Federal Reports

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) implemented its annual work 
plan to ensure its resources are effectively and efficiently utilized throughout the performance year.

Objective:  To determine whether the Social Security Administration correctly applied workers' compensation (WC) off-set for Disability Insurance beneficiaries who received WC payments from Colorado and Minnesota.

The Department of Homeland Security has taken steps to develop guidance and establish oversight for artificial intelligence (AI) use, but more action is needed to ensure DHS governs and manages AI use appropriately. DHS issued AI-specific guidance, appointed a Chief AI Officer, and established multiple working groups and its AI Task Force to help guide the Department’s AI efforts. However, more action is needed to ensure DHS has appropriate governance for responsible and secure use of AI.

We performed an audit of Carrington Mortgage’s compliance with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements for foreclosures that started in 2022. Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as extended by the Secretary, from March 18, 2020, through July 31, 2021, there was a pause on new and ongoing foreclosures for FHA single‐family mortgages for homes that remained occupied. We selected Carrington because it was among the first servicers to resume initiating foreclosures after the moratorium ended with a foreclosure rate above 1 percent. Our audit objective was to determine whether Carrington complied with FHA’s requirements for loss mitigation before initiating and continuing foreclosure.

Carrington did not follow FHA’s requirements for more than 18 percent of its foreclosures in 2022. Based on a statistically valid sample drawn from a universe of 7,998 FHA‐insured loans totaling more than $907 million, Carrington did not complete the required loss mitigation activities before initiating or continuing foreclosure for an estimated 1,451 loans.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to assess confidential complaints alleging a veteran was going to be discharged from the Housing and Urban Development VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program and “should not have been,” and that other veterans were discharged from HUD-VASH “for no reason.” The OIG also evaluated access to primary care for veterans enrolled in HUD-VASH who remain unhoused.

The OIG did not substantiate that the veteran, nor other veterans, were discharged from the HUD-VASH program “for no reason.” However, deficiencies existed with the veteran’s case management, including treatment plan and discharge documentation. The OIG determined similar deficiencies occurred in the case management of other veterans discharged from HUD-VASH. Additionally, the electronic health records of many unhoused HUD-VASH veterans, who did not have scheduled primary care appointments, demonstrated the absence of treatment plans and assignments to primary care teams.

Deficiencies in case management and failures in supervisory oversight resulted in missed opportunities for improved case management for HUD-VASH veterans. The OIG is concerned that the absence of treatment plans, as well as primary care assignments, could affect HUD-VASH case management staff’s ability to coordinate veteran-centered care and may contribute to deficient facilitation of clinical services for this vulnerable population.

The OIG made five recommendations to the Facility Director related to completion and oversight of HUD-VASH documentation, HUD-VASH discharges, and assignment to primary care teams for unhoused HUD-VASH veterans.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed a hotline complaint from January 2023 alleging that the Atlanta VA medical center’s call center was not answering calls and scheduling appointments within the expected time frame due to staffing shortages.

The OIG substantiated the allegations that the call center did not meet Veterans Health Administration (VHA) abandonment rate and timeliness standards because the call center did not have enough staff answering calls during the review period, which can lead to delays in scheduling appointments, potentially increase wait times, and decrease access to care. During the review period, the call center did not meet VHA’s call center standards, with 30 percent (rather than 5 percent) of the callers abandoning their calls, and only 22 percent (rather than 80 percent) of answered calls picked up within 30 seconds. Based on VHA’s recommended call center staffing model, the OIG estimated the call center needed 53 staff to answer the 135,600 calls received during the review period; the call center averaged 29 staff.

Other factors contributed to the call center’s inability to meet the performance standards. Call center supervisors focused on reviewing daily performance reports and real-time data provided through the call center dashboard, but they did not review cumulative data that could improve staff monitoring to ensure adequate phone coverage throughout the day and help address substandard handle times. Call center staff raised concerns during the review about possible problems in the management of the specialty care clinic telephone lines and mental health queue, which may also need to be addressed by facility leaders.

The OIG made three recommendations to the Veterans Integrated Service Network director and one recommendation to the facility director to assess the staffing and operations of the contact center and specialty care queues at the facility.