Summary: GAO sought to determine whether certain special impact programs in the Community Services Administration's (CSA's) economic development program were: progressing toward national and local goals; having an appreciable impact on areas they served; and being effectively administered. The review of six special impact programs included two high density urban areas of Chicago and New York and four urban and rural programs in Texas, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Mississippi. Among the New York program's more substantive accomplishments in alleviating severe problems in unemployment, abandoned housing, and declining business in the past 4 years were the: issuance of $2.6 million in loans resulting in an estimated 217 new or continued jobs; placement of over 2,800 people in full or part-time jobs; opening of a commercial center; and improvement of housing conditions through rehabilitation of many homes and new construction efforts. Nevertheless the program has been unable to keep pace with the substantial increases in unemployment and other problems. The Chicago program's efforts have been unsuccessful over the last 3 years in attracting any major industrial or retail firms to locate in its planned shopping center or its industrial park. The one profitable venture in the smaller impact programs, a restaurant, was sold after 4 years of program ownership. With its small staff, CSA has been unable to effectively provide all the needed assistance and it has not made extensive use of outside experts to supplement its staff. The present oversight system does not yield adequate quarterly monitoring data for CSA to assess program impact against stated performance goals.
