Federal Reports

External peer review of the Farm Credit Administration Office of Inspector General's inspection and evaluation organization, conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Inspector General.

Review to determine the Commission’s compliance with Fiscal Year (FY) 2021reporting on improper payments.

Because the EPA did not follow docketing procedures, the public was not notified of the changes to the final Long-Chain Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylate and Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonate Chemical Substances Significant New Use Rule.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) assessed the VA Boston Healthcare System’s stewardship and oversight of funds in fiscal year (FY) 2021 and identified potential cost efficiencies in carrying out medical center functions. The review team looked at open obligation oversight, purchase card use, inventory and supply management, and pharmacy operations.From the healthcare system’s 421 open obligations, the team selected 20 totaling $20.6 million and found half were at least 90 days past their end date, most without being reviewed to see if they were still valid and necessary, and two had residual funds totaling approximately $4,439 that should have been released from obligation and used elsewhere to support veterans.Of 36 purchase card transactions totaling $441,000, the team found 28 lacked evidence to show they were properly approved and that payments were accurate, and 25 were processed by cardholders and approving officials whose duties were not segregated as required. The team also identified 10 purchases that should have been procured through contracting but were intentionally split into multiple transactions to stay below the cardholder’s single purchase limit.The team found inaccurate entries in the inventory system that caused it to show insufficient amounts of stock on hand in more than 70 percent of tested cases. The inaccuracies result in inefficient purchasing and receiving and could adversely affect patient care.The healthcare system had a low pharmacy turnover rate, an efficiency measure. In FY 2021, the healthcare system reported a rate of 8.2 compared to the recommended 12. Low inventory turnover rates could indicate an inability to properly forecast needed drug inventories, which could adversely affect patient care.The OIG made eight recommendations to improve the stewardship of VA resources and address issues that could adversely affect patient care.

Pursuant to the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 (VCQEA), the OIG conducted a review to identify clinical and non-clinical occupations experiencing staffing shortages within Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This is the ninth iteration of the staffing report, and the fifth evaluating facility-level data. The OIG evaluated staffing shortages by surveying VHA facilities, and compared this information to the previous four years. The OIG found that all 139 VHA facilities reported at least one severe occupational staffing shortage. The total number of reported severe shortages was 2,622. Twenty-two occupations were identified as a severe occupational staffing shortage by at least one in five facilities. Every year since 2014, the Medical Officer and Nurse occupations were reported as severe shortages. Practical Nurse was the most frequently identified clinical severe occupational staffing shortage in FY 2022, with 62 percent of facilities reporting this occupation. Custodial Worker was the most frequently reported non-clinical severe occupational shortage in FY 2022, with 69 percent of facilities reported the occupation. Medical Support Assistance was the most frequently reported Hybrid Title 38 severe occupational shortage. In FY 2022, VHA reported twenty-two percent more severe occupational staffing shortages as compared to FY 2021. FY 2022 is the first year since implementation of VCQEA reporting requirements in which the OIG did not observe a yearly decrease in the overall number of severe occupational staffing shortages; it was also the first time that facilities identified more than 90 occupations as severe shortages. The OIG again determined the ongoing need for Custodial Worker and Medical Support Assistance, noting an increase in the number of facilities identifying these occupations as severe shortages. The OIG emphasizes the importance of VHA’s continued assessment of severe occupational staffing shortages given the increases from FY 2021 to FY 2022.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated an inspection to assess allegations of deficient practices within the Sterile Processing Service (SPS) at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital (facility) in Hines, Illinois, as well as the alleged failure of SPS leaders to provide adequate oversight, quality control, education, and training to SPS staff. The OIG did not substantiate that dirty instruments were sent to the operating room, that endoscopes were not being cleaned properly, that loaner trays were not reprocessed appropriately, or that SPS standard operating procedures were chaotic and incomplete. The OIG found no reported deficiencies in reprocessing of reusable medical equipment for operating room use during the period of the inspection. The OIG also assessed the status of facility action plans from April 2021, which addressed prior SPS deficiencies, and found that the facility had implemented and sustained process improvement actions. The OIG did not substantiate that SPS leaders failed to provide adequate oversight, quality control, education, and training to SPS staff or that SPS leaders and education and training staff lacked appropriate knowledge to provide staff training. SPS leaders and education and training staff implemented relevant training plans and assessed staff competencies in accordance with VHA policy. SPS leaders conducted oversight of staff competencies per VHA policy.Although the OIG noted instability within SPS leadership positions, facility leaders worked with Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) subject matter experts to ensure continuity of leadership when vacancies existed. The OIG learned of challenges related to workplace culture within SPS, which may have factored into unsubstantiated negative perceptions of service leadership.The OIG determined that both the VISN and facility leaders maintained adequate oversight, identifying and taking actions in response to concerns, and providing support for quality improvement efforts within SPS at the facility.

Our objective was to determine to what extent CBP adheres to its policies and procedures for resolving facial biometric discrepancies when confirming travelers’ identities at airports.