputting information into the  consular package. In response to the variations in the data we noted  above, Consular Affairs officials stated that some differences might be due  to different people inputting the data from year to year and interpreting  what information should be included differently. Consular Affairs is aware  that discrepancies exist between the data posts collect and the data in the  consular package system. One reason, according to Consular Affairs, is  that workload queries to the system conducted by posts may not be run at  the same time or in the same manner as Consular Affairs’ workload  queries, resulting in differences in the data. Nonetheless, Consular Affairs  has not provided clear guidance on the appropriate time frame for running  queries to address this discrepancy. We also found that a lack of clarity  about defining certain work activities led to some activities being  categorized differently from year to year based on changes to the  guidance. For example, in 2007, a post in Sweden reported its actual  workload concerning “Other Special Citizen Services cases” remained  generally the same from fiscal year 2006, but was represented as dropping  significantly in the consular package report due to a misinterpretation of  the category’s definition.
Consular Affairs has taken steps to compensate for the data limitations in  the consular packages. First, Consular Affairs sends consular package  reports to all posts and asks them to verify or correct the data in the  report. Several posts we visited indicated that they correct the data in the  consular package during the annual review process. In addition, Consular  Affairs includes narrative questions in the consular package report where  posts can supplement the workload data by providing information about  their activities and needs. However, according to a Consular Affairs  official not all questions are repeated from year to year, making it difficult  to determine how activities or issues identified by posts one year are  addressed the next year or if the activity or issue persists. Further,  according to Consular Affairs officials, they do not aggregate the data  because posts may interpret questions differently. Nonetheless, the bureau  uses the additional information when making resource allocation  decisions.
State also has problems estimating the number of work hours associated  with providing emergency services, which further contributes to the  reliability issues associated with consular package data. Consular Affairs  recognizes that ACS work hours are estimates and inherently difficult to  calculate. Unlike work hours for other consular operations, no two  emergency cases are the same and the hours spent addressing two similar  cases can vary widely. Further, whereas some consular services, such as  adjudicating a visa, usually entail a relatively specific and predictable  series of steps (an application, interview, and adjudication), victims’  assistance cases can vary from assault and domestic violence to robbery  and rape, and the amount of time spent on cases can vary depending on  the complexity of the crime and the country in which the crime occurred.
In addition, not all hours devoted to emergency services are captured in  the consular package data since, according to Consular Affairs officials,  posts do not include the ACS work hours performed by duty officers that  provide emergency services outside of normal business hours. Consular  Affairs generally gives posts wide latitude in determining how to estimate  the time they spent annually on the provision of emergency services, and  post estimates can therefore vary widely.
To compensate for weaknesses with the work hour estimates, the bureau  is trying to develop measures that more accurately convey workload and  reflect the complexity of the various types of emergency assistance. In  addition, Consular Affairs officials stated they are developing a measure to  capture a post’s outreach efforts, as it considers outreach useful in  educating American citizens on how to avoid situations that might  necessitate emergency assistance. For example, Consular Affairs recently  studied the feasibility of tracking the time consular staff spend on  providing emergency services during nonbusiness hours. The study  highlighted the significant workload associated with such services, but  also revealed that tracking this time is itself a time-consuming process.
section_title: The Regional Consular Officer Program Provides Oversight to Selected Small Posts
paragraphs: Regional Consular Officers are tasked with monitoring and evaluating all  consular operations, including the provision of emergency services,  through periodic visits to selected small posts and reports on the findings  of those visits. Currently, there are 90 posts covered by the Regional  Consular Officer program, and Regional Consular Officers have a  minimum of 10 posts assigned to them. The Regional Consular Officer’s  reports are not used to identify trends that may be applied globally; rather  they focus on individual problems at posts. The reports also generally have  a common format, which includes an overview section and post staffing  levels, followed by more detailed information on those areas the Regional  Consular Officers focused on during their visit. Our review of 43 Regional  Consular Officer trip reports from 2008 and 2009 found varying levels of  detail regarding emergency services, making it difficult to systematically  identify problems based on these reports. Regional Consular Officers  may not always review a post’s emergency services, as their reports  primarily focus on management controls and other activities where the  potential for fraud or abuse has significant security and other  ramifications, according to a Regional Consular Officer. In addition, the  officer stated that if there isn’t much written about emergency services in a report, it is because no issues were identified during the visit.
Though Regional Consular Officers indicated they share information and  lessons learned among themselves and with their supervisor, their reports  are not systematically analyzed by Consular Affairs in order to ascertain if  consular operations could be improved worldwide. The Supervisory  Regional Consular Officer in Cairo, Egypt, is responsible for clearing the  other Regional Consular Officer’s reports, and may therefore see themes  and identify vulnerabilities in the various regions or across regions.  However, according to the Supervisory Regional Consular Officer, he has  not conducted a systematic review of the reports, and while Consular  Affairs also reviews the Regional Consular Officer reports, it does not  systematically analyze them to ascertain if consular operations could be  improved worldwide. Although the reports are not systematically  analyzed, the Regional Consular Officers themselves reported that they  meet annually to discuss their work and share lessons learned, identifying  common problems or themes. They also routinely share information via  phone calls and e-mails. Additionally, there is a Regional Consular Officer  Web site, available to all posts, which contains such information as  examples of standard operating procedures and responses to questions  posed by posts.
section_title: Consultations with Posts Provide Useful Information but Are Not Required
paragraphs: According to Consular Affairs officials, supplementing the information  provided by the ACS system, consular packages, and Regional Consular  Officer reports are consultations Consular Affairs holds with consular and  post management regarding their staffing and resource needs.  Consultations occur either when consular management visit Washington,  D.C., or when Consular Affairs officers visit posts; however, the  consultations were not mandatory or routine. Consular Affairs recognized  the value of providing these consultations, and Consular Affairs recently  standardized the practice for outgoing consular officers, Deputy Chiefs of  Mission, and U.S. Ambassadors.
Consular Affairs may also contact a post when reviewing its consular  package submission to obtain additional information regarding its  resource requests, or seek the opinion of Regional Consular Officers  regarding workload and resource allocations given their broad perspective  on such post issues. While the information gathered during these  consultations is factored into resource allocation decisions, such  consultations are not regularly conducted with all posts and therefore  cannot be used to systematically evaluate post needs.
section_title: Consular Affairs Does Not Have Adequate Information to Comprehensively Monitor Its Provision of Emergency Services
paragraphs: Consular Affairs does not have adequate information to comprehensively  monitor its provision of emergency services worldwide, largely due to the  difficulty of developing meaningful measures, and the limitations associated  with Consular Affairs’ existing monitoring mechanisms, such as the ACS  system. As a result, the bureau does not know the global demand for its  services or if it is allocating its resources effectively. The overall number of  cases addressed by posts overseas does not provide a complete picture of  the level of effort expended by posts, since the measure does not reflect the  complexity of the cases. Additionally, the number of hours spent on  emergency service cases does not provide a sense of the types of  emergencies posts address and whether or not the need for emergency  services may be increasing. In addition to the difficulty of developing  meaningful measures, mechanisms such as the ACS system and consular  package, as discussed earlier in this report, do not provide Consular Affairs  with reliable and complete data to assess the global demand for emergency  services. Consular Affairs officials informed us that the bureau has an  initiative under way to see how it might use the data it collects to identify  trends related to the provision of emergency and consular services globally.  However, as this initiative is ongoing, we were not able to assess it.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: While State provides a wide range of emergency services to American  citizens overseas, State’s ability to comprehensively analyze the global  demand for these services is hampered by limitations with its data  systems. For example, reporting weaknesses and unclear guidance  associated with the ACS system prevent posts from monitoring and  evaluating their workload or using the data to make management  decisions. Moreover, limitations associated with Consular Affairs’  monitoring mechanisms, combined with the inherent difficulty of  measuring emergency service activities, prevent Consular Affairs from  having a clear understanding of the global demand for emergency services.  Although State shifts consular resources to meet emergency service  demands, such as in the case of the Mumbai bombings, resource  allocation, training, and planning decisions may not be based on a clear  understanding of global workload. Absent current and reliable data on this  worldwide demand for emergency services, Consular Affairs will continue  to make resource allocation decisions based on incomplete and unreliable  data. In addition, Consular Affairs views posts’ Web sites as its main  outreach mechanism; it is therefore imperative that American citizens are  able to quickly find emergency services information on these Web sites.  However, the vast majority of posts’ Web sites do not contain emergency  contact information on their main pages, forcing individuals to navigate  through many Web sites at posts to get basic emergency contact  information, and increasing the risk these individuals will not obtain these  services in a timely fashion, or at all.
section_title: Recommendations for Executive Action
paragraphs: To ensure the Bureau of Consular Affairs has accurate and reliable data  from the mechanisms used to monitor and evaluate its provision of  emergency services worldwide, and therefore make informed resource  allocation decisions, we recommend that the Secretary of State direct the  Bureau of Consular Affairs to take the following two actions:    provide guidance on the information to be entered into the ACS system to  ensure that data are consistently captured across posts and accurately  reflect workload, and  improve functionality in the ACS system so that Consular Affairs and posts  can use the system more effectively.
To ensure American citizens who experience an emergency overseas can  easily find and identify emergency contact information on post Web sites,  we are making the following two recommendations to the Secretary of  State:  require posts’ main Web site pages to include emergency contact  information, and    periodically test the accuracy of the emergency contact information  provided on the posts’ main Web site pages.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
paragraphs: In written comments on a draft of this report, State concurred with our  conclusions and recommendations. State indicated that it is developing  new FAM guidance which will focus on reporting and provide clear  guidelines on what information to enter into the ACS system. State  indicated it is also working to improve the ACS system, as well as the data  system that provides information for the consular package, and it will  release a new version of the software for testing in November 2009. In  addition, State indicated it is developing a new Global Citizens Services  project, which should be implemented by 2014, and is supposed to  facilitate case tracking, ease data entry requirements, and include  appropriate management tools.
State also agreed to make emergency contact information easily accessible  for U.S. citizens abroad and in the United States on post-controlled Web  sites and to periodically test the accuracy of the emergency contact  information. State also indicated it will provide links to such information  on both its main Web site and on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site.  Finally, the Bureau of Consular Affairs noted it plans to undertake a major  redesign of its main Web site, http://travel.state.gov, beginning in  September 2009. Ensuring better access to emergency assistance  information is supposed to be a redesign priority and should be  implemented in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, with other changes to  the site completed over the remaining part of the fiscal year.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional  committees and the Department of State. In addition, the report will be  available at no charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please contact  me at (202) 512-4268 or fordj@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 who made major contributions to this report are  listed in appendix III.
section_title: Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: We examined (1) the emergency services that the Department of State  (State) provides U.S. citizens, (2) how State is prepared to assist U.S.  citizens in need of emergency services, and (3) how State monitors the  assistance it provides U.S. citizens in need of emergency services.
To describe the services State provides to U.S. citizens who are the victims  of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need emergency services  overseas, we interviewed State officials from the Bureau of Consular  Affairs, including officials from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services.  We also reviewed State guidance, specifically the Foreign Affairs Manual  (FAM) chapter dealing with Consular Protection of U.S. Nationals Abroad,  as well as other relevant sections of the FAM pertaining to the Bureau of  Consular Affairs, Consular Agents, the Regional Consular Officer Program,  and the Warden System. We also reviewed the relevant sections of the  Foreign Affairs Handbook, including guidance to Consular Agents and  Regional Consular Officers, as well as Duty Officer Guidance and Crisis  Preparedness. We also reviewed additional State guidance, including  cables, pertaining to the provision of emergency services, including  preparation of the report estimating the number of Americans who might  need to be evacuated during a crisis, new procedures for death  notification, closing out financial records, and support for victims of crime  overseas. In addition, we reviewed international agreements such as the  Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on  Consular Relations and bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties related  to criminal matters. We also reviewed Memoranda of Understanding  between State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State and the  Department of Justice pertaining to victims of terrorism and crime. To  identify the presence of emergency contact information available on  embassy and consulate Web sites, we conducted a simple random sample  of 70 Web sites. One of the posts was deemed out of scope, leaving us with  a final sample size of 69. We selected the sample from a list of 239  embassies and consulates that provide American Citizen Services (ACS)  identified by State in their consular packages. Because our sample  selection was based on random selection, it was only one of a large  number of samples that might have been drawn. Since each sample could  have produced different estimates, we express our confidence in the  precision of our particular sample’s results as a 95 percent confidence  interval. Based on the confidence interval, we estimate that no less than 7  percent of the Web sites and no more than 26 percent of the Web sites  include contact information on the main page of posts’ Web sites. We  traveled overseas to five countries and 12 posts to observe how emergency  assistance is provided at posts, including Beijing and Guangzhou, China;  Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany; Mexico City, Guadalajara, Matamoras, and  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Cape  Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. We interviewed ACS officials at all  these posts including the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in  Beijing, Berlin, and Mexico City as well as the ACS chiefs at all posts we  visited. We also interviewed other ACS officers including entry-level  officers and locally employed staff who are responsible for the provision  of ACS emergency services at their respective posts, as well as several  duty officers to learn about the training and guidance they received prior  to providing emergency services during nonbusiness hours. Additionally,  we interviewed management and budget analysts from the Bureau of  Consular Affairs, and division directors, desk officers, and management  within the office of Overseas Citizen Services, in Washington, D.C.
To describe and assess how State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens in need  of emergency services, we interviewed State officials from the Bureau of  Consular Affairs regarding the process for determining resource  allocations to posts and other offices that provide emergency services. We  also interviewed ACS staff, Foreign Service officers, locally employed  staff, and post management including Consuls General at several posts,  and the Chargé d’Affairs and Deputy Chief of Mission in China, to  ascertain how posts manage their emergency services workload. To assess  the training provided by State we interviewed officials from the Foreign  Service Institute (FSI) and obtained records pertaining to FSI courses that  focus on ACS emergency-related services for both Foreign Service officers  and locally employed staff. We also reviewed overseas and online training  opportunities for both Foreign Service officers and locally employed staff  provided by FSI, and we also attended FSI’s training course on Assisting  Victims of Crime, held in January 2009 in Arlington, Virginia, to learn about  the issues associated with providing assistance to victims of crime  overseas. In addition, we reviewed guidance available to assist staff, such  as the Foreign Affairs Manual, post-specific operating procedures, and the  duty program. We also interviewed Foreign Service officers and locally  employed staff at all the posts we visited about the training they received  both formally and on the job, as well as the resources at their disposal,  including training and mentoring provided by Regional Consular Officers  at selected posts, guidance provided by senior-level consular officers to  entry-level officers at large posts, and new forums for providing  information, such as a consular-supported blog focused on ACS and the  Regional Consular Officer forum. We also observed Foreign Service  officers and locally employed staff overseas at all the posts we visited,  providing routine services such as issuing passports, as well emergency  services such as visiting prisoners in jail and handling death notifications  to the next of kin. In addition, in both Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta,  Mexico, we observed post staff conducting prison visits. However, we did  not address the overall quality of the ACS provided by posts.
To assess how State monitors the assistance it provides to U.S. citizens in  need of emergency services, and how this information is used to inform  management decisions, we reviewed the Consular Bureau’s 2010 Strategic  Plan and the Mission Strategic Plans for four of the five countries we  visited, including the framework for measuring and evaluating the  bureau’s goals specific to ACS emergency services. The Bureau’s Strategic  Plan for fiscal year 2011 had not been released during our review’s time  frame. We also reviewed State’s Performance Reports for fiscal years 2007  and 2008 and its Annual Performance Plan for fiscal year 2009 to ascertain  how it was measuring and monitoring its ACS emergency services effort.  In addition, we interviewed officials from the Bureau of Consular Affairs  about the data collected through the ACS system, which is used to monitor  the work of posts overseas, and discussed the problems posts identified  with the ACS systems. We analyzed the annual consular package  submissions from fiscal years 2003 to 2008, which provide data and  narrative responses from all the 238 posts providing consular assistance  overseas. Based on our review of the consular package data, we identified  a number of problems with the data and provided the Bureau of Consular  Affairs examples of problems we identified. Our assessment found  inconsistencies in Consular Affairs data reporting by posts over time,  which present major problems for monitoring and management purposes;  however, we also assessed that the data give a general indication of the  differences in orders of magnitude between the various ACS services  provided worldwide over the time period in question. For example, the  Consular Affairs data recorded roughly 4,500 deaths worldwide from  natural causes during this period, compared to 25,000 arrests, compared to  more than 200,000 welfare and whereabouts cases. Due to the weaknesses  we noted in the data by post and over time, we report these data in very  general terms simply to give a relative sense of State’s activities in each of  these areas. Likewise, we interviewed Foreign Service officers overseas  regarding how data provided through the ACS system are used to monitor  and evaluate their own activities. Additionally, we interviewed all the  Regional Consular Officers—in Bangkok, Thailand; Cairo, Egypt;  Frankfurt, Germany; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Washington,  D.C.;—who are responsible for providing guidance to 90 small posts  around the world, and reviewed 43 Regional Consular Officer trip reports,  which included findings and recommendations regarding the provision of  ACS in the countries they cover. For 19 of the 43 reports, State provided  only those sections of the trip reports they determined were pertinent to  the provision of emergency services. Nonetheless, during post visits, two  Regional Consular Officers allowed us to review the reports they had  written in their entirety, and based on those reviews we determined that  Regional Consular Officer reports focus mainly on management controls.  In addition, at 9 of the 12 posts we visited, we obtained copies of open and  closed victims’ assistance reports. We determined that the data presented  in this report are sufficiently reliable for the purpose for which they are  presented.
section_title: Appendix II: Comments from the Department of State
section_title: Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the individuals named above, Anthony Moran, Assistant  Director; Julie Hirshen; John F. Miller; Grace Lui; Jacob Davis; Martin De  Alteriis, Assistant Director; Joe Carney, Justin Fisher, and Suneeti Shah  made key contributions to this report. In addition, the following staff  provided technical assistance: Etana Finkler and Ellery Scott.