Government Operations - Procedural Operations of the Farmers Home Administration, Department of Agriculture, in Wisconsin: B-114873 (Paperback)

An investigation was requested by members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation to evaluate procedural operation of the Farmers Home Administration, Department of Agriculture, in the state of Wisconsin. The areas of concern were (1) shuffling of personnel between county offices, (2) adequacy of supervisory training, (3) establishment of one-stop service centers, and (4) delays in processing loans in county offices. An analysis of the 67 transfers of personnel between county offices showed that 31 involved promotions, 19 were lateral reassignments at agency discretion, and 17 were lateral reassignments at the employee's request. It was noted that some employee objections to involuntary lateral transfers were diminished by subsequent promotions. Administration employees apparently received sufficient information to effectively perform their jobs. Some county and assistant county supervisors expressed a need for additional and more relevant training. The 10-year-old training manual currently in use does not cover administration of emergency loan programs. Of the 25 one-stop service centers that have been approved, seven have been opened and two have been withdrawn from designation as of July 1976. Widespread misconceptions exist in Wisconsin about the purpose of the one-stop service centers. So the average processing time in 1976 for emergency loans and rural housing loans was 4-6 months.