Case Studies

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) - Resource Justification Model

The Challenge

The Office of Workforce Security (OWS) in the DOL's Employment and Training Administration needed to replace an outdated budget formulation and allocation process for the unemployment insurance (UI) program. OWS needed to ensure that the replacement system met Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) mandates to tie budget formulation to performance-based principles as well as OMB reporting requirements according to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Strategy

Working with OWS staff members, HeiTech Services developed an Excel-based system, which provided states with a means to justify their funding needs and provide OWS with current cost information to justify budget requests for state UI program administration. The goals of the system were to build a credible budget from state-submitted data, allocate administrative funds equitably among states; and promote cost-effective practices.

The Result

The Resource Justification Model (RJM) is a tool that enables the States to provide their own input to the budget request. The RJM allows the states to present their requirements and justify them by basing costs on performance. The worksheets in this model capture historical costs for the previous fiscal year (FY), actual costs to date for the current year as well as projected costs for the remainder of the current FY, and projected costs for the next FY, as well as for the budget request FY. When the user enters past year, present year, following year, and request year data in sequential order on each form, the RJM enables built-in calculations to carry some data forward from one fiscal year to the next. Establishing these and other internal management controls allows the states to build their business case with confidence.

After developing RJM, HeiTech Services has provided technical and analytical support. This support includes developing detailed manuals for the states to provide data, and a software review and audit system for the regional offices to review this data. Project staff also provided training to both the states and the Federal staff and assisted in the national consistency review process.