Federal Reports

This briefing paper highlights challenges the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) faces in managing and improving its Information Technology (IT) program. This document analyzed past HUD OIG and GAO IT related reports and recommendations to highlight key management challenges in HUD’s IT program. We are highlighting these challenges so HUD leadership is aware of and can be better prepared to address them.The OIG has determined that the contents of this report would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials. Please contact the Office of Evaluation at evaluations@hudoig.gov to request a copy of this report.

OIG investigated allegations that a National Park Service (NPS) senior official in the Northeast Region used his position for personal gain when he requested unnecessary design and construction improvements to a park housing unit he expected to rent as his personal residence. We also investigated allegations that the senior official made improper position changes by preselecting a staff member who did not meet qualifications and that he improperly served on park partner organization boards.We found that the NPS senior official created the appearance of using his public office for private gain when he asked his subordinate employee to include specific design and construction changes in the renovation proposal for a historic townhouse, which was the park housing unit in which he planned to reside. The changes were included in the final design plans and added approximately $32,000 to the cost of the project, but at the time of our report, the senior official had decided not to move into the unit and NPS had delayed the renovations.We also found that some employees and contractors did not agree with the proposed changes, and only one person raised these concerns before the project was awarded. Additionally, we found that members of the Regional Development Advisory Board, whose role was to review and approve the proposed renovation plans, were not aware that the senior official had intended on moving into the unit.We did not substantiate that the NPS senior official made improper position changes by preselecting staff members, and we found that while the senior official did serve as an NPS liaison for two park partners, his participation did not violate NPS or ethics regulations.

OIG investigated an allegation that an employee with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) attempted to send a spreadsheet containing personally identifiable information (PII) for over 180 DOI employees to his personal email account.We found that the employee made repeated attempts to send the spreadsheet from his Government email account to his personal account, in violation of the DOI’s employee policy on network use. We confirmed, however, that the DOI’s IT security systems blocked the emails and prevented the PII from being transmitted to his personal account or computer. The employee’s supervisor confiscated the employee’s work computer the day he learned of the attempts to email the spreadsheet and placed the employee on administrative leave. When we first interviewed the employee, he denied trying to send the spreadsheet containing PII to his personal email, but during a later interview he admitted that he had. He also told us that he tried to send the spreadsheet because he liked to save and organize files on his home computer and not for illegal or inappropriate purposes. In addition, we found that he had attempted to send the PII knowing that his home computer had a software program installed on it that allowed for outside access. Finally, we learned that the employee had been disciplined in the past for lack of candor.We referred this case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Washington, DC, which declined to prosecute.

We evaluated U.S. and Coalition progress towards accomplishing the Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air (TAAC Air) mission to develop the Afghan Air Force into a professional, capable, and sustainable force.

New York did not always determine Medicaid eligibility for newly eligible beneficiaries in accordance with Federal and State requirements. In our sample of 130 beneficiaries, New York correctly determined eligibility for 90 beneficiaries. However, it did not determine eligibility for 37 beneficiaries in accordance with Federal and State requirements and did not provide supporting documentation to verify beneficiaries were newly eligible for the remaining 4 potentially ineligible beneficiaries. The total exceeds 130 because 1 beneficiary was found to be ineligible for one determination period and found to be potentially ineligible for another determination period. On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that New York made Federal Medicaid payments of $26.2 million on behalf of 47,271 ineligible beneficiaries.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) faces challenges in implementing the Known or Suspected Terrorist Encounter Protocol (KSTEP) screening process, which is used to identify aliens who may be known or suspected terrorists. Although ERO uses KSTEP to screen all aliens who are in ICE custody, ERO policy does not require continued screening of the approximately 2.37 million aliens when released and under ICE supervision. We sampled and tested 40 of 142 ERO case files of detained aliens identified as known or suspected terrorists during fiscal years 2013–15. All 40 files had at least one instance of noncompliance with KSTEP policy, generating greater concerns regarding the population of aliens screened and determined to have no connections to terrorism.