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Intelligence Community: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting, Planning for Use of Contract Personnel

  • CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting on and Planning for the Use of Contract Personnel, GAO-14-204:  Published: Jan 29, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 13, 2014. “Collectively, CIA, ODNI, and the departments responsible for developing policies to address risks related to contractors for the other six civilian IC elements have made limited progress in developing those policies, and the civilian IC elements have generally not developed strategic workforce plans that address contractor use. Only the Departments of Homeland Security and State have issued policies that generally address all of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s requirements related to contracting for services that could affect the government’s decision-making authority. In addition, IC CHCO requires the elements to conduct strategic workforce planning but does not require the elements to determine the appropriate mix of government and contract personnel. Further, the elements’ ability to use the core contract personnel inventory as a strategic planning tool is hindered because the inventory does not provide insight into the functions performed by contractors, in particular those that could inappropriately influence the government’s control over its decisions. Without guidance, strategies, and tools related to these types of functions, the eight civilian IC elements may not be well-positioned to identify and manage related risks.”
  • CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting on and Planning for the Use of Contract Personnel, GAO-14-257T: Published: Feb 13, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 13, 2014: “In September 2013, GAO issued a classified report that addressed (1) the extent to which the eight civilian IC elements use core contract personnel, (2) the functions performed by these personnel and the reasons for their use, and (3) whether the elements developed policies and strategically planned for their use. GAO reviewed and assessed the reliability of the elements’ core contract personnel inventory data for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, including reviewing a nongeneralizable sample of 287 contract records. GAO also reviewed agency acquisition policies and workforce plans and interviewed agency officials. In January 2014, GAO issued an unclassified version of the September 2013 report, GAO-14-204. This statement is based on the information in the unclassified GAO report.”

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