Federal Reports

This report presents the results of our evaluation of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) handling of cash contributions and gifts. We found SBA generally complied with established guidance over the solicitation, acceptance, holding, and use of cash contributions and gifts totaling $520,000 during fiscal year 2024 from National Small Business Week cosponsors. However, we found SBA should improve its agency vetting form to show that each potential cosponsor was clear of conflicts of interest concerns before agency officials signed cosponsorship agreements.

As a result of our review, the SBA Office of Strategic Alliances took immediate actions to update the form used to vet conflicts of interest for cosponsors showing the Office of General Counsel’s review and clearance of potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we did not make any recommendations in this report.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Vet Center Inspection Program provides a focused evaluation of aspects of the quality of care delivered at vet centers. This inspection report evaluated four randomly selected vet centers throughout Midwest district 3 zone 3: Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; and Rapid City, South Dakota.

This OIG inspection focused on four review areas: suicide prevention; consultation, supervision, and training; outreach; and environment of care. The suicide prevention review evaluated vet center staff participation in VA medical facility mental health executive council meetings and all four inspected vet centers were compliant. The consultation, supervision, and training review evaluated external clinical consultation, monthly client record reviews, and completion of select trainings resulting in one recommendation related to training at one of the four inspected vet centers. The outreach review evaluated outreach plan completion, inclusion of strategic components, and tailoring of outreach activities to eligible individuals, which resulted in one recommendation at three of the inspected four vet centers. The environment of care review evaluated vet centers’ physical environment and general safety resulting in three recommendations across all four inspected vet centers.

The OIG issued a total of five recommendations for improvement.
 

NASA missions are dependent on infrastructure, including testing facilities, laboratories, and launch pads, that face the threat of extreme weather events. To address weather-related vulnerabilities of its infrastructure, NASA has integrated resilience efforts into existing processes across various Agency programs. However, this approach lacks clear communication and formal guidance, and the Agency is not effectively tracking or measuring the success of its efforts to address weather-related risks.