Federal Reports

The VA OIG reviewed whether the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) had sufficient procedures to verify the continued eligibility of beneficiaries (including both veterans and survivors) aged 100 years or older who were receiving recurring benefits as of May 31, 2025. Overall, the OIG found that VBA generally processed reviews accurately for most domestic beneficiaries (those with an address in the United States); while deficiencies such as incomplete or inaccurate documentation were identified, these issues were not systemic. However, VBA staff did not consistently process reviews for foreign beneficiaries (those with a foreign address).

Of the 195 foreign beneficiaries requiring routine review, 119 cases (about 61 percent) contained processing inaccuracies, and seven resulted in about $612,000 in overpayments. Many of the issues stemmed from systemic weaknesses, including the omission of beneficiaries residing in the Philippines from the review process and uncertainty among staff about how to verify whether foreign beneficiaries were still alive. Staff also lacked clarity regarding which regional office had jurisdiction over compensation cases involving beneficiaries with a Philippines address. Although responsibility for these cases was centralized to the San Diego office in 2020, the OIG observed that some cases were transferred between the San Diego and Manila offices for months before action was taken.

The OIG made six recommendations to strengthen oversight of benefit payments for beneficiaries aged 100 years or older. VBA concurred with all recommendations and requested that one be closed. Based on evidence VBA provided, the OIG considers that recommendation closed. Regarding the remaining recommendations, VBA has begun updating its procedures to improve the accuracy and consistency of these reviews.

Why We Did This Report

We conducted this audit to determine whether the Environmental Finance Centers, which are funded by annual and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriations and perform work in EPA Region 4 states, are accomplishing the outputs and outcomes established in their cooperative agreements.

Summary of Findings

We found that six out of the eight Environmental Finance Centers, or EFCs, that provided technical assistance, or TA, in EPA Region 4 exceeded their target output for the number of communities receiving TA over the first year of performance under their cooperative agreements.

From 2020 through 2024, the Department of Homeland Security, through the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), contracted with N5 Sensors, Inc. (N5) to develop and deploy wildfire detection sensors that did not consistently detect fires or alert state and local partners to aid response efforts.  Failure to detect wildfires early and notify first responders can result in the increased loss of life and property, and otherwise avoidable costs associated with rebuilding damaged communities.   Both technological limitations and environmental factors caused wildfire sensor issues.  The wildfire sensors required additional training and operational data to improve AI algorithms for fire detection.  Wind speed and direction also negatively impacted the performance of wildfire sensors.   S&T’s contract with N5 ended on December 31, 2024.  As of April 2025, the S&T had no plans to further fund wildfire sensor detection technologies.