Draft Management Alert: Unrealistic Transformation Plan Unnecessarily Jeopardizes CNCS Mission

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS or the Corporation) has begun toimplement a plan to restructure the Corporation and alter its core grantmaking and grantmanagement business practices. While CNCS’s Office of Inspector General (CNCS-OIG) stronglysupports a re-examination of the Corporation’s structure, our experience indicates CNCS doesnot have the capacity to carry out its complex transformation plan at the rapid pace envisioned.CNCS has scheduled the reorganization, with its many risks, to occur at the same time as criticallyneeded improvements to CNCS’s core business functions – developing information technologysufficient to support grant management; preparing and testing an effective grant risk model andaligned cost-effective monitoring activities; achieving reliable financial management, accountingand reporting; and establishing effective cybersecurity. Despite efforts, CNCS has been unableto achieve these improvements over the last several years, without the added stress of a majorstructural overhaul. The plan to accomplish these critical infrastructure upgrades whilesimultaneously reorganizing grantmaking, grant management and grant administration isunrealistic, exceeds the Corporation’s capabilities and creates a substantial risk that CNCS willnot be able to achieve its mission of supporting national service.Instead, we strongly recommend that CNCS sequence the reforms, concentrating first onstanding up the infrastructure to support informed, risk-based grantmaking and grantmonitoring. Also imperative is completing and validating the corrective actions for financialmanagement, accounting and reporting, so that CNCS can accurately track expenditures andprovide strong stewardship of taxpayer funds. We further recommend that CNCS delay thereorganization to a regional structure until such time as it implements these critical upgrades.We are not suggesting an abandonment of the reorganization, but rather a slower-paced andrisk-based, tiered approach to appropriately prioritize goals and promote the ultimate success ofCNCS’s comprehensive plan.