Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated facility compliance with Veterans Health Administration (VHA) suicide prevention policy at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the care of two patients, one who died by suicide and one who attempted suicide.The OIG substantiated that staff failed to comply with VHA policy requirements including• completion of suicide risk screening and assessments;• documentation of response to Veterans Crisis Line requests in the electronic health record;• ensuring a patient had a mental health appointment after a high risk for suicide patient record flag (PRF) placement;• inactivation of a high risk for suicide PRF; and• completion of chart review and family contact form following a patient’s death by suicide.The team identified two additional concerns with one-to-one observation staffing for patients at risk for suicide and suicide prevention team staffing. Facility staff failed to follow facility policy, which required that a one-to-one observation staff member have no other responsibilities. Facility staff revised the policy to clarify one-to-one staffing. The OIG expects facility leaders to monitor one-to-one observation staff member assignments for compliance. While facility and VISN leaders recognized the need for more suicide prevention staff, there were delays with posting of, and difficulty recruiting for, vacant suicide prevention positions.The OIG made one recommendation to the VISN Director related to suicide prevention staff posting and identification of recruitment opportunities and seven recommendations to the Facility Director related to compliance with suicide prevention policy and one-to-one observation staff assignments.The OIG substantiated that staff failed to comply with VHA policy requirements including• completion of suicide risk screening and assessments;• documentation of response to Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) requests in the electronic health record;• ensuring a patient had a mental health appointment after a high risk for suicide patient record flag (PRF) placement;• inactivation of a high risk for suicide PRF; and• completion of chart review and family contact form following a patient’s death by suicide.The team identified two additional concerns with one-to-one observation staffing for patients at risk for suicide and suicide prevention team staffing. Facility staff failed to follow facility policy, which required that a one-to-one observation staff member have no other responsibilities. Facility staff revised the policy to clarify one-to-one staffing. The OIG expects facility leaders to monitor one-to-one observation staff member assignments for compliance. While facility and VISN leaders recognized the need for more suicide prevention staff, there were delays with posting of, and difficulty recruiting for, vacant suicide prevention positions.The OIG made one recommendation to the VISN Director related to suicide prevention staff posting and identification of recruitment opportunities and seven recommendations to the Facility Director related to compliance with suicide prevention policy and one-to-one observation staff assignments.

This update highlights oversight activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General from April 1 to June 30, 2024.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this Inspection report to assess the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) guaranty purchase process for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act established the PPP to provide guaranteed SBA loans for eligible businesses, individuals, and nonprofits adversely impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We assessed whether SBA reported and referred charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and the U.S. Department of Treasury in accordance with applicable regulations, policies, and procedures; and effectively oversaw lender communication, servicing, and debt collection activities to ensure lenders met their responsibilities.SBA can forgive PPP loans if borrowers use loan proceeds as required. If the loan is not forgiven and the loan payment becomes more than 60 days past due, the lender should request a guaranty purchase, which is SBA’s purchase of the guaranteed portion of the loan. SBA simultaneously purchases and charges off delinquent loans when the borrower is 60 days or more past due on a loan payment, permanently closed, bankrupt or deceased. Charge-off status means SBA removes the outstanding balance of the loan from its accounting records.SBA did not always report and refer charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and Treasury, as required. Specifically, SBA did not report 14,739 loans totaling $945.3 million to commercial credit reporting agencies and did not refer 7,550 loans totaling $2.2 billion to Treasury. Further, SBA did not effectively oversee lender communication, servicing, and debt collection activities to ensure lenders met their required responsibilities.We made seven recommendations to improve SBA’s reporting and referring of charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and Treasury; and to ensure lenders comply with SBA’s requirements for their communication, servicing, and debt collection activities.