Federal Reports

The U.S. Postal Service needs effective and productive operations to fulfill its mission of providing prompt, reliable, and affordable mail service to the American public. It has a vast transportation network that moves mail and equipment among about 330 processing facilities and 31,100 post offices, stations, and branches. The Postal Service is transforming its processing and logistics networks to become scalable, reliable, visible, efficient, automated, and digitally integrated. This includes modernizing operating plans and aligning the workforce; leveraging emerging technologies to provide world-class visibility and tracking of mail packages in near real-time; and optimizing the surface and air transportation network. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews the efficiency of mail processing operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback to further the Postal Service’s mission.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to more than 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to more than 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to more than 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission.

The U.S. Postal Service’s Delivering for America plan included offering new competitive products and services for customers. As part of this effort, the Postal Service launched a new package shipping service called USPS Ground Advantage and discontinued its Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground, and First-Class Package services. Ground Advantage was intended to streamline package shipping options, increase customer satisfaction through a more reliable and cost-effective product, and grow revenue – and since its introduction, the Postal Service has experienced nearly a 3 percent increase in package volume nationwide. In addition to Ground Advantage, the Postal Service currently offers two other package shipping services: Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail. A successful launch of Ground Advantage is critical to the Postal Service’s efforts to retain existing customers, attract new customers, and remain competitive in the package industry.

TSA could not assess the operational impacts to its primary mission of safeguarding the Nation’s transportation system while TSA deployed air marshals to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Southwest border. This occurred because TSA did not establish baseline quantifiable and measurable goals from which it could measure the effectiveness of its primary, day-to-day operations. Additionally, TSA did not perform a risk assessment to determine the operational impacts of air marshal border deployments on transportation security. Without establishing performance measures and assessing risks related to deploying air marshals, TSA cannot assure deployments did not impact FAMS’ mission to mitigate potential risks and threats to our Nation’s transportation system.

OIG reviewed USDA’s compliance with improper payment and high-dollar overpayment requirements for FY 2023.

We audited the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority’s management of lead‐based paint in its public housing program based on our assessment of the risks of lead‐based paint in public housing. The risk factors assessed included the age of buildings, the number of units, household demographics, and reported cases of childhood lead poisoning. Our audit objectives were to determine whether the Authority (1) complied with HUD’s requirements for children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) and (2) adequately managed lead‐based paint and lead‐based paint hazards in its public housing units.The Authority did not comply with HUD’s reporting and verification requirements for cases of children with EBLLs. Specifically, it did not report all 10 confirmed cases of children with an EBLL to HUD or notify HUD that it was unable to verify 4 additional cases. Further, for 6 of 10 of the confirmed cases (60 percent), the Authority did not complete adequate environmental investigations to appropriately determine the source of each child’s lead poisoning. The Authority also did not adequately manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in its public housing. Specifically, of our sample of 24 units that the Authority managed as lead free, we determined that the Authority did not maintain sufficient documentation to support that 15 units (nearly 63 percent) and their associated developments did not contain lead-based paint. Further, for our sample of 66 units that contained lead-based paint, we determined that the Authority did not ensure that the lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment reports for 31 units (nearly 47 percent) included required information. Additionally, we reviewed a sample of 77 units, consisting of 67 units with lead-based paint and 10 units that had a child with a confirmed EBLL, and determined that the Authority did not (1) perform visual assessments for 59 units (nearly 77 percent) within the required timeframe, including 9 units that had a child under 6 years of age with a reported EBLL and (2) provide accurate lead disclosures to tenants for 38 units (nearly 50 percent), including 5 units that later had a child with a reported EBLL. Lastly, we reviewed three units for which a reevaluation was required, since the lead-based paint inspection for those units identified deteriorated paint and, thus, required hazard reduction, and determined that the Authority did not reevaluate those three units every 2 years as required.The issues related to reporting and notifying HUD of children with EBLLs and the associated environmental investigations occurred because the Authority (1) disregarded HUD’s requirement for reporting EBLL cases to HUD and (2) stated that it was not aware of certain HUD’s requirements for managing cases of children with EBLLs, even though HUD had published the LSHR and issued Office of Public and Indian Housing notices regarding PHAs’ requirements for managing children with EBLLs. Therefore, the Authority should have been aware of and implemented those requirements. The Authority also (1) painted over deteriorated paint in the units that contained children with EBLLs before the environmental investigations were performed; thereby compromising the results and (2) believed that an environmental investigation was not needed if the household with a child with an EBLL no longer resided in an Authority unit. Further, the Authority lacked adequate policies, procedures, and controls to ensure that it complied with the LSHR requirements for managing housing units that contain lead-based paint. Additionally, the Authority lacked oversight of (1) the lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment reports to ensure that they contained required elements; (2) the timeliness of its visual assessments, which it combined with the performance of annual physical inspections; and (3) its property managers to ensure that accurate lead-based paint disclosures were provided to prospective tenants.We recommend that the Director of the Cleveland Office of Public Housing require the Authority to (1) develop and implement adequate procedures to ensure that confirmed EBLL cases, unconfirmed EBLL cases, and environmental investigations are reported to HUD; (2) develop and implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that environmental investigations are completed when required; (3) perform a search for historical lead-based paint documentation to support the lead-free status of its units and the associated developments and if adequate documentation is not found, complete a lead-based paint inspection of the developments to determine whether they are lead free; and (4) implement adequate procedures and controls to ensure that visual assessments for lead-based paint are completed at least every 12 months, reevaluations are completed when required, and accurate lead disclosures are provided to prospective and current tenants. We also recommend that the Director of the Cleveland Office of Public Housing work in conjunction with HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes to (1) provide training to the Authority’s staff on the appropriate testing methodology for confirming that a child has an EBLL and for managing lead‐based paint, (2) provide technical assistance to the Authority in developing and implementing procedures and controls to address the issues cited in this report, and (3) assess whether the lead-based paint inspections and risk assessments with missing elements are sufficient to support the lead-based paint status of the Authority’s properties.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA)Emergency Non-Congregate Sheltering (NCS) Interim Policy104-009-18 (Interim Policy) provided an adequate and effectiveframework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, theInterim Policy waived the existing pre-approval requirement,allowing for faster and increased NCS implementation tosegregate individuals and families and limit spread of thedisease. The Interim Policy also included program details andrequirements for determining eligible work and costs for NCS inresponse to federally declared disasters during the COVID-19pandemic.

The United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) took steps to enhance the cyber posture of the Marine Transportation System (MTS) but faces challenges fully implementing cybersecurity readiness efforts to protect the U.S. supply chain. Over the past 2 years, in accordance with its statutory requirements, Coast Guard established maritime cybersecurity teams to deter and respond to transportation cybersecurity incidents. In 2021, Coast Guard implemented Cyber Protection Teams to offer services that can help industry stakeholders prevent and target malicious cyberspace activities. However, private industry stakeholders have not fully adopted these services; stakeholders in only 36 percent of Coast Guard’s sectors requested and received these services. Coast Guard faced these challenges because industry stakeholders are hesitant to use the cybersecurity services offered.

Shifting Gear - Semiannual Report to Congress for October 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024. Office of Inspector General, U.S. AbilityOne Commission

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory to bring attention to concerns regarding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) post-award review process to monitor Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) award recipients’ eligibility, award calculation, and use of funds. The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program was established on December 27, 2020, as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act (Economic Aid Act). The program was amended by the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021, which increased program funding and reduced SVOG assistance for some recipients who also received loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. Collectively these laws provided the SVOG program with $16.25 billion to provide grants to eligible businesses that engage in venue operations.Since the agency is currently conducting post-award reviews of SVOG awards, we believe management should take immediate action to apply a more robust risk-based approach in selecting awards to review for eligibility. Specifically, the agency has selected 155 awards for eligibility reviews; however, OIG has identified an additional 1,818 high-risk awards totaling $1.6 billion that warrant review. We also believe the agency should assess the post-award review process to ensure reviews are conducted timely. Program officials assigned 30 staff members to review 2,162 of the 13,011 SVOG awards in total. As of February 5, 2024, SBA completed 165 reviews since it began conducting post-award reviews in July 2022. At this pace, we estimate it will take 19 years, or until February 2043, to complete the remaining reviews. Therefore, program officials must prioritize the reviews to increase the opportunity to save taxpayer funds and improve the integrity of this vital pandemic relief program. SBA management partially agreed with two recommendations and disagreed with one recommendation.

The independent public accounting firm of Brown & Company, CPAs and Management Consultants, PLLC, under contract with the Office of Inspector General, audited Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grants administered by the Rhode Island Secretary of State, totaling $11.8 million. This included federal funds, state matching funds, and interest earned on the reissued Section 251, Election Security, and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grants.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

VA has one of the largest acquisition functions in the federal government. In fiscal year 2023, VA obligated over $60.8 billion to provide health care and other benefits to veterans. To modernize its financial and acquisition processes, VA is implementing the Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS), replacing legacy systems with a single financial and acquisition management system of record.Since iFAMS implementation began in 2020, the VA OIG has repeatedly reported on the system’s increased risks of fraud, waste, and disruptions to operations, as well as deficiencies in its developmental and planning stages. This review focuses on the acquisition module of iFAMS, determining whether it was sufficiently planned and tested to fully meet the acquisition workforce’s requirements. The team’s findings and recommendations are meant to inform future iFAMS deployments.The review team acknowledged the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC) and the Financial Management Business Transformation Service (FMBTS) identified system requirements, understood the necessary functionality of iFAMS, and tested the system with stakeholders. However, they did not adequately include acquisition stakeholders in decision-making roles. Further, because OALC and FMBTS did not effectively address the acquisition workforce’s feedback, administration staff have expressed resistance based on concerns that the iFAMS acquisition module may not meet their needs.While the team also recognized VA has taken steps to improve its change management, the OIG made four recommendations. These recommendations include ensuring all VA administrations and staff offices are represented in key decision roles when future acquisitions involve multiple offices. VA should also promote stakeholders’ understanding of system capabilities and complete hiring actions needed to staff the project management office. The final recommendation is to resolve iFAMS challenges and concerns before future deployments. VA concurred with all recommendations.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated an allegation that AmeriCorps members serving at the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, VT, were directed to alter previously approved timesheets. The investigation foundevidence that CEDO’s AmeriCorps Program Director had directed five members to alter previously approved timesheets, including altering timesheets weeks after the end of their service terms in order to raise the hours served to meet the minimum threshold to earn Segal Education Awards.

OIG evaluated Foreign Agricultural Service’s controls over agreement funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated facility compliance with Veterans Health Administration (VHA) suicide prevention policy at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the care of two patients, one who died by suicide and one who attempted suicide.The OIG substantiated that staff failed to comply with VHA policy requirements including• completion of suicide risk screening and assessments;• documentation of response to Veterans Crisis Line requests in the electronic health record;• ensuring a patient had a mental health appointment after a high risk for suicide patient record flag (PRF) placement;• inactivation of a high risk for suicide PRF; and• completion of chart review and family contact form following a patient’s death by suicide.The team identified two additional concerns with one-to-one observation staffing for patients at risk for suicide and suicide prevention team staffing. Facility staff failed to follow facility policy, which required that a one-to-one observation staff member have no other responsibilities. Facility staff revised the policy to clarify one-to-one staffing. The OIG expects facility leaders to monitor one-to-one observation staff member assignments for compliance. While facility and VISN leaders recognized the need for more suicide prevention staff, there were delays with posting of, and difficulty recruiting for, vacant suicide prevention positions.The OIG made one recommendation to the VISN Director related to suicide prevention staff posting and identification of recruitment opportunities and seven recommendations to the Facility Director related to compliance with suicide prevention policy and one-to-one observation staff assignments.The OIG substantiated that staff failed to comply with VHA policy requirements including• completion of suicide risk screening and assessments;• documentation of response to Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) requests in the electronic health record;• ensuring a patient had a mental health appointment after a high risk for suicide patient record flag (PRF) placement;• inactivation of a high risk for suicide PRF; and• completion of chart review and family contact form following a patient’s death by suicide.The team identified two additional concerns with one-to-one observation staffing for patients at risk for suicide and suicide prevention team staffing. Facility staff failed to follow facility policy, which required that a one-to-one observation staff member have no other responsibilities. Facility staff revised the policy to clarify one-to-one staffing. The OIG expects facility leaders to monitor one-to-one observation staff member assignments for compliance. While facility and VISN leaders recognized the need for more suicide prevention staff, there were delays with posting of, and difficulty recruiting for, vacant suicide prevention positions.The OIG made one recommendation to the VISN Director related to suicide prevention staff posting and identification of recruitment opportunities and seven recommendations to the Facility Director related to compliance with suicide prevention policy and one-to-one observation staff assignments.

This update highlights oversight activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General from April 1 to June 30, 2024.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this Inspection report to assess the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) guaranty purchase process for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act established the PPP to provide guaranteed SBA loans for eligible businesses, individuals, and nonprofits adversely impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We assessed whether SBA reported and referred charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and the U.S. Department of Treasury in accordance with applicable regulations, policies, and procedures; and effectively oversaw lender communication, servicing, and debt collection activities to ensure lenders met their responsibilities.SBA can forgive PPP loans if borrowers use loan proceeds as required. If the loan is not forgiven and the loan payment becomes more than 60 days past due, the lender should request a guaranty purchase, which is SBA’s purchase of the guaranteed portion of the loan. SBA simultaneously purchases and charges off delinquent loans when the borrower is 60 days or more past due on a loan payment, permanently closed, bankrupt or deceased. Charge-off status means SBA removes the outstanding balance of the loan from its accounting records.SBA did not always report and refer charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and Treasury, as required. Specifically, SBA did not report 14,739 loans totaling $945.3 million to commercial credit reporting agencies and did not refer 7,550 loans totaling $2.2 billion to Treasury. Further, SBA did not effectively oversee lender communication, servicing, and debt collection activities to ensure lenders met their required responsibilities.We made seven recommendations to improve SBA’s reporting and referring of charged-off PPP loans to commercial credit reporting agencies and Treasury; and to ensure lenders comply with SBA’s requirements for their communication, servicing, and debt collection activities.

We found that a former BOR employee violated Federal ethics laws by accepting gifts in the form of loans from a Government contractor.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

We did not substantiate allegations that a DOI official did not comply with the ethics regulation regarding personal and business relationships.

We audited expenditures and related license revenue transactions made by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department under grants awarded by FWS.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) information technology (IT) assets were not managed effectively throughout aspects of the IT lifecycle management process. The OIG substantiated four allegations, and found that some NRC assets were not returned upon employee separation from the NRC. Specifically, three employees separated from the NRC without returning four laptops. Additionally, NRC IT assets are not located in the locations that are shown in the configuration management database. The OIG found that 666 of 980 items were not in the locations assigned within the ITSM toolset. Further, new IT assets were not logged into the appropriate database for a period of 3 months. The OIG also found that NRC decommissioning procedures were not followed for IT assets.This report makes six recommendations to improve the NRC’s information technology asset management program.

Although Denali Commission's expenditures fall below the mandatory reporting threshold, even a small number of improper payments could negatively impact delivery of its mission. A risk assessment was undertaken and found no programs as susceptible to significant improper payments.

The NRC could improve its IT services and support through more consistent management with an emphasis on service level agreements (SLAs) and the closeout of IT-related contracts. Consistent with federal regulations and prudent business practices, contract requirements should be clearly defined, and the appropriate performance standards should be developed so the contractors’ performance can be measured. However, the NRC does not consistently use SLAs when awarding IT contracts because the agency has no specific guidance on how or when to use SLAs. As a result, the NRC may be limiting its ability to measure contractor performance and may not receive the services the agency requires or purchases. The NRC is required to close out contracts in an orderly and timely manner. However, the NRC is not always prompt in contract closeouts and in deobligating excess funds. This occurs because the NRC does not always prioritize contract closeouts and does not have a tracking method for contracts in the closeout process. This has led to a surplus of unliquidated obligations that could be put to better use. This report makes two recommendations to improve the NRC's management and closeout of IT contracts.

We reviewed mother/father and disabled widow(er) beneficiaries who were at, or beyond, full retirement age as of February 2024 to determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) had appropriately converted their benefit type to widow(er)s. We identified 757 widow(er)s who were not converted. As a result, SSA may be underpaying these beneficiaries.

An Amtrak Director based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on July 3, 2024, following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that the employee, along with another former employee, violated company policies by surreptitiously transmitting confidential company information without authorization to do so. Specifically, the employee transmitted the information to a private rail advocacy organization, resulting in its publication in the press and jeopardizing the company’s relationship with its stakeholders.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not adjudicate affirmative asylum applications in a timely manner to meet statutory timelines and to reduce its existing backlog. At the end of fiscal year 2023, USCIS had more than 1 million asylum cases pending determination. Of those, USCIS had more than 786,000 affirmative asylum cases pending determination for a period longer than 180 days from the date of filing. This occurred because USCIS did not have sufficient funding, staffing, and planning to complete its affirmative asylum caseload. USCIS received limited appropriated funding and primarily relied on application fees. However, in 2023, USCIS determined that its fee-funded revenue was not sufficient to support staffing needed to fully execute adjudication and naturalization services. This shortage forced USCIS to prioritize certain types of work over resolving its backlog of affirmative asylum cases and also resulted in USCIS setting performance goals at levels too low to timely adjudicate new claims within the statutory limits and address the existing affirmative asylum backlog.

What We Looked At The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) provides technical and administrative services, including information technology (IT) services, to DOT components through the Working Capital Fund (WCF). The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the Office of Financial Management (OFM) administer the WCF, which is designed to be self-sustaining and to achieve full cost recovery. Our prior audit work identified inconsistencies in OCIO’s WCF billing procedures. Given those findings and that DOT’s fiscal year 2023 budget estimates represented significant estimated expenditures—$271.4 million for IT services—we initiated this audit. Our objective was to assess whether OCIO’s WCF billing-rate methodologies for IT services achieve cost recovery, to include evaluating how OFM determines the operating and capital reserves and assesses whether excess funds or advances exist in the WCF. What We Found DOT lacks effective controls and processes to determine whether its WCF billing-rate methodologies achieve cost recovery for IT services. Specifically, OCIO could not provide sufficient documentation for the billing rates to validate 26 of the 36 transactions in our sample. Without adequate documentation, we cannot confirm if OCIO’s rates recover the costs to provide these services, totaling over $194 million. We also identified internal control weaknesses that hinder OCIO’s ability to confirm cost recovery, including inadequate oversight to validate charges, inaccurate accounting of IT services, and noncompliant agreements between OCIO and WCF customers. OFM also lacks written policies and procedures to demonstrate how it governs reserves, identifies surplus advances and excess funds, and evaluates if the WCF is breaking even. As a result, we cannot determine if the WCF is appropriately managed or achieves cost recovery.  Our Recommendations We made nine recommendations to improve the WCF’s ability to achieve cost recovery for IT services. OST concurs with recommendation 1–3, 6, and 8–9, which we consider resolved but open pending completion of planned actions. OST partially concurs with recommendations 4 and 5, and non-concurs with recommendation 7. We consider 4 and 7 open and unresolved and 5 resolved and closed.

Navanjun Grewal, a doctor based in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced on July 2, 2024, in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, for making a false statement and for obstructing a federal audit related to a health care fraud investigation. Grewal was sentenced to two years’ probation and was ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.Our investigation found that Grewal knowingly and willfully submitted a fraudulent document to the Department of Defense in response to an audit request regarding prescriptions for compounded medications that had been submitted to TRICARE for reimbursement. Grewal created and submitted fraudulent patient files in response to the audit. Grewal was part of a large health care fraud scheme in which beneficiaries were solicited to provide their insurance information to a pharmacist for medication they did not seek or need. As a result of the scheme, Amtrak’s heath care plan was billed $32,489 of which $26,962 was paid, and Tricare, the U.S. military’s health care plan, paid $12,264,685 on the fraudulently submitted claims.

To see our report, click on the link below

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) contracted with Crowe LLP under contract/order number 31310023A0002 to conduct an identification and assessment of risks related to the oversight performed by the NRC on the decommissioning trust funds (DTF) used by licensees during the decommissioning of nuclear reactor sites. The project’s scope was to conduct a qualitative and quantitative risk assessment of the areas identified in collaboration with the OIG and other stakeholders.The focus of our review was on the decommissioning process and trust funds related to nuclear power reactor sites. As of September 5, 2023, the NRC had responsibility for twenty-three (23) power reactor sites that were either currently undergoing decommissioning or had permanently ceased operations. The scope of our analysis was the risks associated with the DTF expenses and the specific areas for which the NRC OIG has oversight.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) engaged Brown & Company CPAs and Management Consultants, PLLC (brown & Company) to conduct a performance audit of the FEC’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility (DEIA) Programs as of September 30, 2023.Objectives:1. To assess FEC’s EEO compliance with statutory requirements, applicable EEOC and OPM guidance, best practices, as well as applicable agency policies and procedures. 2. To analyze FEC’s implementation of diversity and inclusion efforts related to the workforce in order to identify strengths and/or barriers including equal opportunity for minorities and women to obtain senior management positions, and increase racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the workforce.

This report presents the results of our audit of PRC Strategic Objectives: Year One ofFive-Year Plan.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration met its performance measure to reduce the number of pending actions at processing centers.

We performed audits at the San Juan Mail Processing Annexes (MPAs) 2 and 3 in Carolina, PR and three delivery units serviced by the MPAs in the San Juan, PR region during the week of March 18, 2024. The delivery units included the Bayamon Post Office, Bayamon, PR; Toa Baja Post Office, Toa Baja, PR; and the Guaynabo Post Office, Guaynabo, PR.

We audited the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. The audit was initiated based on our assessment of risks associated with public housing agencies’ HCV Program units and recent media attention and public concern about the conditions of subsidized housing properties. Our objective was to determine whether the physical condition of the Authority’s HCV Program units complied with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) and its own requirements.The Authority did not always ensure that its HCV Program units met HUD’s housing quality standards (HQS). Specifically, we reviewed a sample of 84 units that had passed a recent HQS inspection and determined that 48 units had 248 deficiencies. More than 56 percent of the 48 units had 67 deficiencies that existed before the Authority’s last inspection. In addition, the Authority did not consistently stop housing assistance payments (HAP) to owners for uncorrected unit deficiencies. It also did not ensure that its contractors (1) categorized deficiencies as life threatening, requiring corrective actions within 24 hours and (2) conducted the required number of quality control inspections in 2022. Further, the Authority did not comply with HUD’s reporting and data collection requirements of the Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) for cases of children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL).These conditions occurred because the Authority’s current contractor did not thoroughly inspect units in a consistent manner. Additionally, the Authority relied on its contractor to perform both HQS and quality control inspections of its program units without effectively overseeing the contractor’s performance. Further, the Authority did not ensure that its (1) current contractor’s information system properly transferred data to the Authority’s information system regarding stop payments and (2) former and current contractors complied with the Authority’s policies and procedures for stopping HAP. The Authority also lacked adequate oversight to ensure that its (1) former and current contractors properly categorized 24-hour life-threatening deficiencies and (2) current contractor performed the appropriate number of quality control inspections. In addition, the Authority did not update its policies and procedures to align with HUD’s EBLL requirements and relied on the State health department to initiate contact and facilitate the sharing of information for cases of children with EBLLs. As a result, families participating in the Authority’s HCV Program resided in housing units that were not always decent, safe, and sanitary. Based on our statistical sample, we estimate that over the next year, the Authority will pay owners nearly $36 million in housing assistance for units that do not meet HQS. Further, (1) the Authority paid ineligible or unsupported HAP totaling $15,427 to owners for units with uncorrected deficiencies and (2) HUD and the Authority lacked assurance that owners appropriately addressed their responsibilities under the LSHR for cases of children with EBLLs in a timely manner.We recommend that the Director of HUD’s Cleveland Office of Public Housing require the Authority to (1) provide evidence that the owners corrected the outstanding unit deficiencies; (2) support that HAP was appropriately stopped or recover or repay from non-Federal funds $15,427 in housing assistance that was not properly stopped; (3) implement controls over its inspections, stop payments for uncorrected deficiencies, and quality control reviews; (4) work with its contractor to ensure that the contractor’s inspectors receive training on how to properly identify and categorize life-threatening deficiencies; and (5) develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that owners follow the requirements of the LSHR. Additionally, we recommend that the Director of HUD’s Cleveland Office of Public Housing work with HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes to provide technical assistance to the Authority’s staff to develop and implement procedures and controls for managing cases of children with EBLLs to ensure compliance with the LSHR, including collaborating with public health departments to identify cases of EBLL in children under 6 years of age under its HCV Program and updating its policies and procedures accordingly.

To better understand the coordination of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) maternity care services for women veterans, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a national survey of VHA Maternity Care Coordinators’ (MCCs) reported staffing, duties, and challenges. While the OIG found that all VHA facilities had a designated MCC, the MCCs at 40 percent of VHA facilities reported having insufficient time for their duties. MCCs reported that time designated for MCC duties, patient caseloads, and collateral duties were barriers to sufficient time. MCCs who reported patient caseloads within or below the Office of Women’s Health recommended guideline were more likely to report sufficient time for care coordination duties than those who reported caseloads higher than the recommended guideline.Timely access to maternity care was a common concern reported by facility MCCs. The OIG was concerned that 50 percent of MCCs surveyed reported challenges for scheduling routine prenatal visits within the first trimester, and more than a third (38 percent) cited difficulties expediting appointments for high-risk patients or those seeking care in later pregnancy. Barriers to timely access were primarily attributed to community maternity care provider availability and delays related to facility community care processes.Billing was the top area for improvement in VA maternity care as identified by approximately 80 percent of the MCCs surveyed. Additionally, approximately one in five MCCs identified need for additional patient education resources, including childbirth preparation, lactation support, and parenting classes.The OIG made two recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health regarding review of designated time, caseload, and collateral duties for MCCs to determine if additional staffing resources are needed; and facility community care referrals to ensure timely access to maternity care.