Federal Reports

The U.S. Postal Service’s package volume and weight have increased as First-Class Mail has declined, representing a change in mail mix.The OIG found a correlation between total package weight and letter carrier injuries.The OIG found that the Postal Service has no specific protocols in place outlining how a carrier should deliver a heavy package. Although the Postal Service has numerous policies, trainings, and other resources to promote safety, opportunities exist to strengthen procedures for heavy packages.

The objective of our review is to describe how selected local educational agencies (LEA) allocated Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).As of March 2022, the 46 LEAs spent over $19.2 million, or about 95 percent, of the $20.2 million in ESSER I funds that they were awarded. The majority of these ESSER I funds were spent on district-wide programs, and about 26 percent of ESSER I funds were allocated to specific schools, with the majority of that portion allocated to Title I schools over non-Title I schools. Regardless of whether LEAs spent ESSER I funds at the district or school level, they may have used the funds for the benefit of all students, including children with disabilities. Further, LEAs designated a portion of funds to exclusively serve children with disabilities.This is an informational report that does not include any recommendations to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Our sampling methodology was not designed to include any projections.

We evaluated USDA’s coordination of, and performance measures for, the beginning farmers and ranchers programs and followed up on recommendations made in our prior audit report.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) is complying with strategic and talent management human capital planning requirements.

The DOI has made progress in meeting 10 of the 13 Geospatial Data Act requirements we reviewed but we found areas for improvement.

To see our report, click on the link below

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of the efficiency of selected processes at the Montrose Heights Station in Henrico, VA (Project Number 22-141-3). This audit was designed to provide U.S. Postal Service management with timely information on potential financial control risks at Postal Service locations. The Montrose Heights Station is in the Virginia District of the Atlantic Area. We judgmentally selected the Montrose Heights Station for our audit.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of the efficiency of selected processes at the Southside Station in Richmond, VA (Project Number 22-141-2). This audit was designed to provide U.S. Postal Service management with timely information on potential financial control risks at Postal Service locations. The Southside Station is in the Virginia District of the Atlantic Area. We judgmentally selected the Southside Station for our audit.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review to assess Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) eligibility for nonprofit organizations. Based on data analysis, we identified 179 PPP loans, totaling approximately $684 million, made to potentially ineligible nonprofits that may have exceeded SBA’s requirements for business size, known as size standards, at the time of application.We also reviewed PPP loans for three large nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood of Illinois that received over $3.8 million, Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania that received over $6 million, and YMCA of the Rockies that received over $3.5 million. OIG included a Planned Parenthood organization to address concerns from some members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. We determined that the Planned Parenthood organization met PPP loan eligibility requirements. The Goodwill organization was not eligible for a PPP loan at the time of application but subsequently became eligible for forgiveness due to updated PPP guidance. The YMCA organization we reviewed did not meet eligibility requirements because they exceeded the applicable size standard of no more than 500 employees at the time of application and forgiveness.We also reviewed the three national organizations associated with the PPP loans to the aforementioned Planned Parenthood, Goodwill, and YMCA for potential affiliation with the PPP loan recipients. We found no affiliation between the national organizations and the loan recipients.We recommend SBA review the 179 PPP loans, totaling approximately $684 million, to ensure eligibility requirements were met and seek remedy or repayment for all loans deemed ineligible, and seek remedy or repayment of the PPP loan we reviewed for YMCA totaling $3.5 million. SBA management partially agreed with recommendation 1 and agreed with recommendation 2.