Attachment_L-1_Triennial_Review_Vendors_Day_Presentation.pdf

Oversight Program Overview of Oversight Initiatives and Priorities

Friday, June 22, 2012

Selene Faer Dalton-Kumins

Director Office of Oversight and Program

Guidance

Oversight Top-to-Bottom Strategic Review

• Task Force Created February 2011

• Led by FTA Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan

• More than 20 FTA staff from regions and HQ

• Initial analysis identified the areas of greatest risk – e.g. the grantee non-compliance areas that have the highest risk of occurring and can result in serious consequences when they do occur.

Oversight Areas - Risk Matrix

Lo w

F re qu en cy

H ig h

Low Gravity High

Satisfactory Continuing Control

EEO

Planning School Service

Procurement Financial Management Financial Capacity Civil Rights - Title VI, ADA, DBE Technical Capacity Maintenance

NTD

ITS Architecture Legal Public Hearing Drug-Free Workplace ½ Fare

Drug & Alcohol Buy America Suspension & Debarment Lobbying Charter Service Safety & Security

Task Force Outcomes

• Key themes emerged:

– FTA oversight is reactive, not proactive

– A one-size-fits-all approach does not serve us well

– Resource allocation needs to be more risk-based

– Roles & responsibilities are not clearly defined

– We are not always asking the right questions

New Triennial Review Approach Benefits

• Structured method of working with our contractors to assess our grantees prior to going onsite

• Better coordination between FTA and the contractors prior to the site visit

• Asking the “right” questions = more effective use of available oversight resources

• Identify issues earlier by using a forward looking approach

• Oversight resources targeted to high risk areas

Benefits

• Improve our ability to dig deeper into areas of concern in a more timely manner

• Help grantees get out ahead of problems before they develop full blown crises

• More effectively address findings in high risk areas and reduce repeat findings in these areas

• More structured post-review evaluation and follow up actions, including strategic, program-level technical assistance and grantee-specific, targeted technical assistance

Triennial Review Overview of Current Program and

New Triennial Approach

Friday, June 22, 2012

Amy Jernigan Triennial Program Manager

Office of Oversight and Program Guidance

FTA Grant Programs Reviewed

– Section 5307 – Urbanized Area Formula Program

– Section 5309 – Capital Investment Program

– Section 5316 – Job Access and Reverse Commute

Program (JARC)

– Section 5317 – New Freedom Program

– American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

(ARRA)

Program History

• 1982: Congress mandated a review of Section 5307 recipients every three years

• 1989: FTA issued Triennial Review Oversight Order 9010.1A

• 1990: FTA began using contractors to perform reviews

• 1993: FTA issued Triennial Review Oversight Order 9010.1B

• 1996: Contractors participated in all reviews

• 1999: FTA began issuing draft reports on-site

• 2012: Triennial Review addresses 24 areas

Oversight Activity Supporting Triennial Review

• Grantee Assessment

– Performed by FTA regional offices annually

– Determines level of oversight

• Assessment Areas

– Grant administration

– Grantee profile

– Property management

– Financial management

– Procurement management

– Technology deployment

– Safety and security

– Planning

– Civil Rights

Top “10” Areas of Triennial Review Deficiencies

Procurement 20%

Technical 11%

Financial 7%

Drug and Alcohol Program 6%

Maintenance 6%

Satisfactory Continuing Control

6%

ARRA

6%

Title VI 5%

Buy America 5%

ADA

5%

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise

5%

All other areas 18%

Pre-Site Review Activities

Assign contractors

•Assign contactors by region to simplify coordination •Minimize number of contractors per region to simplify coordination •Notify regions

Contractor- Region Kickoff

•Overview of grantees to be reviewed

• Introduction of regional office and contractor staff •Review of any process or review area changes for the upcoming Fiscal Year

Desk Review

•Contractors gather information on grantees from FTA data systems on electronic grantmaking, oversight review tracking and grantee profiles and operating statistics

• Interview regional office staff and review correspondence and other documents available in regional office

•Discuss initial schedule with regional staff and potentially grantees

Pre-Site Review Activities

Prepare Review Package

•Contractor tailors review package by answering initial questions, tailoring list of documents to request from grantee

•Contractor/region confirm site visit dates with grantee •Regional office sends review package to grantee approximately 8 weeks prior to review

Final Prep

•Contractor receives and reviews responses to review package and documents from grantee

• Final logistic and schedule preparations are made between regional office/grantee/contractor for on-site activities

Triennial Review On-Site and Post-Site Review Activities

Site Visit

•Entrance conference with contractor, grantee and regional office •Document review, interviews, site visits

Draft Report

•Developed by contractor for distribution at exit conference •Reviewed by regional office prior to exit conference •Contains deficiencies by review area, corrective action plan and corrective action due dates

Exit Conference

•Contractor, grantee, regional office conference to discuss results of the review and confirm corrective actions and schedules

•Draft report official transmitted to grantee •After exit conference, contractor transmits report to program offices (i.e. Civil Rights, Safety and Security) if there were findings in their program area

Triennial Review On-Site and Post-Site Review Activities

Final Report

•Within 7 days of exit conference, grantee submits comments to draft report •Within 21 days of exit conference, contractor transmits final report to regional office •Regional office transmits final report to grantee within 30 days of exit conference

Post Review

•Contractor enters findings into OTrak and uploads reports and worksheets •Contractor assist regional office in reviewing corrective actions for up to 90 days from exit conference •Regional office closes findings and closes out review

• Investigative pre-review assessment and streamlined standard review

(similar to what was done for the State Management Review)

• FTA Option to add “modules” offering enhanced level of review in high risk areas:

Procurement (including Buy America and DBE) Financial Management Financial Capability Technical Capability

ADA

Title VI Maintenance

• A significant element of these enhanced review modules will be to review larger samples of source documents. This will enable the Triennial Review to cover a higher level of detail currently only available within the scope of the specialized reviews.

Proposed Triennial Approach

Off-Site Pre-Review Assessment (Contractor)

Scoping Meeting (Regions and Contractor)

On-Site Tailored Review

(Contractor)

Evaluation and Follow-Up

(Regions, TPM, and Contractors)

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4

Developed to meet these objectives:

• Ask proactive questions which incorporate defined high-risk flags

• Forward Looking instead of Reactive

• Tailored Reviews instead of One-Size-Fits-All

• More investigative work in high risk areas

• Trend and analyze grantee performance

• Provide program-level and grantee-specific technical assistance

Proposed Triennial Review Approach

Optional high risk area “modules” for enhanced review

Scoping Meeting

(Replaces the Current Desk Review Mtg.) High-Risk

Identified in

P, M, FM, FC, TC,

ADA, or Title VI

Standard Baseline Review with

Enhanced Review Module(s) Added

(P) Procurement (Incl. DBE and Buy America)

(M) Maintenance

(FM) Financial Management

(FC) Financial Capacity

(TC) Technical Capacity

ADA

Title VI

Low-Risk Identified in

P, M, FM, FC, TC,

ADA, and Title VI

Standard Baseline Review