HUD's FY 99 Budget
Congressional Justifications
Administration and Staff Services

Salaries and Expenses

SCOPE OF ACTIVITY

The Office of Administration provides general Departmental support such as management analysis, human resource management, training, contracting, correspondence and scheduling for the Secretary, staffing and performance analysis, general building and office services, as well as special activities directly assigned by the Secretary. Field Administration staff also provide management information services, including reports, statistics and automated data processing (ADP) services, as well as direct and essential daily administrative support to program operations.

WORKLOAD

1. HEADQUARTERS

The Assistant Secretary for Administration is responsible for the development and promulgation of policies, standards, procedures, systems and materials related to the resource and administrative management of the Department and for the execution of such policies and directives at Headquarters and in the Field. This Office is organized under two Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Administration who report to the Assistant Secretary for Administration. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resource Management and Operations has oversight responsibilities for the Offices of Human Resources, Administrative and Management Services, and Procurement and Contracts; and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management has oversight for the Office of Information Technology, Management and Planning, and the HUD Training Academy. The Directors of the Administrative Service Centers in the field report to the Assistant Secretary.

The Office of Administrative and Management Services (OAMS) is responsible for the development, administration and evaluation of all administrative services for the Department. These services include, but are not limited to, Headquarters facilities management, Departmental space and telephone management, paperwork management, safety services, imprest funds for travel services for Headquarters personnel, and overall management of printing and visual arts activities.

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) is responsible for planning, developing, administering and evaluating all personnel programs for the Department. This includes overseeing the payroll processing services provided by the National Finance Center (NFC) of the

U. S. Department of Agriculture; improving recruitment and selection procedures; maintaining the Departmental position management program; providing advice and assistance on performance and conduct problems; implementing and administering the HUD/American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) contract and overseeing implementation and administration of HUD/National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) agreements in several field offices; providing support of executive services activities, which includes the Executive Performance Appraisal System and Senior Executive Awards programs; implementing the Departmental Performance Management System; promoting a drug-free work place; and providing employee support through the Employee Assistance Program.

The HUD Training Academy (HTA) is responsible for providing a cost-effective and coordinated strategy for the delivery of training and employee development programs which support the objectives and goals of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The HUD Training Academy is the center for HUD staff training; provides mission and occupational training in support of Departmental priorities; provides for individual training needs through internal training programs and partnerships established with colleges and universities; provides needs assessments and evaluations for its programs and activities; and delivers training to Field locations using innovative technology such as distance learning and video conference systems.

The Academy consists of two Institutes:

-- The Program Technical Training Institute provides technical training, retraining of HUD employees for new and changing skills, and coordination of training with intermediaries. It also manages the distance learning/satellite system; and

-- The Employee and Management Development Institute administers career enhancement and professional skills development at the general workforce and supervisory/management levels, for example; implementation of the Individual Development Plan (IDP) Program; administration of Learning Resource Centers; professional skills development programs for non-supervisory employees; and career counseling. It also manages the establishment of educational partnerships Departmentwide for achieving technical and cross training for all employees.

The Office of Management and Planning (OMAP) is the Department's internal consultant organization. OMAP's principal responsibility is to assist HUD managers to envision and accomplish program and management improvements in order to achieve the Secretary's strategies and HUD's goals. To support HUD 2020, OMAP is placing emphasis on change engineering, program support and client services. With this emphasis, OMAP now offers change engineering consultant support to help managers succeed in achieving their priorities while eliminating organizational and program deficiencies. The Office also networks with and brokers appropriate Administration resources, as needed, to help clients succeed in the implementation of desired changes; creates and sustains an infrastructure (including tools, staff, information, education, and awareness) which fosters a HUD culture that promotes innovation; and advises and assists the Assistant Secretary for Administration on strategies to support the Secretary's change initiatives.

The Office of Procurement and Contracts (OPC) is responsible for the award of contracts (including property disposition contracting), purchase orders, and interagency agreements to support Headquarters administrative and programmatic needs, as well as providing oversight of the Department's Field contracting operation. OPC develops and implements Departmental policies, standards and procedures to provide for an effective contracting program. The Office also develops Departmental policies to implement all uniform administrative requirements related to grants and cooperative agreements.

The Office of Executive Scheduling consolidates Departmental executive scheduling, correspondence control and related activities under the Director of Executive Scheduling. The Office considers requests for meetings, appointments, and public appearances by the Secretary and senior Departmental officials, and prepares briefing papers for the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, and other Principal Staff. The Office also provides related support for the Department's senior officials and acts as a liaison with key Departmental personnel, diverse external groups and officials, and national organizations requesting Secretarial appearances.

The Executive Secretariat serves as the central coordinating office for all correspondence to the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary, and is responsible for providing the following services:

-- reviewing for assignment of action all incoming official correspondence addressed to the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary, as well as all incoming correspondence from Members of Congress addressed to Department personnel, and reviewing all outgoing mail prepared for the signatures of the Secretary or Deputy Secretary for responsiveness and timeliness;

-- maintaining current files on all matters involving the Secretary's and Deputy Secretary's mail, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records, White House mail, General Accounting Office (GAO) reports, Congressional reports, and Departmental policy;

-- disseminating requests for information emanating personally from the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary to key personnel for action, and monitoring these assignments in order to meet established deadlines;

-- providing assistance to program areas by: (1) developing responses of either a programmatic or policy nature in situations where large volumes of identical or similar correspondence is addressed to the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary; and (2) preparing the responses for the signature of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary, or other members of the Department's staff as appropriate; and

-- performing special projects as assigned by the Secretary.

The Office of Special Actions is a small entrepreneurial staff which acts as a catalyst for the development of public/private partnerships which support economic development in communities across the United States. The Office functions as convener and expediter for new collaborations with foundations, educational institutions, corporations, non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, state and local governments, and other Federal agencies. Further, the Office of Special Actions handles special projects as designated by the Secretary to manage the Department's coordinated relief efforts for communities hit by Presidentially-declared natural disasters. The Office of Special Actions coordinates HUD's response to national disasters involving both disaster preparedness and relief activities. Other principal initiatives coordinated by the Office include: church arson rebuilding project, veterans affairs, District of Columbia revitalization project, the faith community outreach initiative, and the St. Petersburg, Florida, Federal task force.

2. FIELD

Field staff are located in three Administrative Service Centers (ASC) and an Employee Service Center (ESC). Below are explanations of the functions performed:

The General Direction function consists of the three Administrative Service Center Directors and their respective staffs. The Directors are responsible for directing, coordinating and monitoring administrative activities in their locales. The Directors are also responsible for overall supervision of such activities throughout the Area and for advising the Secretary's ten Representatives on matters of administrative management and policies.

The Human Resources Services function consists of standard personnel services, such as processing merit staffing actions, classification, employee counseling, and management advisory services; and implementing and administering the HUD/NFFE agreements in several local field offices. These services are now conducted principally at the three ASC sites and other outstationed offices. In 1996, an Employee Service Center was established which offers high quality and timely benefits counseling and all personnel processing for both Headquarters and Field employees. The staff associated with the Employee Service Center is discussed separately. The other personnel services are the responsibility of the three Administrative Service Centers and Headquarters staff. It is anticipated that this structure will facilitate standardization of recruiting processes, crediting plans, position descriptions, and integrated automated systems that will accomplish significant staff savings.

The Administrative Resources Services is a new organization which merges the former administrative services function and the management function formerly in the management and budget services function. The administrative services function consists of a wide variety of support activities including mail handling, communication services, space management, inventory controls, printing support, and property and paperwork management. The management function consists of a wide variety of activities, principally organization and management analysis, coordination of Departmental management plan systems within the former regional areas, and the monitoring and analysis of resource utilization within the ASCs. Staff providing these services are distributed among both the Administrative Service Centers and State and Area Field Offices, with policy guidance and management provided by staff at the Service Center level.

Management and Budget Services, except for those tasks carried out by program staff, is handled by a small staff who reports to the ASC Directors. This staff assists each ASC Director in managing the personal services and travel budget issued by the Assistant Secretary for Administration to the ASC for its own operations, allocating other budget categories from the Salaries and Expenses account, and providing budget consulting services to program areas as needed.

Management Information Services are principally related to automated data processing systems including setting up ADP equipment in accordance with system architecture and the subsequent maintenance of ADP equipment. The services also consist of data management, reporting and information services, developing local systems, and providing monitoring and technical assistance in the areas of data quality, special studies, and reports and statistics. The services are provided in both State and Area Field Offices, with the responsibility for policy guidance and technical assistance residing at the Service Center level.

Contracting Services provide support primarily for Field FHA functions in Mortgage Processing as well as Real Estate Owned (REO) services and other HUD program areas. In addition to contract placement and administration, the ASC Contracting Divisions ensure implementation of and compliance with HUD procurement policy. They assist PIH and CPD with technical assistance to Public Housing Authorities and CPD grantees in the implementation of Acquisition regulations that impact HUD grantees.

The Employee Service Center (ESC) was established as part of Administration's reorganization. It became fully operational at the beginning of fiscal year 1996. The ESC streamlines the delivery of benefits and processing services for the entire Department by consolidating these activities into one location. Two primary services provided by the ESC are Benefitsline and Employee Express. Benefitsline provides 24-hour access to general benefits information and Employee Express provides the opportunity to directly change selected benefits and other designations by touch tone telephone. The Employee Service Center is located in Chicago, Illinois; and reports to the Director, Office of Human Resources, in Headquarters.

TRAVEL

The table below identifies travel requirements unique to this activity.

The requested travel funding principally reflects the Department's continued efforts to provide a cost-effective and coordinated strategy for the delivery of training and employee development programs. It is integral to the success of HUD's reinvention plan which requires that the occupational performance of all HUD employees be raised to a level of excellence. The amount requested for Headquarters reflects the need to train employees in other skills as we implement Reform 2020.

CONTRACTS

The table below identifies contract requirements unique to this activity.

Training Contracts - Federal Employees. These contract funds provide for various types of training for HUD employees, technical and managerial, both in Headquarters and the Field, which enables them to perform their jobs. The funding provides for training facilities, development of training programs and associated support costs. Funding in this activity is under the HUD Training Academy for employee training Departmentwide. The 1998 current estimate and the projected need for FY 1999 compared to the 1997 actual reflects a significant increase because of the need to train employees in new skills to support newly established centers and Community Builder activities.

Management Studies. The 1997 actual obligations principally reflect a contract to assist Headquarters management in assessing the quality and impact of recommendations resulting from HUD's Transformation Plan. The 1998 current estimate reflects the historical funding level required for contractor assistance for management analysis services. No change to the 1998 level is requested for 1999.

Technical Services. These funds are for specialized technical support which is not identified in other categories. Annually, the National Finance Center (NFC) of the

U. S. Department of Agriculture provides payroll processing services to the Department. The National Association of Public Administration (NAPA) will be conducting a study of HUD procurement and administrative activities.

Data and Statistical Services. These funds principally reflect HUD's share of the costs of preparing the Single Audit Clearinghouse Report, prepared by the Department of Commerce. No change to the 1998 level is proposed for 1999.

Content Archived: January 20, 2009