Performance Audit Report on the U.S. AbilityOne Cooperative Agreements

This is the first audit of the Cooperative Agreements. The genesis of the agreements goes to the GAO report-Employing People with Blindness or Severe Disabilities, Enhanced Oversight of the AbilityOne Program Needed, GAO-13-457, dated May 2013. GAO recommended that the Commission develop written agreements with each CNA that would specify key expectations for the CNAs and oversight mechanisms. To ensure implementation of GAO’s recommendations, three years later Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, Public Law 114-113 (Act). The Act required the Commission, within 180 days of the Act's passage to enter into written agreements with the CNAs. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA), an independent public auditor was engaged by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission Office of Inspector General to conduct the performance audit and issue its report. The CLA team conducted extensive field work and reviewed the statutory mandates and history behind the development of the Agreements. CLA evaluated and measured the procedures and processes leading to the development of the Agreements and their content. The audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Overall, the performance audit concluded that the Agreements were effective and designed to enhance accountability, operational effectiveness, integrity, and transparency of the Program. The Commission and CNAs have established mission operational offices to align with each other in meeting the requirements for the AbilityOne Program. CLA found that the Commission has established best practices with the establishment of the Program Management Office that operate effectively and with the use of the Quality Assurance Surveillance. The audit concluded that there are opportunities for improvements with the Commission’s oversight of CNAs as it relates to compliance, deliverables, and performance measurements contained in the Agreements. The report found opportunities for improvements in five areas and made seven recommendations to assist the Commission in strengthening its oversight effectiveness and transparency of the Program.