Federal Reports

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fraud risk management program at the enterprise and program-office levels and assessed its overall maturity.  Our objective was to determine HUD’s progress in implementing a fraud risk management framework at the enterprise and program-office levels that encompasses control activities to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud.The Antifraud Playbook established by the Chief Financial Officers Council and the U.S. Department of the Treasury assess maturity of an agency’s fraud risk management program in four phases: (1) culture, (2) identifying and assessing fraud, (3) preventing and detecting fraud, and (4) turning insight into action.  We found that in all four phases HUD’s fraud risk management program was in the early stages of development, or at an “ad hoc” maturity level.  HUD’s program is still in its infancy because HUD had not previously dedicated sufficient resources to lead and implement fraud risk management activities. Although HUD has recently taken steps to mature its program, HUD needs to commit resources to enhancing antifraud controls and promoting a culture of fraud risk management. Without improvements to its program, HUD may miss opportunities to identify and eliminate fraud vulnerabilities, leaving its funds and reputation at risk.We recommend that the Chief Risk Officer (1) perform a complete agency-wide fraud risk assessment and develop a plan to improve the maturity of HUD’s fraud risk management program; (2)  communicate to program staff the differences between HUD’s processes for enterprise risk management, Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, and financial risk management risk assessment and how those processes relate to HUD’s fraud risk management program; (3) develop policies, procedures, and strategies for collecting and analyzing data to identify fraud within HUD’s programs, promote fraud awareness, and develop antifraud risk mitigation tools.  We also recommend that the Chief Financial Officer determine and seek to fulfill an appropriate level of dedicated staff resources to administer HUD’s enterprise and fraud risk management programs effectively and increase fraud risk awareness and strengthen antifraud controls in HUD’s program offices.

SIGTARP is initiating an evaluation to summarize the findings it made in its reports and other products on HAMP and HHF, and to assess the status of the recommendations in those products. The results of this evaluation will offer valuable information to Treasury, members of Congress, and the public on SIGTARP’s oversight of HAMP and HHF, and lessons learned that could be applied to similar ongoing and future housing programs.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report provides a descriptive evaluation of VHA facilities’ leadership and organizational risks. The report focuses on executive leadership position stability and engagement, budget and operations, staffing, employee satisfaction, patient experience, accreditation surveys and oversight inspections, factors related to possible lapses in care, and VHA performance data.This report describes observations from healthcare inspections performed at 45 VHA medical facilities from November 30, 2020, through August 23, 2021. Each inspection involved interviews with key staff and reviews of clinical and administrative processes. The results in this report are a snapshot of VHA performance at the time of the fiscal year 2021 OIG reviews.The OIG did not issue recommendations but developed this summary report for the Under Secretary for Health, Veterans Integrated Service Network directors, and facility senior leaders to consider when improving operations and clinical care at VHA facilities.

We audited costs claimed and grant compliance by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources under grants awarded by the FWS.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report provides a focused evaluation of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities’ quality, safety, and value (QSV) programs. This report describes findings from healthcare inspections performed at 45 medical facilities during fiscal year 2021 that focused on facility committees responsible for QSV oversight functions, systems redesign and improvement programs, protected peer reviews of clinical care, and medical center surgical programs.Each inspection involved interviews with key staff and reviews of clinical and administrative processes. The OIG found general compliance with many of the selected requirements. However, the OIG identified weaknesses with protected peer review and facility surgical work groups and issued three recommendations for• peer review committee documentation of individual improvement actions for Level 3 peer reviews,• surgical work groups that meet at least monthly with consistent attendance by required members, and• surgical work groups’ monthly review of surgical deaths.