Federal Reports

During our unannounced inspection of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Golden State Annex (Golden State) in McFarland, California, we found that Golden State complied with ICE’s Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011 (PBNDS 2011), as revised in December 2016, for use of force, the voluntary work program, access to the law library and legal services, and detainee segregation with one noted exception.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was established under the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program was established under the Small Business Technology Transfer Act of 1992. These programs encourage domestic small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development (R/R&D), with the potential for commercialization.The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory in accordance with requirements in the SBIR and STTR Extension Act of 2022 (the Act) for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct an audit related to small business verification of sales and investments. Specifically, we address our ability to determine whether small businesses are verifying sales and investments in the program and how the Act’s requirements were established.We found limited assurance that small businesses verified sales and investments as outlined in the Act. According to SBA, to determine whether small businesses met increased minimum performance standards, it reviewed the business’ self-reported information on the SBIR website. SBA then performed “spot checks,” or limited reviews, of federal sales against two publicly available databases, Federal Procurement Data System (fpds.gov) and USAspending.gov. The combination of SBA spot checking supporting documentation, along with the Act excluding supporting documentation for federal sales and not requiring supporting documentation for investments, was not sufficient to make such a determine whether small businesses subject to increased minimum performance standards verified covered sales and investments.To address concerns with procedures for assessing whether small businesses are verifying sales and investments in the SBIR and STTR programs and to address risks associated with SBA’s reliance on self-certifications, we recommended the agency establish formal procedures for obtaining and reviewing appropriate supporting documentation to ensure sales and investments are accurately reported. The agency agreed with our recommendation.

An Amtrak electrical journeyman based in Miami, Florida, resigned from his position on April 19, 2024, as a result of our investigation. We found that the former employee violated company policies by failing to disclose a felony criminal conviction on his background investigation questionnaire when he was hired in 2014. In addition, he violated company policies by failing to notify the company of his pending deportation order that resulted from his arrest for alien inadmissibility per the Immigration and Nationality Act and his ineligibility to legally work within the United States since 2019.

Providing consistent, high‐quality customer service has been a longstanding strategic priority for Amtrak (the company).1 To that end, the company uses customer satisfaction surveys and other tools to collect data to help identify issues, inform business decisions, and ultimately improve the customer experience.Our objective was to assess how the company uses the data it collects to improve the customer experience. To address our objective and assess the company’s use of these data, we collected and analyzed its outbound communications to customers; 2 late train reports; call center data,3 including hold times; and reports documenting inbound communications from customers. We also interviewed company executives about customer service goals and initiatives, as well as key officials responsible for providing customer service, including those in charge of call centers and those responsible for analyzing customer feedback from surveys. We reviewed commonly accepted management standards for organizations, including standard practices in the call center industry. Additionally, we interviewed management officials who oversee employees providing front‐facing customer service, such as onboard and station staff.