Federal Reports

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) operations ranging from contingency planning to quality metrics and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The OIG completed remote interviews, document reviews, and surveyed VCL employees and Suicide Prevention staff. VCL staff had historically worked from communal call centers with shared space and equipment, a model that posed a safety risk to staff during the pandemic. To continue operations, VCL’s primary challenge was to equip and transition nearly 800 employees to telework-based operations. Over the course of six weeks, VA’s Office of Information and Technology prioritized VCL’s equipment needs and issued computers, monitors, and iPhones. Regional information technology staff ensured that VCL employees connected to the VA intranet site and accessed the programs needed to perform their duties. VCL employees were provided with training, guidance, and resources related to telework and new VCL processes. VCL leaders implemented precautionary measures to reduce staff’s risk of exposure in the call centers during the transition to telework by expanding call center space to allow for social distancing, providing face masks and sanitizing wipes, and requiring compliance with VHA-wide screening for COVID-19 symptoms before building entry. Despite these efforts, some surveyed employees felt some measures were inadequate to ensure safety. The VCL continued to meet performance targets for key indicators including speed of answer, rate of call abandonment, and levels of silent monitoring and caller satisfaction during and after staff’s transition to telework. VCL leaders reported that, in the future, VCL could benefit from a broader technology and equipment plan, its own information technology staff, and managing its own contracts; better succession planning with overlap for key positions; and maintaining an inventory of items such as headsets, keyboards, and cell phones. The OIG made no recommendations.

Our objective was to assess the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s oversight of the Confidential Funds Program (CFP) during fiscal years (FY) 2018 and 2019.

We investigated allegations that Helen Hernandez, former Secretary of the Credit and Finance Office (CFO), Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD, issued payroll deduction loans to herself. It was also alleged that Hernandez used other individuals’ personal information to acquire loans in their names and then used those funds for her benefit.Our investigation showed Hernandez, then the Secretary of the CFO, issued 44 checks between February 2014 and June 2015, worth approximately $42,100 in total. Hernandez admitted to fraudulently issuing the checks and entering false loan recipient names in CFO records to conceal her activities. She was one of only two employees at the CFO and was responsible for receiving applications, verifying qualifications, and otherwise processing loans. Because of the lack of a clear separation of duties, she could essentially issue loans to whomever she chose, with no outside verification.The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of South Dakota, indicted Hernandez, who pled guilty to 18 U.S.C. § 1163, “Embezzlement and theft from Indian tribal organizations,” and agreed to pay restitution of $42,100 to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

An Amtrak ticket agent based in North Dakota was terminated from employment on October 28, 2020, following her administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the former employee left her post on seven separate occasions for extended periods of time, without approval or authorization, to attend personal events and activities on company time, and without clocking out as company policy requires.

The Office of Inspector General assessed NASA’s strategic workforce planning, training, and certification of its acquisition workforce.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of September 30, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $546,908,092, and its obligations total $658,490,397.We are also monitoring the DOI’s progress on reporting milestones established by the CARES Act and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.We anticipate issuing updated status reports monthly.