Performance Summaries By Departmental Objective
The following sections of the report describe VA's accomplishments associated with each of the objectives identified in the Department's strategic plan. This information complements and provides additional detail beyond the summaries of performance associated with each strategic goal.
For each objective, we include the following:
- A summary of performance achievements.
- The resources used during the year in support of the objective.
- A description of any related Program Assessment Rating Tool evaluations conducted.
- A list of any major management challenges identified by VA's Office of Inspector General or the Government Accountability Office that have an impact on this objective.
- Any program evaluations that have been completed or are ongoing.
- An outline of new policies and procedures that were implemented in support of the objective.
Following the summary of accomplishments for each objective, we include brief descriptions of the key performance goals that support the objective. A few objectives do not have key goals although these are under development. For these objectives, we assess our progress by examining the results of supporting measures (see the table of performance measures by strategic goal and objective).
The key performance goal narratives include the following:
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Bar charts that show:
- FY 2004 actual level of performance.
- FY 2004 performance goal.
- Preliminary FY 2005 performance goal (final FY 2005 goals will be shown in VA's FY 2006 Congressional budget justifications).
- Long-range strategic target.
- Up to 5 years of historical data.
- Management efforts and policy issues including means and strategies used to achieve results.
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Where applicable:
- Explanations of why the FY 2004 performance goal was not achieved.
- Actions that will be taken to improve performance in the future in those instances in which we fell short of the performance goal for the year.
Taken together, the performance summaries at the strategic goal, objective, and performance goal levels provide a hierarchy of VA's achievements that provide somewhat different, but supporting, views of how well the Department is doing in meeting its mission.
