Accountability Matters! Illinois All Employee Training Conference March 1, 2005 Decatur, Illinois Dan D. Lawson, Director Dan D. Lawson, Director Strategic and Performance Planning Division

Objectives Driving forces – Why? Driving forces – Why? Agency priorities – What? Agency priorities – What? Field office business tools - How? Field office business tools - How? The future The future

10,000 ft. Perspective

Driving Forces “First and most critically is the President’s very clear signal that he wants his administration and our government to be results-oriented.” June 20, 2001 GOVEXEC.COM (Government Executive) June 20, 2001 GOVEXEC.COM (Government Executive)

 GPRA – Government Performance and Results Act  PMA – President’s Management Agenda  PART – Program Assessment Rating Tool  Budgets  Congress and Oversight  Leadership commitment

GPRA The Bush administration is determined to put teeth behind the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Sean O’Keefe, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

President’s Management Agenda (PMA)  Strategic Management of Human Capital  Competitive Sourcing  Improved Financial Performance  Expanding e-government  Budget and Performance Integration

PART - Evaluates Programs in Four Critical Areas Program Purpose and Design – 20% Program Purpose and Design – 20% Strategic Planning – 10% Strategic Planning – 10% Program Management – 20% Program Management – 20% Program Results and Accountability – 50% Program Results and Accountability – 50%

PART Key Questions Does the program have a limited number of specific, ambitious long-term performance goals that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program? Outcomes-based goals!

PART Key Questions PART Key Questions Does the program have a limited number of annual performance goals that demonstrate progress toward achieving the long-term goals? Demonstratable Progress!

So what? - Possible PART Impacts Program will be fully funded or, Program will be fully funded or, Program will be funded, pending improvements or, Program will be funded, pending improvements or, Program will be transferred to a more efficient agency with similar programs or, Program will be transferred to a more efficient agency with similar programs or, Program will be terminated. Program will be terminated.

NRCS PART Scores Program ScoreYear Program ScoreYear EQIP72%2004 EQIP72%2004 EWP56%2004 EWP56%2004 RC&D41%2004 RC&D41%2004 Snow Survey 82%2004 Snow Survey 82%2004 Watershed Prot & Flood Prevention65%2004 Watershed Prot & Flood Prevention65%2004 CTA59%2003 CTA59%2003 Plant Materials63%2003 Plant Materials63%2003 NRI69%2003 NRI69%2003 Soil Survey71%2003 Soil Survey71%2003 FRPP66%2002 FRPP66%2002 WHIP60%2002 WHIP60%2002

PART Scores – CTA/RC&D Program Purpose & Design (20%) Strategic Planning (10%) Program Mgmt. (20%) Program Results (50%) CTA RC&D

Efficiency Measures Technical assistance cost per acre Technical assistance cost per acre Estimated average cost per CNMP assisted Estimated average cost per CNMP assisted Average per-acre cost for 30-year and permanent easement acquisition Average per-acre cost for 30-year and permanent easement acquisition Reduction in average annual technical assistance cost per active participant Reduction in average annual technical assistance cost per active participant

Congress and Oversight “If implemented as currently planned, [the system] will provide NRCS with the means to set agency-wide goals, determine the resources and strategies needed to achieve them, hold the different parts of the agency responsible for achieving the goals, and report on its performance.” Government Accountability Office (GAO)

“The Congress has placed great trust in NRCS to handle the massive farm bill investment. And they will expect greater accountability. We will have to work with our partners to document the accomplishments coming out of the Federal investment. That will require better planning, budgeting, and reporting, both within NRCS and partner organizations.” Bruce Knight – Feb 2003

Agency Priorities It’s not good enough to do something - It has to be the something! - It has to be the something!

Agency Priorities Streamline and implement conservation programs Streamline and implement conservation programs Implement President’s management initiatives (strategic management of human capital, competitive sourcing, improved financial performance, expanding e-government, and budget and performance integration) Implement President’s management initiatives (strategic management of human capital, competitive sourcing, improved financial performance, expanding e-government, and budget and performance integration) Increase outreach activities and workforce diversity Increase outreach activities and workforce diversity Enable conservation delivery by modernization and expansion of technical capacity. Enable conservation delivery by modernization and expansion of technical capacity. Revision of NRCS Strategic Plan Revision of NRCS Strategic Plan

NRCS Strategic Goals  Enhance natural resource productivity to enable a strong agricultural and natural resource sector.  Reduce unintended adverse effects of natural resource development and use to ensure a high quality environment  Reduce risks from flooding and drought to protect public health and safety  Deliver high quality services to the public to enable natural resource stewardship

USDA Strategic Goals* Conservation plans written on cropland and grazing land (ac.) (CTA) Conservation plans written on cropland and grazing land (ac.) (CTA) Grazing lands with conservation applied (ac.) (CTA, EQIP) Grazing lands with conservation applied (ac.) (CTA, EQIP) Reduction in the acreage of cropland soils damaged by erosion (ac.) (CTA, CRP) Reduction in the acreage of cropland soils damaged by erosion (ac.) (CTA, CRP) CNMPs applied (no.) (CTA, EQIP) CNMPs applied (no.) (CTA, EQIP) Agricultural wetlands created, restored, or enhanced (ac.) (CTA, CRP, WRP) Agricultural wetlands created, restored, or enhanced (ac.) (CTA, CRP, WRP) * Measures that NRCS are directly responsible for.

Annual Performance Plan Annual Budget National Business Plan Performance Measures Budget Allocation Process Performance Report Oversight & Evaluation Performance Measurement NRCS Strategic Plan Accountability System State Performance Plans State Business Plans State Budget FO Business Tools ProTracts Total Cost Accounting System (TCAS) Performance Results System (PRS) CSGs Customer Service Toolkit Workload, Workforce & Performance Data Locally Led Input & Consultations Resource Inventory & Assessment Customer Service Feedback POINTS

Field-based tools

Customer Contact Technical Assistance Provided PHYSICAL EFFECT OUTPUTS PERFORMANCE MEASURES OUTCOMES Field Operations to Performance Outcomes

Customer Contact Technical Assistance Provided Customer Service Toolkit, WebTCAS, Protracts, PRS PHYSICAL EFFECT exported from CRA, Conservation Guide Sheets OUTPUTS (Ex. Tons of sediment Planned to be reduced) PERFORMANCE MEASURES (Ex. Reduced soil erosion on ___ acres of working lands) OUTCOMES (Ex. By 2007, reduce sedimentation to avoid $___ of on-site and off-site damages.) Field Operations to Performance Outcomes NRI-CEAP utilizes information to refine outcome models

Customer Service Toolkit 5.0

CSG Status 16,000 guides, containing 32,000 conservation systems have been entered into the system. 16,000 guides, containing 32,000 conservation systems have been entered into the system. 1,000 Common Resource Areas (CRA) have been established. 1,000 Common Resource Areas (CRA) have been established.

ProTracts – NRCS Contract Manager Current supports EQIP, AMA, WHIP, and CSP More than 150,000 cost-share agreement applications have been loaded into ProTracts In Sept. 2004, about $34 million in CSP payments were made, using ProTracts More than 100,000 EQIP contracts were migrated from FSA to ProTracts, and reconciled

Performance Results System (PRS) Captures and reports inputs, outputs, and outcomes for Agency strategic and performance plan goals. Harvests information directly from Conservation Toolkit and ProTracts, or through direct entry into PRS. Utilized to analyze and monitor performance.

POINTS A collection of data, web-based applications, and resources for State and National Program Managers EQIP and Watersheds currently available RC&D and other remaining programs to be deployed in FY2005

Total Cost Accounting System (TCAS) Employees record program and activities worked Employees record program and activities worked Feeds pay system Feeds pay system Provides program and activity cost information Provides program and activity cost information

How we spent our time in FY2004

Conservation Information System (CIS)

The future …….

Outputs to Outcomes Healthy Watersheds Clean Water Sedimentation Reduced Tons of Soil Saved Number of Acres Treated Number of People Served

Natural Resource Issue Activity Work Product Indicators Conservation Practices and Contracts Outputs Annual Performance Measures Outcomes

Soil Erosion Conservation Planning Residue Management Tons of sediment Planned to be reduced Reduced soil erosion on ___ acres of working lands By 2007, reduce sedimentation to avoid $___ of on-site and off-site damages. Planning ($) Application ($) Maintenance And Follow-up ($) Tech. Development And Transfer ($)

CIS Next Generation “Executive Dashboards”

Farm Bill Streamline programs Streamline programs Maximize contracts Maximize contracts Increase accountability for CTAIncrease accountability for CTA Improve strategic planningImprove strategic planning

Revision of the Strategic Plan Current plan last updated in 2003 Current plan last updated in 2003 The new strategic plan is to be completed by the end of 2005 The new strategic plan is to be completed by the end of 2005 Strategic Planning Teams will represent cross organizational and functional levels of the agency and will involve significant input from the field Strategic Planning Teams will represent cross organizational and functional levels of the agency and will involve significant input from the field

Timeline for Strategic Planning Process Form Plan Scan SWOT, Issues Vision, Mission Goals Strategies Draft Feb. Mar.AprilMayJuneJulyAug.Sept.

Back to the Field

What are the results for NRCS? What are the results for NRCS? Your Score for the recipients of Conservation Technical Assistance in the past year is: Here’s how it compares :  Your Segment Score Private Sector Comparable Score Federal Government-wide Score 68.6 Customer Satisfaction Results PRELIMINARY FINDINGS From the American Customer Satisfaction Index 81

FY 2004 Performance

Providing High Quality Assistance in Conserving Natural Resources

Thank you!