The U.S. Census Bureau awarded the 2020 Census Integrated Communications Contract (ICC) in August 2016 as part of a campaign to raise awareness and encourage response during the 2020 census. Our audit objective was to determine whether the bureau effectively managed selected ICC task orders to ensure desired outcomes were achieved. We focused on four task orders, totaling $436.5 million, related to strategy, planning, and execution of the ICC’s paid advertising component. Overall, we found the bureau did not properly administer the contract or monitor the contractor’s performance in compliance with federal and departmental regulations and policies. I. Contracting officials did not ensure that the task orders included the required performance standards for the contractor or the methods for assessing the contractor’s performance against the standards. II. They also did not follow contract procedures for the plan used to evaluate the quality of the contractor’s performance. III. Finally, they did not maintain supporting documentation for paid media invoices totaling $363 million. As a result, the bureau could not ensure that the contractor complied with contractual requirements and could have accepted substandard performance, potentially wasting millions of taxpayer dollars. In particular, the $363 million in payments for media services represent unsupported costs. We issued six recommendations to the Census Bureau Director to improve the administration and execution of contracts and task orders, including specifying performance standards, preparing the required quality plans, and maintaining required documentation.
Open Recommendations
Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that acquisition personnel, contracting officers, and CORs administer and execute contracts and task orders in accordance with federal regulations and department requirements. | |||||
2 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that contracts and task orders include measurable performance standards (quality, timeliness, quantity, etc.) and the method for assessing contractor performance against standards, as required by FAR section 37.601. | |||||
3 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that quality assurance surveillance plans prepared by either the government or a contractor include all work requiring surveillance and the method of surveillance, as required by FAR section 46.401. | |||||
4 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that CORs use all QASPs, whether contract-level or order-level, to monitor contractor compliance with the contract terms, as required by FAR sections 1.602-2 and 1.604. | |||||
5 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that CORs maintain surveillance documentation of contractor performance in contract files, as required by FAR sections 1.604 and 4.803. | |||||
6 | Yes | $0 | $363,083,441 | ||
We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that CORs receive and maintain in the COR file documentation supporting invoice payments, as required by contract terms and the FAR. |