May 16, 2008

 

A summary of daily news relevant to the federal workforce produced by the Partnership for Public Service.

1. Agencies Should Improve Financial Management Workforce Planning, Report Finds
2. Federal Diary: Peace Corps Struggles With HIV Policy
3. Lawmakers Worry FDA Bill Adds Too Much Work
4. Get a Life: Baseball, Public Service and Retirement
   

Agencies Should Improve Financial Management Workforce Planning, Report Finds

Government Executive
By Katherine McIntire Peters

Technological and demographic changes are driving a major shift in the federal financial management workforce, and agencies must do a better job preparing for future needs, according to a study conducted by the Association of Government Accountants and Management Concepts, a Washington-based professional services firm.

"The mix of federal financial management positions is changing: clerical and technical positions are decreasing and professional and administrative positions are increasing," the report found.

The report, "21st Century Federal Financial Managers: A New Mix of Skills and Educational Levels?" said technology has reduced reliance on manual processes and remaining positions require a better-educated workforce.

Specifically, the report cites increasing demand for people able to provide analysis that supports executive decision-making. The need stems from new reporting requirements from the Office of Management and Budget and pressure from lawmakers to provide program outcomes and measures. "All three major federal financial management positions -- accountant, budget analyst, and management and financial analyst --require analytical and decision-support competencies," the report noted.

While agencies are conducting workforce planning, most are failing to identify competency gaps and develop strategies to make sure they have enough people with the right skills -- and they won't be able to count on recent college graduates filling the gap. The study found that schools generally are not teaching basic federal budgeting, accounting and program concepts, and college graduates often lack understanding of federal appropriations law and the government's accounting and budget process.

Among the study's recommendations:

• Develop a comprehensive plan for improving the financial management workforce.
• Introduce incentives to move workforce planning forward.
• Establish continuing education requirements for both professional and administrative positions in financial management (as is now the case for federal auditors).
• Urge the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to include questions about federal accounting on the certified public accountant examination. This would encourage colleges and universities to include a "federal accounting 101" course in their curriculum.

Anna Miller, the association's director of research, said, "This report is of particular importance given the magnitude of the anticipated problem." The Office of Personnel Management estimates that about 60 percent of federal workers will be eligible to retire in the next 10 years.

Although agencies have focused broadly on the potential impact a wave of retirements may have during the next decade, they need to focus more on what that may mean in the realm of financial management.

"A mass retirement of experienced managers could leave an agency with an inadequate workforce and thus vulnerable to mission failure. What is true for human capital management in general is also true for the federal financial management workforce," the report said.

"We must act if we are to avoid compromising standards of accountability and transparency to taxpayers," Miller said.

Peace Corps Struggles With HIV Policy

The Washington Post
By Stephen Barr

As best the Peace Corps knew, Jeremiah S. Johnson was "the first instance of a volunteer" who tested positive for HIV and wished to remain with the agency rather than return to the United States for medical treatment.

But Rebecca M. Coulborn, a Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, said she was forced out in 2001 when an exam showed she had HIV. "I did not want to be medically separated," she recalled.

Like Johnson, who was brought back to Washington from Ukraine this year, Coulborn was on an airplane headed for D.C. within 48 hours of having her diagnosis confirmed. "I was told that was Peace Corps policy," she said. "If you did test HIV-positive, you were medically separated from the Peace Corps."

Coulborn spoke about her experience with the Peace Corps after reading about Johnson in the April 28 Federal Diary column. Johnson said the Peace Corps' decision to not allow him to serve is contrary to federal anti-discrimination laws, and he has asked the American Civil Liberties Union to help him bring about a change in the agency's practices.

The Peace Corps, in a May 7 letter to the ACLU, described Johnson as the first case of a volunteer "to our knowledge" who wished to remain with the agency after testing HIV-positive.

Amanda H. Beck, the Peace Corps press director, said the statement about Johnson being the first was "based on personal knowledge of the currently serving Peace Corps staff members," who typically turn over every five years under the agency's staffing rules.

"Our primary concern is that Peace Corps volunteers receive the best medical care and treatment possible," Beck said. "In the case of HIV, the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services has historically determined that the best testing, evaluation and treatment for volunteers is available from specialists in the United States."

Since 1989, volunteers have undergone medical screenings at the beginning and end of their tours. Most receive a mid-tour exam, too, but a test for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was voluntary at first.

About 75,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps since 1989, and 36 have tested positive for HIV during or at the close of their overseas tours, Beck said.

Under the agency's general policy, if a volunteer develops a condition that cannot be resolved within 45 days, the person is medically separated from the Peace Corps. Because initial assessment and treatment of HIV can take from three to six months, volunteers who are HIV-positive face what the ACLU has called automatic separation.

In its letter to the ACLU, the Peace Corps' policy appears to be evolving. "The Peace Corps is now committed to extending the individualized assessments in these types of cases to include whether a newly infected volunteer could be reasonably accommodated and either kept at post or sent to another post in lieu of medical separation," the letter said, adding that "we cannot commit to a guarantee of reassignment."

Coulborn, 32, an epidemiologist who works at the University of Michigan, said she was not given any option except to leave the agency. "I really thought it was their policy to automatically separate people," she said. "I felt for a long time that this was something done to me that was wrong, and very unethical."

In Burkina Faso, Coulborn spent much of her time in a village of 800 people, providing health education about waterborne parasites and the importance of immunizations, and promoting community awareness about various health issues. She said she thinks she was exposed to HIV when helping a person who had been injured in a bicycle accident.

She was surprised by her test result, but was more surprised when the local agency medical officer, following instructions from headquarters, Coulborn said, "told me to pack up my stuff and not expect to return."

The Peace Corps discharged her in October 2001. She said she has remained healthy, has not had to start drug therapy, and believes "I could have completely and totally served out my term as a Peace Corps volunteer."

Being forced to leave her village, she said, "was devastating to me." Because Peace Corps funding is linked to the volunteer, her departure ended projects underway or planned for the village, she said.

"Testing positive for HIV should not disqualify you from serving your country internationally," Coulborn said.

Military Pay Raise on Track

Congress appears settled on providing a higher raise to the military. Military personnel would receive a 3.9 percent pay raise next year under a defense bill approved by the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. Last month, the Senate Armed Services Committee also backed a 3.9 percent raise.

The Bush administration, in its February budget request, recommended a 3.4 percent raise for the military and a 2.9 percent raise, including locality adjustments, for the civil service next year.

The House committee also wants to suspend the outsourcing of federal work, known as A-76 competitions, for three years. The halt is needed "to ensure that the [military] services' operational obligations may be fully met." The committee would require the Office of Management and Budget to develop a definition of "inherently governmental" for use by all agencies. The definition would help determine which federal jobs should only be performed by government personnel.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which has urged House members to stop contracting-out efforts by the Pentagon, praised the committee's actions.

 

Lawmakers Worry FDA Bill Adds Too Much Work

Federal Times
By Gregg Carlstrom

A bipartisan group of legislators is concerned that a draft bill overhauling the Food and Drug Administration could cripple the agency by imposing a vast new workload.

The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act would require the agency to perform more frequent inspections of companies that produce food, drugs and medical devices. The legislation, not yet introduced, is a response to recent regulatory failures at the agency, which failed to catch contamination of the blood-thinning drug heparin imported from China, among other lapses. Congress would pay for the new mandates by increasing user fees on those companies.

Food and drug companies already pay substantial fees: A company that produces medical devices, for example, pays a $1,700 annual registration fee for each manufacturing plant. The draft bill would up that fee to $2,000.

A discussion draft of the bill, written by House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders, was discussed Wednesday at a hearing of the subcommittee on health. Legislators said the user fees, and some of the inspection requirements, could be counterproductive.

"User fees may seem like the only option," said Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga. "But they raise some questions about the relationship between the regulatory [agency] and the industry being regulated."

And there are two serious concerns about what the bill would do to FDA's workload.

First, it would require more intensive inspections of medical devices. Right now, FDA inspectors look at the finished product; the legislation expands those inspections to any company that produces part of a medical device. Legislators are worried that would force FDA to oversee an entire supply chain.

"Right now, they're inspected as finished products," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. "Under this act, each firm that makes every bolt, every circuit board, would be inspected. The number of facilities would be insurmountable."

Second, the bill calls on FDA to set up a permanent "foreign inspectorate." Those employees would be responsible for inspecting foreign facilities, under the same twice-annual timetable that governs domestic inspections. But the FDA — which complains of chronic underfunding — says it doesn’t have the resources for full-time foreign inspectors without a big boost in appropriations.

"Simply calling for more inspections is not the solution," said Stephen Sundlof, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "FDA is pursuing the use of voluntary third-party certification to verify compliance with requirements."

Sundlof was referring to a program authorized by Congress in 2002, which allows FDA to authorize third-party organizations to perform safety inspections. But the agency has only approved 16 organizations, and those organizations have conducted a total of just four inspections at foreign manufacturers.

Legislators also quizzed the FDA on its limited authority to block imported drugs from entering the market.

Before blocking an import, "we have to establish at the port of entry that there is a problem," Sundlof said. But companies now can refuse to be inspected.

The proposed legislation would change that, blocking food and drugs from companies that don't agree to regular FDA inspections.

Criticisms of the bill aside, lawmakers and experts agreed the FDA needs a fix.

"The FDA has not kept up with the globalization of the industry it regulates," said Marcia Crosse, director of health issues at the Government Accountability Office.

A GAO report released last week found a growing backlog of medical device inspections. The FDA inspects domestic manufacturers of high-risk devices, like pacemakers, once every three years; medium-risk devices, including syringes and hearing aids, every five.

Inspections of foreign manufacturers occur even less frequently: six years for high-risk devices, and 27 years for medium-risk.

FDA is slowly improving the scope of its overseas inspection program: The agency inspected 289 foreign device manufacturers last year, compared with 219 in 2006. But FDA officials say they need more money and personnel to reach the goal of biannual inspections.

GAO’s report on medical devices mirrors another study released last year, which found the FDA had performed inspections at just 1,500 of the nation's 5,000 drug manufacturers since 2002. 

Get a Life: Baseball, Public Service and Retirement

Federal Computer Week
By Judy Welles
 
The Washington Nationals and the Partnership for Public Service are offering discounted baseball tickets to three games this summer in appreciation of the dedicated service of federal employees. The first game will be Saturday, May 24 at 7:10 p.m., against the Milwaukee Brewers. You do not need to be a federal employee to receive this discount. You can purchase tickets online at the Partnership Web site.

Maybe going to a baseball game is not a bad idea. It can be a break for a group from your office or team, or a needed break for you.

I met two recent Federal retirees last week who do not know each other but had very similar stories to tell. One had retired three months ago; the other three weeks ago. Both told of sleeping heavily for at least two weeks after retirement, feeling that tired. Both felt now like they were floating above reality, not sure where to land their feet.

This is not unusual. Even with the best of plans, retirement from a long career is an adjustment. It takes time to sort through your next step, even if it may be another job. In my view, it is important to take that time.

On the topic of retirement, the Social Security Administration plans to have a new retirement estimator calculator online on July 19 that you can use without hunting for those Social Security statements you get in the mail. By putting in the last year of any Social Security earnings, guesses of future earnings and possible retirement dates, you will be able to get a quick estimate of retirement benefits. You can submit a number of “what if” scenarios.

This may be helpful to those of you in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). But for those in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the new estimator will not reflect the offset you would get from the Windfall Elimination Provision or Government Pension Offset. You will still need to tackle the more detailed calculators on the SSA Web site.