Interagency Coordination 

 of Compliance Activities Is 

 Limited 



Justice officials told us that it carries out three main activities to 

 coordinate agency compliance with Title IX. Specifically, it provides 

 technical assistance to agencies when questions cirise about compliance 

 activities or requirements, brokers agreements between agencies and 

 Education to carry out complaint investigations and compliance reviews 

 of educational institutions, and requires agencies to submit an annual 

 report on their compliance activities. Some technical assistance has taken 

 the form of published guidance for agencies to assist them with Title IX 

 compliance, while other assistance is provided to agency officials directly 

 to address specific issues. For example. Energy officials reported that they 

 consult with Justice from time to time on how to handle complex 

 complciints they receive. 



Justice officials reported that they helped to arrange the agreements 

 between Education and other agencies whereby Education has agreed to 

 conduct complaint investigations and compliance reviews on behalf of the 

 other agencies. Justice officials reported that they were not aware that 

 Education has not been adliering to the compliance review portion of the 

 agreements. However, Justice officials were aware that other agencies, 

 including Energy, NASA and NSF, were not conducting comphance 

 reviews as required, due to limited resources. 



Justice officials reported that every agency submitted annual reports on 

 their compliance activities. Agencies are required to report the numbers of 

 complaints they received imder Title VI and Title IX and what action was 

 taken on those complaints. Agencies must also report on the total number 

 of grants the agency awarded and whether those grantees completed a 

 statement of assurance not to discriminate. In addition, agencies have to 

 report and characterize any agreements they may have with other 

 agencies, such as Education. Justice officials reported that they review 

 these reports to determine gaps in compliance and subsequently provide 

 agencies with guidance on how to alleviate those gaps. Although 

 Executive Order 12250 requires Justice to coordinate the implementation 

 and enforcement by executive agencies of various nondiscrimination 

 provisions of several civil rights laws, including Title IX, it has no legal 

 authority to make agencies conduct required compliance activities. Justice 

 officials reported that aside from reminding the agencies of the need to 

 comply with Title IX regulations and providing the agencies with guidance 

 and technical assistance, there is little they can do to ensure compliance 

 with Title IX. 



In addition, Executive Order 12250 states "the Attorney General shall 

 annually report to the President through the Director of the Office of 



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GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



