Open Recommendations

We recommend the Intelligence and Analysis Under Secretary, in coordination with Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness Director, create and implement a plan of action to expand outreach to other stakeholders, such as fusion centers and external partners, to promote access to DHS technologies including the Virtual Situation Rroom and the common operating picture.

Install area of refuge signage in accordance with NFPA 101 standards and remove any signage showing incorrect or outdated emergency information.

Assess the force required to open fire doors leading to areas of refuge under a range of conditions, and as practicable, adjust fire door opening force to the minimum allowable level.

Develop and implement more frequent limited-scope drills, emphasizing roles and responsibilities for personnel needing or rendering emergency evacuation assistance.

Complete the requisite program management planning before starting construction or, if not feasible, as soon as possible thereafter. At a minimum, this should include updating the schedule, developing a communications plan, establishing a document management plan with a related system, and advancing risk management plans.

Establish processes to ensure that the company decides on and implements a program's management structure early enough to provide strong, continuous oversight for the entire life of a program.

Establish processes to ensure that program teams have sufficient staff before the company transitions a program from the Strategy and Planning department to the Capital Delivery department.

Ensure timely steps are taken to approve and implement a modernization strategy which covers SSA modernization efforts and comprehensively addresses legacy system risks for the upcoming years.

Ensure timely steps are taken to develop Enterprise Architecture planning documents that directly align with strategic objectives and performance goals noted in the Agency's strategic and Annual Performance Plans.

Review the Information Resource Management Strategic Plan annually and ensure it supports the goals of the Agency Strategic Plan, as required by the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, OMB Circular A-130, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996.

Ensure legacy system modernization plans include a detailed description of the work needed for modernization, considerations for the disposition of the system, and tracking cost data that covers all aspects of the project.

Regularly perform risk assessments for legacy systems, as required by OMB Circular A-130, Section 5(a)(1)(b)(i) and (c)(ii). Performing assessments regularly will help management identify information systems and components that cannot be appropriately protected or secured. This will ensure that such systems that may be costly or difficult to maintain, are given high priority for upgrade, replacement, or retirement.

Continue to refine the Agency’s inventory of business applications to ensure data elements specifically related to changes, such as retiring or replacing applications, resulting from modernization efforts are tracked/flagged appropriately.

Implement cost monitoring mechanisms to help with the tracking and management costs related to modernization. Additionally, management should conduct cost analyses for modernization projects, considering cost from a risk perspective.

Regularly perform post-implementation reviews on all information technology investments.

The Chief Information Officer should timely remediate or mitigate all vulnerabilities in accordance with IRS policies.

The Chief Information Officer should ensure that systems are in place to reconcile the temporary and unknown repositories to verify that assets are assigned to an established group.

The Chief Information Officer should ensure that systems are in place to reconcile duplicate accounting of assets in the repository.

The Chief Information Officer should evaluate the temporary and unknown repositories to establish ownership of assets.

The Chief Information Officer should resolve configuration compliance settings in accordance with Federal and IRS policies.

The VA Tuscaloosa Healthcare System Director strengthens processes to ensure that providers provide patient education about applicable boxed warnings when prescribing psychiatric medication, and monitors compliance.

The VA Tuscaloosa Healthcare System Director ensures mental health staff conduct suicide risk screenings and assessments as required by the Veterans Health Administration, and monitors compliance.

The VA Tuscaloosa Healthcare System Director strengthens processes to ensure adequate lethal means assessment and lethal means safety counseling with patients.

The VA Tuscaloosa Healthcare System Director reviews posttraumatic stress disorder clinic processes to consult with a patients prescriber following worsening of a patients mental health symptoms.

The VA Tuscaloosa Healthcare System Director conducts a review of the supervisory oversight of the social worker and other clinicians in the posttraumatic stress disorder clinic to ensure the identification and follow-up of clinical concerns for patients with complex mental health needs.