Federal Reports

Shifting Gear - Semiannual Report to Congress for October 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024. Office of Inspector General, U.S. AbilityOne Commission

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory to bring attention to concerns regarding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) post-award review process to monitor Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) award recipients’ eligibility, award calculation, and use of funds. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established on December 27, 2020, as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act (Economic Aid Act). The program was amended by the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021, which increased program funding and reduced SVOG assistance for some recipients who also received loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. Collectively these laws provided the SVOG program with $16.25 billion to provide grants to eligible businesses that engage in venue operations.Since the agency is currently conducting post-award reviews of SVOG awards, we believe management should take immediate action to apply a more robust risk-based approach in selecting awards to review for eligibility. Specifically, the agency has selected 155 awards for eligibility reviews; however, OIG has identified an additional 1,818 high-risk awards totaling $1.6 billion that warrant review. We also believe the agency should assess the post-award review process to ensure reviews are conducted timely. Program officials assigned 30 staff members to review 2,162 of the 13,011 SVOG awards in total. As of February 5, 2024, SBA completed 165 reviews since it began conducting post-award reviews in July 2022. At this pace, we estimate it will take 19 years, or until February 2043, to complete the remaining reviews. Therefore, program officials must prioritize the reviews to increase the opportunity to save taxpayer funds and improve the integrity of this vital pandemic relief program. SBA management partially agreed with two recommendations and disagreed with one recommendation.

The independent public accounting firm of Brown & Company, CPAs and Management Consultants, PLLC, under contract with the Office of Inspector General, audited Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grants administered by the Rhode Island Secretary of State, totaling $11.8 million. This included federal funds, state matching funds, and interest earned on the reissued Section 251, Election Security, and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grants.

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

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

VA has one of the largest acquisition functions in the federal government. In fiscal year 2023, VA obligated over $60.8 billion to provide health care and other benefits to veterans. To modernize its financial and acquisition processes, VA is implementing the Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS), replacing legacy systems with a single financial and acquisition management system of record.Since iFAMS implementation began in 2020, the VA OIG has repeatedly reported on the system’s increased risks of fraud, waste, and disruptions to operations, as well as deficiencies in its developmental and planning stages. This review focuses on the acquisition module of iFAMS, determining whether it was sufficiently planned and tested to fully meet the acquisition workforce’s requirements. The team’s findings and recommendations are meant to inform future iFAMS deployments.The review team acknowledged the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC) and the Financial Management Business Transformation Service (FMBTS) identified system requirements, understood the necessary functionality of iFAMS, and tested the system with stakeholders. However, they did not adequately include acquisition stakeholders in decision-making roles. Further, because OALC and FMBTS did not effectively address the acquisition workforce’s feedback, administration staff have expressed resistance based on concerns that the iFAMS acquisition module may not meet their needs.While the team also recognized VA has taken steps to improve its change management, the OIG made four recommendations. These recommendations include ensuring all VA administrations and staff offices are represented in key decision roles when future acquisitions involve multiple offices. VA should also promote stakeholders’ understanding of system capabilities and complete hiring actions needed to staff the project management office. The final recommendation is to resolve iFAMS challenges and concerns before future deployments. VA concurred with all recommendations.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated an allegation that AmeriCorps members serving at the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, VT, were directed to alter previously approved timesheets. The investigation foundevidence that CEDO’s AmeriCorps Program Director had directed five members to alter previously approved timesheets, including altering timesheets weeks after the end of their service terms in order to raise the hours served to meet the minimum threshold to earn Segal Education Awards.

OIG evaluated Foreign Agricultural Service’s controls over agreement funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.