Federal Reports

The objective was to determine the extent to which the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has an effective process for collecting, managing, and protecting open source intelligence (OSINT) for operational and intelligence purposes.

In the course of its work, the OIG learned that survey records for VA educational programs submitted remotely during the pandemic lacked sufficient protection for students’ personally identifiable information. This management advisory memorandum conveyed information needed for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to determine the need for corrective actions.Both VBA and state approving agencies use education compliance survey specialists to conduct in-person surveys meant to ensure VA payments to each school and the students enrolled there are based on proper and correct enrollment information, and applicable legal requirements are met. But on March 16, 2020, VBA required surveys to be conducted remotely and documents submitted electronically to the survey specialists as COVID-19 precautions. About 4,570 surveys were conducted through March 16, 2022. The OIG estimates almost 37,800 students had their records requested in the process.The OIG reviewed documents for 30 of those compliance surveys and found 26 contained personally identifiable information of 323 students, including full names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and addresses.VBA’s guidance for remote compliance surveys says under circumstances including a travel ban schools should submit requested documents by mail or email (with no mention of encryption). The memorandum issued to suspend in-person compliance surveys did not provide any indication of how documentation should be collected electronically. VBA and state approving agency staff asked school certifying officials to send the documents electronically, instead of requiring they be sent by mail with a tracking number.The lack of standard procedures and oversight has resulted in personally identifiable information not being consistently safeguarded as required. The OIG did not assess whether any information had been inappropriately disclosed but requested that VBA provide follow-up information. VBA agreed to review, research, and evaluate the OIG findings and take corrective action as needed.

The U.S. Postal Service and the Board of Governors released their 10-year strategic plan, called Delivering for America: Our Vision and Ten-Year Plan to Achieve Financial Sustainability and Service Excellence (the Plan), on March 23, 2021. The Plan outlines steps to achieve a positive net income within three years and break-even operating performance over the next 10 years. To achieve these objectives, the Postal Service identified 13 strategic focus areas, which are supported by 175 initiatives designed to eliminate a 10-year projected loss through additional revenue and cost savings opportunities, totaling $160 billion.Our objective was to evaluate the Plan to determine if the underlying assumptions and projections were supported and whether metrics were established and reasonable. We reviewed 58 key initiatives, their risks and interdependencies, as well as methods of communication for internal and external stakeholders.

We inspected the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) award and payment practices used to administer the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program.Even after determining multiple disbursements would better protect grant funds from fraud or misuse, SBA switched to a riskier single advance payment for all grantees. This payment method may have hastened award disbursement, but the agency removed internal controls that would have better protected taxpayer funds. Multiple disbursements enable program officials to verify that grant recipients used award funds for allowable activities before disbursing additional funds.We selected 10 awards, totaling $33.2 million, to use as a sample to test SBA’s disbursement and budget approval practices. None of the 10 awards reviewed had the proper documentation signed by an authorized government official. The authorizing agency signature on the notice of award demonstrates that the proper procedure has been followed and the obligation has been officially recorded. Without the proper official documentation, all 10 awards we reviewed, totaling $33.2 million, are unauthorized commitments.Program officials did not ensure it had adequate support for the grant amounts in 3 of the 10 awards we reviewed. SBA awarded these three recipients $2.6 million above amounts that were requested. The higher grant award amounts did not correspond to their budgets, nor was there supporting documentation to show why SBA awarded the higher amounts. In addition, SBA did not consistently ensure the recipient’s budget accurately summarized the financial plan for the award amount. Awards made to 1,849 recipients, totaling $1.49 billion, did not have a budget that reconciled to the award amount.We made six recommendations for SBA management to ensure SBA properly safeguards program funds and improves disbursement and award procedures while administering the SVOG program. SBA management agreed or partially agreed with four recommendations and disagreed with two. Management’s planned actions resolve all six recommendations.

The objective was to conduct an unannounced inspection of Folkston Processing Center and Folkston Annex to monitor compliance with select ICE detention standards.

The USPP failed to record all its radio communications in the WMA for more than 2 years, but now has a functioning recorder.