Federal Reports

Our Objective(s)To perform a quality control review (QCR) of Allmond & Company, LLC's audit of the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. We reviewed Allmond's report, dated January 7, 2026, and related documentation.
About This ReportWe contracted with the independent public accounting firm Allmond & Company, LLC, to audit STB's financial statements, provide an opinion on those financial statements, report on internal control over financial reporting, and report on compliance with laws and other matters.
What We FoundThe independent auditor, Allmond, found one material weakness and four significant deficiencies in STB's internal controls over financial reporting.

Internal controls over preparing, reviewing, and approving journal entries recorded in the general ledger need improvement.
Control activities performed to prepare and review the interim financial statements and footnotes were not adequately designed and implemented.
Employee benefit election forms were not maintained per Office of Personnel Management requirements.
Internal controls over the monitoring and review of open obligations need improvement.
Internal controls for estimating and recording accrued liabilities in the general ledger need improvement.

Our QCR disclosed no instances in which Allmond did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted Government auditing standards.
RecommendationsWe agree with Allmond's 18 recommendations to help strengthen STB's internal controls.

Our Objective(s)To perform a quality control review (QCR) of Allmond & Company, LLC's audit of the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. We reviewed Allmond's report, dated January 7, 2026, and related documentation.
About This ReportWe contracted with the independent public accounting firm Allmond & Company, LLC, to audit NTSB's financial statements, provide an opinion on those financial statements, report on internal control over financial reporting, and report on compliance with laws and other matters.
What We FoundThe independent auditor, Allmond, found no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting.
Our QCR disclosed no instances in which Allmond did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted Government auditing standards.
RecommendationsAllmond made no recommendations.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

Management Advisory Review of the Variable Week Work Schedule Program

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a national review of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) suicide risk and intervention training, suicide risk screening practices, and implementation of progressive tinnitus management (PTM) in audiology settings from October 2023 through September 2024. Audiology services are key access points to VHA, with over 447,000 new patient appointments annually. Tinnitus, the most common service-connected disability, is associated with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, underscoring the need for integrated care.

The OIG found that Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP) leaders did not identify audiologists as clinical staff for suicide risk and intervention training purposes, which led to incorrect training assignments. Most audiologists (80 percent) completed nonclinical training instead of the required training for clinical staff. 

Adherence to VHA’s required annual suicide risk screening in audiology services was 22 and 39 percent in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, respectively. During the same period, 15 facilities did not complete any screenings when due, representing 24,000 missed screenings. An Office of Audiology and Speech Pathology Services leader stated that audiologists receive limited training in suicide risk screening, and shared a perception that adherence improves with increased education. 

While most facilities implemented PTM, facility audiology contacts identified limited scheduling, lack of collaboration, and absence of co-located services as barriers to mental health integration. Neither the Office of Audiology and Speech Pathology Services nor OSP provide oversight of PTM mental health integration.

The OIG made five recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health, including clarifying training requirements and delineating responsibility for completion, evaluating training assignment accuracy, improving screening adherence, and evaluating mental health integration oversight responsibilities. VHA concurred with the recommendations, highlighted a new performance metric, and indicated a plan to implement a directive that will include training requirements, definitions, and oversight responsibilities.