Open Recommendations

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, develop and implement a process that can be used in response to an emergency situation at an overseas post to identify contracts that require termination or other contract administration actions.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop and implement a contingency action plan that could be enacted to optimize Contracting Officers' workload management during challenging periods, such as when a surge of contracts need to be terminated, suspended, or closed out.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop and implement an effective tool to track the status of contracts from termination through closeout. At a minimum, the tool should identify the steps remaining to be completed in the termination and closeout process, including identifying overdue steps, and the time elapsed between key steps.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop a plan to assess and take action to ensure Contracting Officers' compliance with Department of State requirements regarding maintaining contract administration file documentation in eFiling.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration conduct a survey among Contracting Officers and Contracting Officer's Representatives to identify issues related to the use of the mandated eFiling module and suggested improvements to the module, specifically pertaining to maintaining contract administration documentation.

Following implementation of Recommendation 5, OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration (a) analyze the results of the survey to identify the factors hindering the use of eFiling to maintain contract administration documentation, including technical issues that need to be addressed and (b) develop and implement, if appropriate, a corrective action plan to increase the use of the mandated eFiling module.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration update the Foreign Affairs Manual, Foreign Affairs Handbook, and supplemental procurement guidance to assist and support Contracting Officers in conducting contract terminations. At a minimum, the policies and procedures should include guidance detailing the contents of termination dockets, such as the type and extent of documentation to maintain; expected timelines for adding documents; and standardized methods for organizing and naming documents. The policy and procedures should also include helpful tools, such as a checklist of documents that are required to be maintained in the termination docket and a post-termination conference meeting template.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Foreign Service Institute, modify contract administration training that is offered by the Department of State to include guidance on the contract termination process.

Following implementation of Recommendations 7 and 8, OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop a communication strategy and disseminate to procurement personnel the updates to policy, procedures, and training related to contract terminations to ensure awareness of contract termination process requirements, including documentation requirements.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, within 45 days of issuance of this report, develop and implement a plan of action to address the contracts related to Afghanistan that are in the termination process to ensure prompt completion of the process and move contracts to closeout.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, within 45 days of issuance of this report, develop and implement a plan of action to address the expired contracts related to Afghanistan that remain open.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration develop and implement a process to ensure that Contracting Officers comply with Federal Acquisition Regulation termination process requirements.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration review its refugee application quality control processes to identify gaps and develop and implement improvements to provide reasonable assurance that program objectives will be achieved.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration review its standard operating procedures to consolidate and clarify guidance related to prescreening refugee applicants and ensuring data consistency between START and the physical case file.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration collaborate with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to evaluate steps in the standard operating procedures related to prescreening refugees and update those procedures as appropriate.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether the $426,527 in questioned costs related to International Rescue Committee’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0007) for an office renovation contract and canvas bags, as detailed in Appendix B, are allowable and (b) recover any costs determined to be unallowable.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether the $127,899 in unsupported costs related to International Rescue Committee’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0007) for the purchase of equipment, the renting of meeting rooms, and professional services contracts, as detailed in Appendix B, are supported and (b) recover any costs determined to be unsupported.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether the $42,884 in unsupported costs related to Church World Service’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0005) for a security services contract, mechanical engineer consulting services contract, and lodging costs, as detailed in Appendix B, are supported and (b) recover all costs determined to be unsupported.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether all other payments made in the first, second, and fourth quarters of FY 2022 related to Church World Service’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0005) for a security services contract and a mechanical engineer consulting services contract are supported and (b) recover all additional costs determined to be unsupported.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether the $39,094 in unsupported costs related to International Catholic Migration Commission’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0002) for consulting services contracts, as detailed in Appendix B, are supported and (b) recover any costs determined to be unsupported.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) determine whether the $122,596 in questioned costs related to International Catholic Migration Commission’s cooperative agreement (SPRMCO22CA0002) for a security contract, as detailed in Appendix B, are reasonable and (b) recover all costs determined to be unreasonable.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (a) review all contracts executed by International Catholic Migration Commission under award SPRMCO22CA0002 not already covered under this audit report to determine whether the costs associated with those contracts comply with Code of Federal Regulations requirements and (b) recover all costs determined to be unallowable.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration develop and implement a communications strategy to inform current and future award recipients about the cost principles for award recipients outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), 2 C.F.R. Part 200 and 2 C.F.R. Part 600.

FDA should give greater weight to retailers' past noncompliance when taking enforcement actions against retailers with histories of violations.

FDA should determine whether variation in inspection activity on the basis of neighborhoods' socioeconomic status is appropriate and the extent to which it is meeting FDA's objective for protecting vulnerable populations.