Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 21 - 30 of 32 results
Department of Education OIG
The Department’s Implementation of CARES Act Flexibilities to TEACH Grant Service Obligations
The objective of our review was to evaluate the Department of Education’s plans and processes to ensure Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grantees receive full-time credit toward their service obligations for part-time and temporarily interrupted service due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We found weaknesses in FSA’s development and implementation of plans and processes to ensure TEACH grantees receive full-time credit towards their service obligations for part-time or temporarily interrupted service due to COVID-19. Additionally, we found that FSA...
Small Business Administration OIG
SBA’s Oversight of the Grant Recipient’s Implementation of the CARES Act Resource Partners Training Portal
We evaluated the SBA’s handling of the grant to train small businesses on federal resources available in the wake of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized funds up to $25 million for SBA to administer a grant to an association or associations representing resource partner centers to establish a single centralized hub for COVID-19 information. We found SBA did not ensure the grant recipient developed and implemented an effective marketing and outreach strategy to ensure the hub successfully achieved the...
Small Business Administration OIG
SBA Emergency EIDL Grants to Sole Proprietors and Independent Contractors
The Office of Inspector General examined Emergency EIDL grants to sole proprietors and independent contractors from March 29, 2020, until the funds were exhausted just 14 weeks later on July 10. We set out to determine whether the agency complied with its internal policy that set Emergency EIDL grants at $1,000 per employee up to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act mandated maximum amount of $10,000. Using SBA’s data, we found SBA provided $4.5 billion more in Emergency EIDL grants to sole proprietors and independent contractors than they were entitled to receive...
Environmental Protection Agency OIG
Pandemic Highlights Need for Additional Tribal Drinking Water Assistance and Oversight in EPA Regions 9 and 10
The coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted the oversight and assistance that Regions 9 and 10 provide to the tribal drinking water systems under their purview, as well as the capacity of these systems to provide safe drinking water. The pandemic also underscored the limitations of both EPA resources and tribal drinking water system resiliency. As a result, tribal drinking water systems may be unable to operate safely and comply with drinking water regulations. Access to safe and clean water is critical at all times, but even more so during pandemic situations.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Oversight of the Emergency Food Assistance Program-Interim Report
The objective of our ongoing inspection is to evaluate FNS’ oversight of TEFAP— this report provides interim results on whether FNS identified risks related to the safe and efficient distribution of USDA-food assistance to States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchasing in Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
OIG reviewed FNS’ controls over the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Department of Education OIG
Federal Student Aid’s Suspension of Involuntary Collection in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic
The objective of our review was to evaluate the results of Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) process for suspending involuntary collection and refunding payments involuntarily collected on defaulted Department-held loans in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. We found that FSA suspended administrative wage garnishments and the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) offsets for over 96 percent of the borrowers that FSA collected payments for within 90 days of March 13, 2020, the start of the suspension period. However, as of October 23, 2020, we found that FSA continued to receive administrative...
Small Business Administration OIG
SBA’s Handling of Identity Theft in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this Evaluation report to notify Small Business Administration (SBA) officials of significant matters regarding its handling of complaints of identity theft in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. We recommend the Administrator to direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Disaster Assistance, the Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Performance Management and Chief Financial Officer, and the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to: 1. Develop a process to...
Small Business Administration OIG
Evaluation of SBA’s Award Procedures for the CARES Act Entrepreneurial Development Cooperative Agreements
This report found that SBA awarded the CARES Act entrepreneurial development cooperative agreements and grants in accordance with applicable federal laws, regulations, and guidance. We found program officials established performance goals and identified performance indicators. To more effectively ensure performance goals are achieved as intended, SBA should clearly define the performance goals and set performance targets. We recommended that SBA enforce standard operating procedures requiring defined performance goals and include performance targets in all future SBDC and WBC cooperative...
Small Business Administration OIG