Federal Reports

Our objective was to determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) completed follow-up actions to resolve issues for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) beneficiaries whose benefits it withheld using the miscellaneous suspense code.

Our objective was to assess the Social Security Administration's (SSA) rejection of State-submitted Electronic Death Registration (EDR) reports and determine whether these rejections resulted in the Agency (1) improperly paying deceased beneficiaries and representative payees and (2) not posting death information to the Numidents of deceased non-beneficiaries.

The Internal Security Division needs to improve standardized guidance for investigative operations, requirements for evidence and firearms, accountability for law enforcement sensitive equipment, case file management, reports, and documentation, and compliance with the Department of Homeland Security’s Management Directive 0810.1. We recommended the Office of the Chief Security Officer, Internal Security Division develop policies and procedures applicable to current mission standards, improve processes and procedures for documenting and storing evidence, enforce policies and procedures for weapons, and establish protocols for documenting investigative activities. We made 20 recommendations that will improve the Internal Security Division’s operations. OCSO concurred with all 20 recommendations.

As part of our oversight activities, we are conducting audits of Medicaid school-based services claimed by States. Prior OIG and State audits found that Connecticut did not monitor the School Based Child Health (SBCH) program to ensure that Medicaid-eligible children received services in accordance with their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), that written parental consent forms were obtained or maintained, or that services did not exceed those authorized in a child’s Individual Education Plan. We selected Hartford Public Schools (HPS) for review because it is one of the largest school districts in the State.Our objective was to determine whether Connecticut claimed Federal Medicaid reimbursement for school-based child health services submitted by HPS in accordance with Federal and State requirements.We reviewed Medicaid school-based health services that were provided by HPS and claimed by the State Department of Social Services (DSS) for Federal reimbursement. We selected a random sample of 100 student-months for which DSS claimed Medicaid services during State fiscal year 2018. We reviewed IEP documentation and provider notes to determine whether prescribed services were properly delivered, documented, and billed.

Our review confirmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took sufficient action to implement Recommendation 1.

We audited the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to determine whether it ensured that donations and revenues collected by friends organizations were accounted for and spent in accordance with governing laws.We found that the FWS did not ensure its friends organizations fully accounted for and spent donations and revenues in accordance with governing laws and its own friends program policy. Specifically, we found that the FWS did not maintain the information necessary to manage the friends program. We determined that the FWS was not aware of the number of friends organizations operating across the Nation and did not monitor the amount of donations collected and spent. In addition, the FWS was unable to ensure friends organizations had the necessary documents required to participate in the friends program, such as evidence of nonprofit status. The program is at risk for misuse and mishandling of funds, and undetected violations of partnership agreements and program regulations.We make six recommendations that, if implemented, will help strengthen the FWS’ friends program. The FWS concurred with all six recommendations in its response to our draft report. We consider one recommendation resolved and implemented and five recommendations resolved but not implemented. We will refer the recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget to track implementation. The FWS’ response also included six financial and program management control initiatives that should further enhance its oversight of friends organizations. We commend the FWS for taking extra measures to improve this important program.

We reviewed the seven recommendations from our 2016 evaluation report titled Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Southern Ute Agency’s Management of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Energy Resources to verify whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Southern Ute Agency implemented them.We confirmed that the recommendations have been resolved and implemented.