Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 21 - 30 of 86 results
Department of Education OIG
Washington’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending
The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans. We found that Washington did not have an adequate review and approval process to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met all applicable...
Department of Transportation OIG
DOT Has Effectively Managed the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program and Should Capture Lessons Learned From Its Oversight Efforts
What We Looked At The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) program in March 2021. To support the program, the ARPA appropriated $3 billion in funding via the Department of Transportation (DOT) through September 2023 for eligible companies engaged in aviation manufacturing and services, maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities. Program funds would allow these companies to continue paying employee wages, salaries, and benefits or rehire employees who were furloughed as a result of the pandemic, and Congress expected DOT to award the...
Small Business Administration OIG
SBA’s Awards for Staffing Support for COVID-19 Economic Relief Loan Programs
We reviewed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) blanket purchase agreement with Highlight Technologies, LLC for loan support services. To meet the increased demand for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) loan program support services, SBA issued labor hour contracts, e.g. call orders, using an existing blanket purchase agreement. However, SBA contracting officials did not always perform adequate price analyses, awarding contracts that were not the best use of taxpayer funds. SBA did not establish adequate guidance to ensure contracting officials consistently followed federal...
Securities and Exchange Commission OIG
The SEC Took Appropriate Workplace Safety Actions in Accordance With Pandemic Guidance But Could Improve Communications, Report No. 579
The SEC Took Appropriate Workplace Safety Actions in Accordance With Pandemic Guidance But Could Improve Communications, Report No. 579
Small Business Administration OIG
SBA’s Administrative Process to Address Potentially Fraudulent Restaurant Revitalization Fund Awards
We inspected the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) administrative process used to review potentially fraudulent Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) applications and recover funds. Program officials designed the RRF application validation and approval processes using the Government Accountability Office’s A Framework for Managing Fraud Risks in Federal Programs. However, 3,790 applications submitted through a point-of-sale partner were processed without verifying gross sales, a key control designed to prevent ineligible entities from receiving awards. As a result, SBA’s RRF...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
VHA Can Improve Controls Over Its Use of Supplemental Funds
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated about $17.2 billion in supplemental funds to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to support VA’s efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OIG conducted this audit to assess the effectiveness of VA’s controls over VHA’s use of these funds. Because VA’s financial management system does not support the direct obligation of supplemental funds for all expenses, staff used expenditure transfers to shift funds between appropriation accounts. Expenditure transfers are documented using...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital Missed Opportunities to Distribute Excess Ventilators during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in demand for ventilators and provoked concerns about potential supply shortages across VA medical facilities. During the course of a previous broader review, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) uncovered a potential issue with the number of ventilators procured and stored at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and sought to determine whether they had been properly requested, acquired, received, and accounted for. The OIG found the facility acquired more ventilators from March 1, 2020, through November 30, 2021, than...
Department of Education OIG
University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants
Our objective was to determine whether the University of Cincinnati (University) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes. The University spent $109.9 million (83 percent) of its total HEERF allocation of $132.8 million as of September 30, 2021. The University generally used the Student Aid ($42.1 million) and Institutional ($67.8 million) portions of its HEERF grant funds for allowable and intended purposes but needs to strengthen its...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
VHA Progressed in the Follow-Up of Canceled Appointments during the Pandemic but Could Use Additional Oversight Metrics
The OIG reviewed the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) progress in monitoring their follow-up of canceled appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the OIG reported that VHA had not followed up on about 32 percent of canceled appointments. VHA then implemented the Cancelled Appointments and Consult Management Initiative and created a cancellation report to track follow-up conducted for appointments originally scheduled to occur after July 21, 2020. The report allowed tracking by types of care, by month, and cumulatively, but VHA did not use all the reporting features. VHA...
Department of Transportation OIG
FTA Can Enhance Its Controls To Mitigate COVID-19 Relief Funding Risks
What We Looked At Since March 2020, Congress has provided $69.5 billion in supplemental funding to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to help transit systems in the United States mitigate the impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As of August 1, 2022, FTA had obligated over $63 billion and expended over $46 billion. In addition to increased funding, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA), and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Acts permitted changes in how recipients use FTA funds...