Federal Reports

We verified the BLM implemented 6 of the 11 recommendations we made in a 2018 evaluation report.

We found that as of November 30, 2022, FSA obligated nearly 100 percent of the $161.1 million in appropriations it received for pandemic assistance student aid administration funds. Nine FSA business units obligated approximately $157.8 million (98 percent) of the total pandemic assistance student aid administration funds, with one business unit, the Next Gen FSA Program Office, accounting for 78 percent of the obligations. The pandemic assistance student aid administration funds were used for personnel compensation and benefits, information technology systems and services contracts, and contractual services contracts. As of November 30, 2022, FSA had approximately $3.2 million remaining in unobligated ARP funds. As of April 4, 2023, specific plans for how those funds will be used were still under development. On June 3, 2023, as a result of the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, unobligated balances of ARP student aid administration funds were permanently rescinded. FSA stated that prior to the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act it had plans in place to use the remaining ARP funds to support the end of the pandemic-related pause in repayments.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a special review of the travel and purchase card programs as planned in the OIG Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Work Plan. The objective of the special review was to determine if the FEC’s travel, and purchase card programs comply with federal laws and regulations.

The audit of 15 AmeriCorps Seniors grantees found that their financial management systems did not comply with Federal regulations and grant terms and conditions. As a result of these deficiencies, we identified $268,627 in questioned Federal costs and $377,199 in non-compliant match costs reported on AmeriCorps grants. AmeriCorps waived match requirements for AmeriCorps Seniors grants during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was within our audit scope, so we could not question the $377,199 in unsupported match costs. We made recommendations for AmeriCorps to ensure that grantees strengthen their financial management systems and appropriately monitor costs reported on AmeriCorps grants. AmeriCorps agreed with our findings and recommendations and plans to evaluate the questioned costs through its audit resolution process.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. The system includes three medical centers located in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens and two outpatient clinics in New York. This evaluation focused on five key operational areas:• Leadership and organizational risks• Quality, safety, and value• Medical staff privileging• Environment of care• Mental health (focusing on suicide prevention initiatives)The OIG issued 12 recommendations for improvement in four areas:1. Quality, safety, and value• Peer review aspects of care• Peer Review Committee recommendations• Communication and implementation of recommendations2. Medical staff privileging• Service-specific criteria in professional practice evaluations3. Environment of care• Inspections• Deficiency monitoring until resolution• Over-the-door alarm testing• Hazard warning signs• Safety and cleanliness4. Mental health• Suicide-related events reporting• Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluations• Notification of suicidal behaviors