Defense Centers of Excellence: Limited Budget and Performance Information on the Center for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
Highlights
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 established the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCOE) in January 2008 to develop excellence in prevention, outreach, and care for service members with psychological health (PH) conditions and traumatic brain injury (TBI). DCOE consists of six directorates and five component centers that carry out a range of PH- and TBI-related functions. GAO was asked to report on (1) DCOE's budget formulation process; and (2) availability of information to Congress on DCOE. GAO reviewed budget guidance, budget requests and performance data. GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) reports submitted to Congress on PH and TBI and interviewed DOD officials.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To enhance visibility and improve accountability, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of TMA to work with the Director of DCOE to develop and use additional narrative, such as that available in component center fact sheets, in budget justifications to explain the means and strategies that support the request. |
In response to our recommendation, in August 2012, DCOE established standard operating procedures for its Unfinanced Requirement Request (UFR) procedures. The UFR process allows DCOE component centers an opportunity to identify requirements or programmatic needs that are not yet funded. DCOE stated that this process allows for the requests to be identified, prioritized, described, justified and submitted for review and possible approval, potentially ensuring that DCOE maximizes its available funding.
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| Department of Defense | To enhance visibility and improve accountability, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of TMA to work with the Director of DCOE to establish a process to regularly collect and review data on component centers' funding and obligations, including funding external to DCOE. |
In response to our recommendation, DCOE took corrective action and in May 2014 instituted a process to compile monthly status of funds reports by budget object class for DCOE headquarters and its three component centers, which are provided to Center Directors. A quarterly Review and Analysis report (R&A) consolidated this monthly data for use by DCOE's Executive Steering Council. These R&A reports include information on each center's budget and expenditures and information on component center's externally funded research projects to ensure this information is available to inform budget formulation decisions.
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| Department of Defense | To enhance visibility and improve accountability, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Director of TMA to work with the Director of DCOE to expand its review and analysis process to include component centers. |
After our report was issued, DCOE's quarterly review and analysis process began including its 3 component centers. Component centers now provide DCOE headquarters with detailed information on the status of operational activities such as staffing, travel and work performed.
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