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GAO Reports – Defense Acquisition Process, Federal Home Loan Banks, Mental Health

  • Defense Acquisition Process: Military Service Chiefs’ Concerns Reflect Need to Better Define Requirements before Programs Start, GAO-15-469: Published: Jun 11, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 11, 2015: “Most current and former military service chiefs and vice chiefs GAO interviewed from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps collectively expressed dissatisfaction with acquisition program outcomes and believed that the Department of Defense’s (DOD) requirements development and acquisition processes need to be better integrated. The service chiefs are largely responsible for developing the services’ requirements for weapon systems, while the service acquisition executives are responsible for overseeing programs to plan and develop systems. Most service chiefs told GAO they were concerned that after weapon system requirements are handed to the acquisition process, requirements are changed or added by the acquisition community (sometimes referred to as “creep”), increasing the capabilities and cost of the system. Some service chiefs stated that they are not always involved in the acquisition process and are frequently caught by surprise when cost, schedule, and performance problems emerge in programs. Current and former chiefs agreed that the chiefs should be more involved in programs, but their views varied on how best to achieve this.
  • Federal Home Loan Banks: Information on Governance Changes, Board Diversity, and Community Lending, GAO-15-435: Published: May 12, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 11, 2015: “Women and minority representation on FHLBank boards is limited (see figure). A woman chaired 1 of 12 FHLBank boards in 2014, but no racial or ethnic minorities did. Most women and racial or ethnic minorities were independent directors rather than member directors. Directors’ skill sets were more diverse. For example, member directors responding to GAO’s survey were more likely than independent directors to report having skills in accounting and banking. Independent directors were more likely to report having skills in project development, community and economic development, and affordable housing.”
  • Mental Health: Better Documentation Needed to Oversee Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Grantees, GAO-15-405: Published: May 12, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 11, 2015: “GAO recommends that the Administrator of SAMHSA direct CMHS to take steps, such as developing additional program-specific guidance, to ensure that it consistently and completely documents both the application of criteria when awarding grants to grantees, and its ongoing oversight of grantees once grants are awarded.”

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