Reports
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Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and How It Was Used In Six U.S. Communities: Sheridan County, Nebraska
To learn how communities across the nation responded to the pandemic, we initiated a multi-part review of six communities—two cities, two rural counties, and two Tribal reservations. This report is the third community-specific report and focuses on our work in Sheridan County, Nebraska, where we previously identified that recipients, including city government, small businesses, and individuals, received almost $61 million from 31 pandemic relief programs and subprograms. This report provides a closer look at six pandemic programs and subprograms provided to Sheridan County by six federal...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and How It Was Used In Six U.S. Communities: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
To learn how communities across the nation responded to the pandemic during the first 18 months, we initiated a multi-part review of six communities—two cities, two rural counties, and two Tribal reservations. This report is the second community-specific report and focuses on our work in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where we previously identified that recipients, including city government, small businesses, and individuals, received almost $314 million from 45 pandemic relief programs and subprograms. This report provides a closer look at eight pandemic programs and subprograms provided to Coeur d...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Why Unemployment Insurance Fraud Surged During the Pandemic
UI was already a strained system, but the pandemic exacerbated existing challenges and created new ones which lead to massive fraud. We sampled 45 cases and learned about the schemes and methods fraudsters used. Find out what can be done to improve UI for the future. Read our report to find out more.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Pandemic Relief Experiences: A Focus on Six Communities
The PRAC along with 10 of our member Offices of Inspectors General conducted this second phase of our review in order to provide insights on the experiences of the two cities, two rural counties, and two Tribal reservations that, during the first part of our review, received a combined $2.65 billion in pandemic relief funding across 89 pandemic programs and subprograms. We found that the six communities shared similar experiences even though their populations, demographics, locations, and contexts were unique. Specifically, we identified four themes which provide valuable insights to...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Agile Oversight in a Time of Crisis: Lessons Learned and Best Practices in Conducting Oversight during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Recognizing the importance of an agile process, the PRAC, in coordination with CIGIE, hosted an Agile Oversight Forum in January 2023. This report captures the lessons learned and best practices shared by oversight experts from around the country at the Forum. The product is intended to be a starting point for offices and is not a standard for conducting oversight work.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Key Insights: Contracts and Grants Workforce Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the pandemic, the contracts and grants workforce played a critical role in providing support to taxpayers, local governments, and other recipients through pandemic relief programs. The CARES Act directed the PRAC to review the sufficiency of contract and grant staffing and other resources from agencies across the federal government to determine if they had the resources necessary to adequately perform their duties. The PRAC conducted a survey of 29 agencies, and each provided their experiences on the impact the pandemic had on their agency’s ability to effectively perform their work...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Review of Personnel Shortages in Federal Health Care Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
While personnel shortages existed in the health care community before the pandemic, the pandemic exacerbated these shortages. Maintaining an appropriate level of personnel in health care facilities is essential to providing a safe work environment for health care personnel and safe care to patients. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) Health Care Subgroup developed this report to share insights into personnel shortages across four select federal health care programs, or the providers they reimburse. Together, these four programs provide health care services to approximately...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Identity Fraud Victim Redress Processes and Systems
Following up on our previous work which highlights the decentralized nature of identity fraud redress across the federal government, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee commissioned the MITRE Corporation to conduct an independent study and define the elements needs for a whole-of-government approach to identity fraud victim redress. The report proposes a federal redress process that places the victim at the center and requires agencies to assist in a comprehensive manner. Framed as a single enterprise or “one-stop shop,” this process would provide an equitable experience for all...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Tracking Pandemic Relief Funds that Went to Local Communities Reveals Persistent Data Gaps and Data Reliability Issues
The PRAC along with 10 of our member Offices of Inspectors General began a case study-based review, in part, to learn more about how much pandemic relief funding went to recipients within six randomly selected communities. Using a combination of federal, state, and local data sources, we identified that 10 federal agencies provided approximately $2.65 billion in pandemic relief funds to the six communities through approximately 89 pandemic relief programs and subprograms during the first 18 months of the pandemic (March 2020 through September 2021). We also found that tracking pandemic funds...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
FRAUD ALERT FOLLOW-UP: Improved Sharing of Death Records and Use of the Do Not Pay System Would Strengthen Program Integrity and Better Protect the Public
This update expands on our January 2023 Fraud Alert that identified 69,000 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent loans made in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As detailed in that Fraud Alert, PRAC data scientists, using our Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence, identified the questionable SSNs after determining that the names, SSNs, and/or dates of birth used in connection with COVID-19 EIDL/PPP applications did not match Social Security Administration’s (SSAs)...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
FRAUD ALERT: PRAC Identifies $5.4 Billion in Potentially Fraudulent Pandemic Loans Obtained Using Over 69,000 Questionable Social Security Numbers
The PRAC’s Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE) data scientists identified $5.4 Billion in potential identity fraud associated with over 69,000 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used on applications across disbursed loans in the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and Paycheck Protection Program. Through collaborative verification methods with the Social Security Administration, we identified that these SSNs were used in connection with over 99,000 applications and warrant further scrutiny. The results of this Fraud Alert...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Insights on Telehealth Use and Program Integrity Risks Across Selected Health Care Programs During the Pandemic
Recognizing how critical telehealth has been to the federal COVID-19 response, the PRAC Health Care Subgroup—which includes six Federal Offices of Inspectors General—worked together to provide insights on the use of telehealth and its associated program integrity risks.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Risk Advisory – Potential Identity or Other Fraud in SBA Pandemic Relief Programs
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) is issuing this Risk Advisory to notify Small Business Administration (SBA) management of potential identity or other fraud in its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, EIDL Advance program, and Paycheck Protection Program. The PRAC identified possible identity or other fraud in one or more of these SBA programs involving 945 minors (under 18 years old) and 231 elderly individuals (80 years and older) who are also listed as household members in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low Rent and/or Housing Choice...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Key Insights: Identity Fraud Reduction and Redress in Pandemic Response Programs
This Insights Report highlights identity fraud related challenges in federal programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. By evaluating previous oversight work in this space from members of the PRAC’s Identity Fraud Reduction and Redress Working Group, this report presents best practices to reduce identity fraud before it occurs and to assist victims of identity fraud if it does occur. These best practices may be helpful for federal agencies to utilize moving forward. This report also identifies that across the federal government there is a larger focus on reducing identity fraud up front, while...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PANDEMIC RELATED UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS PROGRAMS
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) is charged with conducting oversight of pandemic-related spending to prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In May 2021, we engaged MITRE, a not-for-profit federally funded research and development center, to conduct an independent study of lessons learned from the administration of pandemic-related emergency funding for unemployment insurance (UI) benefit programs in a sample of states. The objective of this study was to increase understanding of how states implemented pandemic UI benefit programs and how their...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Key Insights: State Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Programs
This insights report provides a contextual understanding of the cross-cutting challenges states faced within their unemployment insurance (UI) programs and highlights the substantial work that has been done by State Auditors to ensure their states’ UI programs are functioning effectively. This report examines four common insights across 16 State Auditor Offices: (1) UI workloads surged for states; (2) the claims surge exploited internal control weaknesses; (3) uncommon and varying fraud schemes began to occur as the amount of federal funding expanded; and (4) state workforce agencies...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Increasing Transparency into COVID-19 Spending
The objective of this review was to identify specific gaps in transparency in award data for federal assistance spending in response to COVID-19. We looked at 51,000 awards worth $347 billion that supported the pandemic response (as of June 15, 2021). The report includes three findings, including we found more than 15,400 awards worth $33 billion with meaningless descriptions that make it difficult to know how COVID-19 relief money was used. The report includes five recommendations to help improve the transparency into COVID-19 relief spending.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Observations: Fiscal Year 2020 COVID-19 Federal Contracting
The PRAC’s objective was to review pandemic-related federal contracts and identify first-time contractors and contracts awarded without competitive bidding. We found that first-time federal contractors received $4.4 billion worth of pandemic contracts in Fiscal Year 2020 and that $128 million was deobligated from contracts with first-time federal contractors during the same period. Additionally, we identified the four most common flexibilities identified to justify limited competition were urgency, only one source, simplified acquisition procedures, and authorized by statute. Of these, we...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Transparency in Pandemic-related Federal Spending: Report of Alignment and Gaps
A commissioned study by MITRE that identifies gaps in federal data sources and how we can close them to improve the quality of the information we provide to the public.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Key Insights: COVID-19 in Correctional and Detention Facilities
Correctional and detention facilities present unique challenges in preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19. When compared to the general population, a disproportionate number of COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths occur in jails, prisons, and detention facilities across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that the confined nature of correctional and detention facilities, combined with their congregate environments, heightens the potential for COVID-19 to spread once introduced into a facility. Individuals typically eat, sleep, and participate in activities...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Update: Top Challenges in Pandemic Relief and Response
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has appropriated over $3.5 trillion to address the public health and economic crises. Given the changing nature of the pandemic and the federal government’s response, we re-visited our original top management challenges to ensure that the PRAC is providing timely information to Congress and the new Administration about the response efforts. The following four challenges have been added: Preventing and Detecting Fraud against Government Programs; Informing and Protecting the Public from Pandemic-Related Fraud; Data...
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Agile Toolkit
The PRAC released the Toolkit as a resource to assist federal, state, and local oversight agencies and professionals in conducting timely reviews and oversight of federal funding. The Toolkit provides OIGs and other oversight offices a set of guidelines, best practices, and lessons learned to help prepare these types of reports for CARES Act oversight and beyond.
Full Details:
Oversight.gov Report Page for Agile Toolkit
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Top Challenges Facing Federal Agencies: COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Response Efforts
The objective of this report is to provide insight into the top management challenges facing federal agencies that received pandemic relatedfunding as identified by Offices of Inspector General.