NCJ Number
180504
Date Published
July 1999
Length
70 pages
Annotation
The General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed the effectiveness of Weed and Seed programs at five sites and assessed how the program was managed by the Executive Office for Weed and Seed (EOWS) to ensure that grant requirements were met.
Abstract
The Weed and Seed Program, initiated in 1991, is a discretionary grant program that provides funding to community grantees to help prevent and control crime and improve the quality of life in targeted high-crime neighborhoods. It is a joint Federal, State, and local program for coordinated law enforcement and neighborhood reinvestment. The EOWS is responsible for the national management and administration of the program, including developing policy and providing Federal guidance and oversight. Four required elements of the Weed and Seed Program are law enforcement; community policing; crime and substance prevention, intervention, and treatment; and neighborhood restoration. The questionnaire to assess EOWS management of the program asked site coordinators to provide current information about their sites. The sites were located in Atlanta, Georgia; Dyersburg, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; and Woburn, Massachusetts. The GAO found that internal control weaknesses of the EOWS hampered Weed and Seed program management. New site funding qualification decisions were not always documented, and the EOWS did not ensure Weed and Seed sites met grant requirements. The EOWS lacked criteria for continued funding of sites that became self-sustaining. In addition, EOWS site performance indicators generally measured activities rather than results and success. The GAO recommends the EOWS develop adequate internal controls over funding decisions, improve program monitoring, develop criteria for determining when sites are self-sustaining, and develop performance measures for tracking program outcomes. Appendixes contain detailed information on the GAO review. 17 tables