Federal Reports

We are pleased to provide the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Quarterly Audit Recommendation Status Report. As of July 30th, 2021, there are 81 open recommendations, 36 of which are considered “Overdue,” and another 26 reported by management as “Implemented.” Since the date of the OIG’s last semiannual report to Congress, dated March 31st, 2021, 13 new recommendations were added, and no recommendations were closed.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed allegations referred by Congressman Ron Kind regarding the care of a patient at the Tomah VA Medical Center (facility) who subsequently died from a presumed anoxic brain injury.The OIG did not substantiate staff over-sedated the patient. The OIG found that physicians’ failure to provide adequate benzodiazepine dosing to address the patient’s delirium tremens, review the patient’s abnormal electrocardiogram prior to haloperidol administration, and transfer the patient earlier likely contributed to the patient’s deterioration and ultimate death.The OIG substantiated that a non-VA paramedic documented that the oxygen flow was not active. Facility leaders and staff reported lack of knowledge about the failed oxygen delivery. The OIG did not substantiate that staff failed to document non VA emergency medical services.Nursing staff did not complete all required alcohol withdrawal assessments. A physician improperly ordered restraints, nurses failed to obtain full vital signs while the patient was in restraints, and nurses did not receive restraint training as expected.The OIG substantiated that facility leaders and staff did not communicate initiation of emergency detention with the patient’s family; however, notification is not required. Leaders did not conduct an institutional disclosure with the patient’s family timely or in person and did not provide a relevant update.The OIG made 10 recommendations to the Facility Director related to education regarding alcohol withdrawal, cardiac risks, review to determine causes of failed oxygen delivery, root causes and performance deficiencies, workgroup outcome, alcohol withdrawal assessment protocol adherence, restraint management and training, compliance with admission criteria, emergency detention, and institutional disclosure.

Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. Postal Inspection Service policies and procedures for managing cryptocurrency in its law enforcement activities. Cryptocurrency is a decentralized form of digital currency that uses a blockchain, or public ledger, to record transactions. The anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions and the significant fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrency create opportunities for abuse or theft when used during law enforcement activities. We evaluated the Postal Inspection Service’s use and seizure of cryptocurrency in cases closed in fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2020. The Postal Inspection Service established the Cryptocurrency Fund Program (the Program) in 2017 to establish standards and policies to account for cryptocurrency transactions and reduce operational risk.

This report contains information about recommendations from the OIG's audits, evaluations, reviews, and other reports that the OIG had not closed as of the specified date because it had not determined that the Department of Justice had fully implemented them. The list omits information that the Department of Justice determined to be limited official use or classified, and therefore unsuitable for public release.The status of each recommendation was accurate as of the specified date and is subject to change. Specifically, a recommendation identified as not closed as of the specified date may subsequently have been closed.

The OIG found that, over the past decade, the Postal Service has focused its technology development efforts on two areas: mail innovations and data analytics. The Postal Service’s recently released Delivering for America: Our Vision and Ten-Year Plan to Achieve Financial Sustainability and Service Excellence indicates that these technologies are and will continue to be a priority going into the future. Other emerging technologies that are expected to grow in importance in the near future are the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, and blockchain. Making effective use of new and emerging technologies will enable the Postal Service to become a more efficient organization that exceeds its customers’ expectations.

The purpose of this flash report is to share with the U.S. Department of Education (Department) observations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning grantees and subgrantees inconsistently reporting audit data on Department subprograms, or unique components of a program, to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC), the designated repository of single audit data. We found that grantees and subgrantees are not consistently reporting expenditures of Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) subprogram awards in the FAC. Specifically, when entering Federal award information into the Data Collection Form, grantees and subgrantees either (1) did not identify which ESF subprogram their expenditures were awarded under or (2) used widespread variations of subprogram identifying information to identify which subprogram their expenditures were awarded under.