Reports

The objectives of our review are to (1) review states’ initial 45-day GEER Fund reports to determine how states plan to allocate funds to entities within the three authorized categories: (a) local educational agencies, (b) institutions of higher education, and (c) education-related entities, and the criteria upon which these decisions were based; and (2) review GEER Fund annual reports to identify changes to and progress made from the initial plans in the 45-day reports.

PROVIDENCE – A federal grand jury in Providence on Friday returned a 17-count indictment charging a local man, who used the moniker “Mr. Vacation,” with using stolen Social Security numbers and personal identifying information of numerous individuals to apply for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funded unemployment insurance compensation from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and for Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the Small Business Administration.

BOSTON – A Texas woman was arrested last week and charged in federal court in Boston in connection with her alleged involvement in a scheme to fraudulently claim COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

The Office of the Inspector General initiated an audit to examine the Criminal Division's and the Executive Office of the U.S. Attorneys' management and coordination of pandemic-related fraud allegations and referrals.

Immunization Information Systems (IISs) play an integral role in monitoring vaccine uptake in the population and meeting vaccination goals. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other stakeholders have long invested significant efforts to establish plans and standards to guide improvements in IISs, State, and local jurisdictions have often struggled to make these improvements. CDC's work to collect and share data on COVID-19 vaccinations relies heavily on State and local IISs working with Federal systems, but the preexisting limitations of these systems pose challenges for CDC's goal of comprehensive immunization data being made available for clinical and public health uses. This study will examine State and Federal experiences using these systems to collect, share, and monitor data on COVID-19 vaccinations, and identify lessons learned that can improve vaccination data and monitoring for future mass vaccination campaigns as well as routine vaccination programs.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded nearly $2 billion in supplemental grant funding to 1,387 health centers nationwide in fiscal year (FY) 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funding was intended to support the health centers' activities related to the detection, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19, including maintaining or increasing health center capacity and staffing levels during the pandemic, and expanding COVID-19 testing. The performance period for each of these one-time supplemental grant awards, which HRSA began awarding in March 2020, is 12 months. Health centers were permitted to charge to their awards pre-award costs in order to support expenses related to the COVID-19 public health emergency dating back to January 20, 2020. We will determine whether health centers used their HRSA COVID-19 supplemental grant funding in accordance with Federal requirements and grant terms.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – An Arizona man has been sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for possessing multiple unemployment benefits debit cards — all in different names — and intending to fraudulently obtain nearly $239,000 in benefits, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada and Special Agent-in-Charge Quentin Heiden of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Los Angeles Region.