Federal Reports

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that the City of Oakland, Office on Aging (City of Oakland) paid Senior Companion Program (SCP) and Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) volunteers full stipends when volunteers either did not serve or document the hours claimed following the end of AmeriCorps’ authorization for grantees to pay volunteers a temporary allowance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We performed an audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by GE Vernova International, LLC (GEVI) for parts and services for the covered units at the Allen Combined Cycle Plant as part of a long-term service agreement under Contract No. 11930. Our audit objective was to determine if costs were billed in compliance with the contract’s terms. Our audit scope included about $48.5 million in costs billed from January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2024.

In summary, we determined (1) GEVI applied incorrect discounts to noncapital parts, resulting in an overbilling of $4,278 and (2) TVA was not aware GEVI provided noncapital parts from foreign countries, including one country that was not compliant with the Trade Agreements Act as required by the contract. In addition, we noted opportunities to improve contract administration by TVA. Specifically, (1) TVA did not receive detail cost breakouts for fixed price services to determine the reasonableness of the fixed price and if the contract’s time and material rates and negotiated discounts were used to build up the fixed price; (2) TVA and GEVI agreed in a letter to revise some of the terms of the long-term service agreement in accordance with the letter’s appendix; however, the appendix was not included with the contract documentation in TVA’s Maximo system; and (3) the contract contained inconsistent language.

Our audit objective was to assess the First Responder Network Authority’s Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network services in response to the devastating wildfires that broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui in August 2023. We focused on AT&T’s operational response, FirstNet Authority’s oversight of AT&T from a program and contract perspective, and the extent the network was a reliable means of communicating for public safety agencies during the wildfire response.

We found that FirstNet Authority’s network services were not effective in supporting the public safety response to the Maui wildfires. Specifically, FirstNet Authority did not ensure that (I) timely, adequate network services were provided to support public safety’s response, (II) a sufficient plan for business continuity and disaster recovery was developed before the wildfires, and (III) network service response efforts were accurately reported afterward.

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

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this inspection report to determine whether data sharing between the Employment and Training Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) could mitigate the risk of fraudulent unemployment insurance benefit payments and SBA disaster program disbursements.

In 2020, soon after Congress expanded the Unemployment Insurance and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Programs in response to the adverse economic effects caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor OIG and SBA OIG respectively began reporting on heightened risks of fraud and found similar fraud indicators. The two OIGs found that billions of dollars were paid to the same likely fraudsters under both programs. The DOL and SBA OIGs identified this issue through a data use agreement and subsequent data sharing and matching project, highlighting an opportunity to collaborate on data matching to mitigate fraud.

SBA OIG made three recommendations – two to facilitate improved fraud controls via collaboration and one to reevaluate eligibility. SBA agreed with the three recommendations, and the planned actions will resolve those recommendations.