Federal Reports

We reviewed six recommendations (Recommendations 3 and 5 – 9) presented in our September 2015 evaluation report titled Operation and Management of the Brinkerhoff Lodge at Grand Teton National Park, to verify that the National Park Service has implemented them.We confirmed that all six recommendations have been resolved and implemented.

We reviewed three recommendations (Recommendations 2 – 4) presented in our December 2011 evaluation report titled U.S. Department of the Interior’s Video Teleconferencing Usage, to verify that the Department and its bureaus have implemented them.We confirmed that all three recommendations have been resolved and implemented.

Postal Service International Service Centers (ISC) distribute and dispatch international mail to foreign countries. To assist in the enforcement of the export laws and regulations, the Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service use electronically generated customs declaration information to identify potential violations and determine whether a mailpiece should be entered into the mailstream or returned to sender. Our objective was to determine whether the export controls monitoring program mailpiece screening controls at the ISCs were adequate, effective, and followed to ensure international mailpieces mailed and destined for foreign countries are compliant with applicable regulations.

This OIG final report on the results of the audit of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) acquisition planning activities. Objective: To determine if the FTC properly plans and awards contracts in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.

The VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed VA’s Fiduciary Program to determine whether Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) staff finalized proposed incompetency determinations timely. The OIG found VBA delays in completing final competency determinations completed from March 1 through August 31, 2017, for beneficiaries who received proposals of incompetency. Delays in completing final competency determinations can result in “incompetent” beneficiaries receiving ongoing benefits payments for extended periods without the protection of a VA-appointed fiduciary, putting these benefits at risk. The OIG estimated 13,600 unprotected beneficiaries received $62.4 million in monthly ongoing benefits payments.Also, delays in final competency determinations resulted in both competent and incompetent beneficiaries waiting longer for withheld retroactive benefits. The OIG estimated that about 12,400 beneficiaries had nearly $77.5 million in VA retroactive benefits payments withheld while awaiting final competency determinations.The OIG identified several causes for delays, including non-integrated information technology systems, the lack of prioritization of final competency determinations, National Work Queue routing rules not following VBA policy, and limited staff access to the Legacy Content Manager.The OIG made six recommendations related to entering cases requiring final competency determinations into the Beneficiary Fiduciary Field System, reminding VBA staff of their responsibility to notify Fiduciary Hubs when waivers are received, ensuring Fiduciary Hub staff have access to documents in the Legacy Content Manager, prioritizing processing of final competency determinations, meeting VBA’s established timeliness standard, and distributing final competency determinations according to VBA policy.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this audit to determine VA’s compliance with the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 (Act). This Act requires that all real property leases and land sharing agreements involving the West Los Angeles (WLA) campus—part of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLAHS) in California—principally benefit veterans and their families. Specifically, the OIG assessed whether such leases and other land use agreements were used for purposes allowed under the Act, comply with other federal laws, are veteran-focused and consistent with VA’s objective to revitalize its WLA campus, and were managed effectively. The OIG reviewed 40 land use agreements and determined that 11 did not comply with the WLA Leasing Act, other applicable federal laws, or the Draft Master Plan (DMP). Also, 14 non-VA entities were operating on campus with either an expired or no documented agreement. The OIG determined these noncompliant arrangements resulted from insufficient veteran input on land use, unclear VA policies on what constituted appropriate use of “out leases” and revocable licenses, and incomplete capital asset inventory land use agreement records maintained by GLAHS.Further, although WLA is making progress to implement the DMP, is not on track to meet its revised milestone to provide 484 permanent supportive housing units by September 2020. The OIG recommended VA implement a plan that puts the WLA campus in compliance with the Act, the DMP, and other federal laws. VA should also ensure all agreements are compliant with the Act, create a process to obtain input from the veteran community advisory board on campus land use, update policies and procedures, and ensure the capital asset inventory reflects all agreements.

Research consistently shows that focusing on the customer experience is a successful growth strategy, as companies with loyal customers grow more profitably through their existing customer base than do companies focusing primarily on trying to recruit new customers. Our objective was to evaluate key factors affecting the customer experience at Postal Service retail units and identify opportunities to enhance the overall customer experience.

Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Postal Service established and implemented effective physical and environmental security controls according to Postal Service policy at the [Redacted] Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC).The Postal Service has the mail processing resources, information technology (IT) network, and transportation infrastructure to deliver mail to every residential and business address in the country. These resources include facilities, equipment, and systems used to process, transfer, and store data, which are vital for business operations. The Postal Service implements physical and environmental security controls over systems to reduce the risk of system and equipment failure, damage from environmental hazards, and unauthorized access to its facilities and assets.We recommended management:Review server room access control lists semiannually; and finalize, publish, and implement out-processing procedures, to include disabling badges for separating employees.Replace the lock on the server room entrance door and ensure it functions properly and remove all posted critical systems information from the server room.Ensure entrance gates are monitored and have traffic arms, computerized card access systems, and intercoms installed at entrance gates.Verify all dock and entrance doors are locked when not in use, entrance door locks are replaced, and employees wear and display Postal Service identification badges at all times.Complete the capital project to replace non-operational CCTV cameras and those that display unrecognizable images and install CCTV cameras in the retail area in accordance with Postal Service policy.

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