Federal Reports

We conducted this review to address concerns that the timing of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) provision of beneficiary and recipient data to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) delayed the issuance of economic impact payments (EIP) authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).

Our objective was to summarize the results of U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General issued reports that evaluated mail operations and delayed mail at select Processing & Distribution Centers (P&DC) and identify any systemic operational issues.The U.S. Postal Service considers mail to be delayed when it is not processed in time to meet the established delivery day. Delayed mail can adversely affect Postal Service customers and harm the organization’s brand.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this self-initiated audit to assess the NCUA’s work posture during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), completed a corrective action verification (CAV) of recommendations from four prior home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) audit reports.  The CAV was initiated because protecting the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mutual mortgage insurance fund is one of HUD’s top management challenges.  The prior audits determined that HUD lacked controls to prevent HECM borrowers from violating principal residency requirements.  The CAV objectives were to determine whether HUD implemented adequate corrective actions in response to (1) recommendation 1B from audit report 2012-PH-0004, (2) recommendation 1B from audit report 2013-PH-0002, (3) recommendation 1B from audit report 2014-PH-0001, and (4) recommendation 1C from audit report 2015-PH-0004.  We found that HUD implemented the agreed-to corrective action for one recommendation, did not implement the ongoing corrective action for one recommendation, and did not implement corrective actions for two recommendations.

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to audit the financial statements of HUD as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2021 and 2020,1 and to provide reports on HUD’s 1) internal control over financial reporting; and 2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters, including whether financial management systems complied substantially with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA). Our contract with CLA required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, Office of Management and Budget audit requirements, and the Financial Audit Manual of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.In its audit of HUD, CLA reported:The consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30,2021, are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.One material weakness2 and one significant deficiency3 in internal control over financial reporting, based on the limited procedures that it performed.A material weakness existed related to HUD and Federal Housing Administration(FHA) controls over financial accounting and reporting.A significant deficiency existed related to FHA econometric modeling activities used to estimate the agency’s loan guarantee liability.Two reportable matters of noncompliance with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements or other matters.Noncompliance with federal financial management system requirements, federal accounting standards, and the U.S. Standard General Ledger at the transaction level.Noncompliance with the Single Audit Act.We will provide a replacement report for posting, once HUD publishes its Agency Financial Report, which will include this report and the audited financial statements.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report provides a focused evaluation of the quality of care delivered in the inpatient and outpatient settings of the Fayetteville VA Coastal Health Care System. The inspection covers key clinical and administrative processes that are associated with promoting quality care. This inspection focused on Leadership and Organizational Risks; COVID-19 Pandemic Readiness and Response; Quality, Safety, and Value; Registered Nurse Credentialing; Medication Management: Remdesivir Use in VHA; Mental Health: Emergency Department and Urgent Care Center Suicide Risk Screening and Evaluation; Care Coordination: Inter-facility Transfers; and High-Risk Processes: Management of Disruptive and Violent Behavior.The system’s executive leadership team appeared stable, with all positions permanently assigned. The leaders had worked together for over one year. Employee satisfaction survey results indicated that the Chief of Staff had opportunities to improve staff attitudes toward the workplace. Scores related to leaders’ listening, respect, trust, favoritism, and response to concerns were lower than the VHA averages, except for the Associate Director, whose score was significantly higher. Patients generally appeared less satisfied with their care than VHA national averages. The OIG’s review of the system’s accreditation findings, sentinel events, and disclosures did not identify any substantial organizational risk factors. The Director and Chief of Staff were knowledgeable within their scope of responsibilities about VHA data and system-level factors contributing to specific poorly performing Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning measures. However, the Associate Director of Patient Care Services and Associate Director had opportunities to increase their knowledge of these factors. The OIG issued seven recommendations for improvement in three areas: (1) Quality, Safety, and Value • Surgical work group meetings and attendance (2) Care Coordination • Transfer documentation • Active medication list transmission • Nurse-to-nurse communication (3) High-Risk Processes • Disruptive behavior committee attendance • Staff training