Chapter 1: Best Practices for Strengthening Federal Programs
Audience: Program Administrators
This chapter highlights strategies that program administrators can adopt for future emergency relief programs, as well as non-emergency programs. Given the challenges posed by emergencies, we recognize the balance between swiftly providing money to recipients while also preventing and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse prior to releasing funds.
To help agencies meet these critical objectives, we offer key recommendations related to developing, implementing, and maintaining strong internal controls, even during crises.
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Chapter 2: Opportunities for Policymakers to Improve Program Integrity
Audience: Policymakers
This chapter provides recommendations and strategies that legislators and policymakers can apply to deter and prevent fraud when drafting legislation and policy for emergency and regularly appropriated funding. We identify key recommendations that include the need for a central data analytics center, statutory access to data, and the extension of statutes of limitation for emergency programs.
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Chapter 3: Fraud Prevention and Detection
Audience: Oversight Community, Policymakers
We have outlined leading practices for how to better design and implement federal programs to detect and prevent fraud. Key themes in the chapter include:
Establishing and performing fraud risk assessments
Verifying applicant eligibility and identity
Training staff and providing clear guidance
Coordinating program oversight by both program and oversight officials
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Chapter 4: Whole-of-Government Approach
Audience: Oversight Community, Office of Management and Budget/White House/Agency Heads
This chapter focuses on a whole-of-government approach—how state, local, and federal governments worked together during the pandemic to share best practices and solutions for mitigating increased challenges. Essential in times of national crisis, a whole-of-government approach can also benefit large-scale programs and funding in non-emergencies.
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Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Audience: Oversight Community
This chapter provides actionable insights, tips, and lessons learned from joint oversight projects across the Offices of Inspector General (OIG). We focused on teams that included members from more than one OIG and produced one or more audit, evaluation, inspection report, or similar product. Specifically, we have included the importance of:
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