FPS faces a number of challenges that hamper its ability to protect government employees and the public in federal facilities. For example, these challenges include (1) developing a risk management framework, (2) developing a human capital plan, and (3) better oversight of its contract security guard program. In our June 2008 report we found that in protecting federal facilities, FPS does not use a risk management approach that links threats and vulnerabilities to resource requirements. We have stated that without a risk management approach that identifies threats and vulnerabilities and the resources required to achieve FPS’s security goals, there is little assurance that programs will be prioritized and resources will be allocated to address existing and potential security threats in an efficient and effective manner. While FPS has conducted risk related activities such as building security assessments (BSAs), we have reported several concerns with the Facilities Securities Risk Management system FPS currently uses to conduct these assessments. First, it does not allow FPS to compare risks from building to building so that security improvements to buildings can be prioritized across GSA’s portfolio. Second, current risk assessments need to be categorized more precisely. According to FPS, too many BSAs are categorized as high or low risk, which does not allow for a refined prioritization of security improvements. Third, the system does not allow for tracking the implementation status of security recommendations based on assessments. BSAs are the core component of FPS’s physical security mission. However, ensuring the quality and timeliness of them is an area in which FPS continues to face challenges. Many law enforcement security officers (LESOs) in the regions we visited stated that they do not have enough time to complete BSAs. For example, while FPS officials have stated that BSAs for level IV facilities should take between 2 to 4 weeks, several LESOs reported having only 1 or 2 days to complete assessments for their buildings, in part, because of pressure from supervisors to complete BSAs as quickly as possible. Some regional supervisors have also found problems with the accuracy of BSAs. One regional supervisor reported that an inspector was repeatedly counseled and required to redo BSAs when supervisors found he was copying and pasting from previous assessments. Similarly, one regional supervisor stated that in the course of reviewing a BSA for an address he had personally visited, he realized that the inspector completing the BSA had not actually visited the site because the inspector referred to a large building when the actual site was a vacant plot of land owned by GSA. Moreover, some GSA and FPS officials have stated that LESOs lack the training and physical security expertise to prepare BSAs according to the standards. Currently, LESOs receive instructions on how to complete BSAs as part of a 4-week course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s Physical Security Training Program. However, many LESOs and supervisors in the regions we visited stated that this training is insufficient and that refresher training is necessary to keep LESOs informed about emerging technology, but that this refresher training has not been provided in recent years. Regional GSA officials also stated that they believe the physical security training provided to LESOs is inadequate and that it has affected the quality of the BSAs they receive. Further complicating FPS’s ability to protect federal facilities is the building security committee structure. Building Security Committees (BSC) are composed of representatives from each tenant agency who generally are not security professionals but have responsibility for approving the countermeasures FPS recommends. However, in some of the facilities that we visited, security countermeasures were not implemented because BSC members could not agree on what countermeasures to implement or were unable to obtain funding from their agencies. For example, an FPS official in a major metropolitan city stated that over the last 4 years LESOs have recommended 24-hour contract guard coverage at one high-risk building located in a high crime area multiple times, but the BSC is not able to obtain approval from all its members. In addition, FPS faces challenges in ensuring that its fee-based funding structure accounts for the varying levels of risk and types of services provided at federal facilities. FPS funds its operations through security fees charged to tenant agencies. However, FPS’s basic security fee, which funds most of its operations, does not account for the risk faced by specific buildings, the level of service provided, or the cost of providing services, raising questions about equity. FPS charges federal agencies the same basic security fee regardless of the perceived threat to a particular building or agency. In fiscal year 2009, FPS is charging 66 cents per square foot for basic security. Although FPS categorizes buildings according to security levels based on its assessment of each building’s risk and size, this assessment does not affect the security fee FPS charges. For example, level I facilities typically face less risk because they are generally small storefront-type operations with a low level of public contact, such as a small post office or Social Security Administration office. However, these facilities are charged the same basic security fee of 66 cents per square foot as a level IV facility that has a high volume of public contact and may contain high-risk law enforcement and intelligence agencies and highly sensitive government records. FPS’s basic security rate has raised questions about equity because federal agencies are required to pay the fee regardless of the level of service FPS provides or the cost of providing the service. For instance, in some of the regions we visited, FPS officials described situations where staff are stationed hundreds of miles from buildings under its responsibility, with many of these buildings rarely receiving services from FPS staff and relying mostly on local law enforcement agencies for law enforcement services. However, FPS charges these tenant agencies the same basic security fees as buildings in major metropolitan areas where numerous FPS police officers and LESOs are stationed and are available to provide security services. Consequently, FPS’s cost of providing services is not reflected in its basic security charges. We also have reported that basing government fees on the cost of providing a service promotes equity, especially when the cost of providing the service differs significantly among different users, as is the case with FPS. In our July 2008 report, we recommended that FPS improve FPS’s use of the fee-based system by developing a method to accurately account for the cost of providing security services to tenant agencies and ensuring that its fee structure takes into consideration the varying levels of risk and service provided at GSA facilities. While DHS agreed with this recommendation, FPS has not fully implemented it. In our July 2009 report, we reported that FPS does not have a strategic human capital plan to guide its current and future workforce planning efforts. Our work has shown that a strategic human capital plan addresses two critical needs: It (1) aligns an organization’s human capital program with its current and emerging mission and programmatic goals, and (2) develops long-term strategies for acquiring, developing, and retaining staff to achieve programmatic goals. In 2007, FPS took steps toward developing a Workforce Transition Plan to reflect its decision to move to a LESO- based workforce and reduce its workforce to about 950 employees. However, in 2008, FPS discontinued this plan because the objective of the plan—to reduce FPS staff to 950 to meet the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 Budget—was no longer relevant because of the congressional mandate in its Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act to increase its workforce to 1,200 employees. FPS subsequently identified steps it needed to take in response to the mandate. However, we found that these steps do not include developing strategies for determining agency staffing needs, identifying gaps in workforce critical skills and competencies, developing strategies for use of human capital flexibilities, or strategies for retention and succession planning. Moreover, we found FPS’s headquarters does not collect data on its workforce’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Consequently, FPS cannot determine what its optimal staffing levels should be or identify gaps in its workforce needs and determine how to modify its workforce planning strategies to fill these gaps. Effective workforce planning requires consistent agencywide data on the skills needed to achieve current and future programmatic goals and objectives. Without centralized or standardized data on its workforce, it is unclear how FPS can engage in short- and long-term strategic workforce planning. Finally, FPS’s human capital challenges may be further exacerbated by a proposal in the President’s 2010 budget to move FPS from Immigration and Custom Enforcement to the National Protection and Programs Directorate within DHS. If the move is approved, it is unclear which agency will perform the human capital function for FPS, or how the move will affect FPS’s operational and workforce needs. We also recommended that FPS take steps to develop a strategic human capital plan to manage its current and future workforce needs. FPS concurred with our recommendation. FPS’s contract guards are the most visible component of FPS’s operations as well as the public’s first contact with FPS when entering a federal facility. Moreover, FPS relies heavily on its guards and considers them to be the agency’s “eyes and ears” while performing their duties. However, as we testified at a July 2009 congressional hearing, FPS does not fully ensure that its guards have the training and certifications required to be deployed to a federal facility. While FPS requires that all prospective guards complete approximately 128 hours of training, including 8 hours of x-ray and magnetometer training, FPS was not providing some of its guards with all of the required training in the six regions we visited. For example, in one region, FPS has not provided the required 8 hours of x-ray or magnetometer training to its 1,500 guards since 2004. X-ray and magnetometer training is important because the majority of the guards are primarily responsible for using this equipment to monitor and control access points at federal facilities.