Recovery.gov - Track the Money

Of the $50 million, $31 million is planned for Stabilization and $19 million is planned for modernization (MIDAS). Contractors are the targeted type of recipient and it is expected that $50 million will go to non-federal recipients through an open and competitive contracting process.

Use of this Recovery Act money to maintain and modernize the FSA information technology system enables FSA to fulfill USDA’s Strategic Management Initiatives and FSA's commitment to their crosscutting management objectives supporting FSA strategic goals.

Continued stabilization of this electronic government environment provides a necessary foundation for all future Modernization efforts including optimal data processing times and capacity loading.

Funding of modernization efforts will foster applications and systems that build upon reengineered business processes and provide faster, more secure and accurate benefits and services to FSA customers.

Data will be collected from financial systems and IT performance management and monitoring systems. FSA expects to report these metrics on a quarterly basis. Data will be collected and reported in accordance with the specified requirements in the Recovery Act reporting guidance.

The MIDAS project, which will modernize and improve service delivery for FSA farm programs, has stringent oversight processes in place. Monitoring and control at both project and management level is currently being performed by governance bodies responsible for controlling project performance and risk management. The following are examples of monitoring and evaluaiton related to the MIDAS project plan: Project Design/Decision Committee (PDDC); Senior Management Oversight Committee (SMOC); OMB Circular A-11 reviews; MIDAS Project Management Reviews; and, Conformity and compliance with all applicable NIST ANSI/EIA-748-A Earned Value Management System Guidelines.

MIDAS project performance metrics are monitored on an ongoing basis, with formal reporting performed weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.

Stabilization has stringent oversight processes in place. Monitoring and control at both project and management level is currently being performed by governance bodies responsible for controlling project performance and risk management.

In the Stabilization project, FSA performs continuous oversight at several levels to evaluate risk, impact and performance, both short and long-term. Oversight strategies include approved (1) project management processes, (2) contract management, reviews and evaluations, (3) continued reporting to project, mid- and top-level management, Administrators, USDA management and stakeholders (4) configuration management procedures and practices (5) change impact analysis (6) utilization of reporting and evaluative procedures of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and (7) daily management, monitoring and evaluation of system performance to ensure compliance with project objectives and goals.

Dennis Taitano serves as the Farm Service Agency’s executive accountable for ensuring proper implementation of ARRA. FSA has established its own public-facing website which will report additional information on the Agency’s success in ARRA-related matters. http://www.fsa.usda.gov/recovery

FSA has plans in place to organize program cost. A separate Treasury symbol has been established to track Recovery Act spending for FSA IT Stabilization/Modernization. In addition, FSA has established specific organization and project codes within this Treasury symbol to track IT Stabilization/Modernization spending at a detailed level within the Federal Financial Information System (FFIS). Information will be stored in the FFIS, the FSA Budget Performance Management System (BPMS) and the USDA Office of Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Sharepoint Detailed Lifecycle Costs Database. Reporting capabilities exist at various levels including Agency, program, investment and system.

FSA will comply with all Recovery Act reporting and transparency requirements to make performance information available at applicable recipient levels.

FSA intends to use program plans to hold managers accountable for achieving Recovery Act program goals. Individual performance plans of all managers and employees are tied to the Agency mission and goals contained in the FSA Strategic Plan. FSA Notice PC-2606, “FSA Performance Management Program,” contains detailed guidance on development of employee performance plans, including the requirement that performance be linked to the Agency’s strategic goals and objectives.

Accountability mechanisms that FSA will use include weekly project management meetings and monthly meetings by the Senior Management Oversight Committee (SMOC). For stabilization, FSA and USDA OCIO ITS have weekly meetings between stabilization sponsors and project managers. They review and discuss the cost, schedule and performance progress of the stabilization initiative. Recommendations are made and corrective actions are taken as needed. The SMOC is made up of senior members from USDA and FSA. They assess the cost, schedule and performance progress of MIDAS and Stabilization to ensure that expenditures for operations and initiatives are efficient and effective.

If appropriate and needed, individual performance plans of the applicable managers can be tied to the program goals of the projects receiving Recovery Act funding.

FSA will explore using action plans for improvement. Based on information and issues raised in the above accountability process, applicable corrective actions will be identified and taken in a timely and focused manner as the need arises.

FSA is committed to compliance with energy efficiency and green building requirement. As explained in USDA Green Information Technology Strategic Plan, the MIDAS IT investment project will reduce the CO2 emissions related to the delivery of farm program benefits associated with: hardware/software; paper consumption; and, travel to and from local offices.

For more information please refer to USDA Green Information Technology Strategic Plan located at: http://www.ocio.usda.gov/USDA_Green_IT_Strategic_Plan.pdf