Open Recommendations

We recommend that Indian Affairs provide timely reporting in accordance with Office of Justice Services' guidelines to Tribes and BIA correctional staff regarding the results of Program Monitoring Reviews.

We recommend that Indian Affairs assess the level of resources needed to accomplish the oversight mission at direct service and contract programs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs establish and implement standards for consistency and thoroughness in data entry of serious incidents in the Incident Management, Analysis, and Reporting System and facility log records for direct service and contract programs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs provide training to staff and management at direct service and contract programs regarding serious incident reporting.

We recommend that Indian Affairs provide guidance to Corrections Program Specialists on performing and documenting serious incident report reconciliation to ensure that Incident Management, Analysis, and Reporting System data follows established standards for consistency and thoroughness.

We recommend that Indian Affairs establish oversight procedures to ensure direct service and contract program compliance with serious incident reporting standards and guidance.

We recommend that Indian Affairs develop and distribute a strategic recruiting plan that is updated periodically with the goal to fill staffing vacancies at detention facilities and alleviate effects of low detention staffing at direct service and contract programs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs develop and implement guidance, including a clear definition of overcrowding, to ensure consistent reporting of overcrowding incidents for direct service and contract programs. This guidance should consider appropriate industry standards and policies.

We recommend that Indian Affairs conduct a comprehensive analysis of direct service and contract detention programs to determine capacity limits.

We recommend that Indian Affairs develop and implement a plan to address overcrowding to the maximum extent possible for all direct service and contract programs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs establish oversight procedures to ensure review of occupancy levels and physical inmate counts for all direct service and contract programs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs develop and implement binding minimum standards for the maintenance of detention facilities that BIA directly maintains or are maintained by contract.

We recommend that Indian Affairs develop policy and procedures that require appropriate facility personnel at facilities that BIA directly maintains or are maintained by contract to have access to and record work orders in the Indian Affairs - Facility Management System.

We recommend that Indian Affairs provide applicable staff with the training or guidance necessary to use the Indian Affairs - Facility Management System to reflect accurate facility conditions and properly address maintenance needs.

We recommend that Indian Affairs require that all facilities that BIA directly maintains or are maintained by contract be inventoried in the Financial and Business Management System and the Indian Affairs - Facility Management System.

We recommend that Indian Affairs require that all deficiencies identified by facility managers, safety managers, and detention program personnel at facilities that BIA directly maintains or are maintained by contract be recorded in the Indian Affairs - Facility Management System as work orders.

We recommend that Indian Affairs coordinate with the Division of Facilities Management and Construction and BIA regions to continue exploring avenues to fill staffing vacancies and alleviate effects of low staffing.

We recommend that Indian Affairs perform annual work order cleanup and send reports of outstanding work orders to field personnel, as outlined in the Aged Work Orders Training Manual.

We recommend that Indian Affairs require the Division of Facilities Management and Construction to provide regular reports to the Office of Justice Services detailing the amounts of operation and maintenance funds provided for each building used for detention and review the reports to ensure funding is not distributed for facilities that are no longer in use.

We recommend that Indian Affairs establish oversight procedures to ensure review of facility and maintenance conditions at facilities that BIA directly maintains or are maintained by contract.

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Strategy and Communications Officer, Commercial Energy Solutions, consider establishing a negative net present value threshold, that upon reaching, the TVA Board of Directors must be consulted prior to entering into solar power purchase agreements.

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Strategy and Communications Officer, Commercial Energy Solutions, update Commercial Energy Solutions Standard Programs and Processes 21.704 to require utility scale solar power purchase agreements have a second economic analysis if the project has a proposed price change to the price from the original contract amount.

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Strategy and Communications Officer, Commercial Energy Solutions, consider taking a measured approach with new developers by limiting the number of contracts with the developers until a performance history has been established.

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, ensures an external practitioner with equivalent specialized training and similar privileges completes solo and two-deep practitioners professional practice evaluations in a timely manner.

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network chief medical officers and facility senior leaders, ensures an external practitioner with equivalent specialized training and similar privileges completes Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluations of chiefs of staff in each facility in a timely manner.