Open Recommendations

The Director, Field Collection, SB/SE Division, should notify the taxpayers identified in this report that their representatives were not sent a copy of CDP levy notices or other correspondence.

Reassess and clarify physical inventory requirements for equipment in medical facilities to ensure they are consistent with and meet the intent of VA Directive 7002.

Ensure that facility directors require custodial officers to regularly review nonexpendable inventory to determine whether the equipment is required and take appropriate action.

Ensure medical facility directors review inventory list compliance data to identify noncompliant services and implement a process to resolve noncompliance.

Ensure the Veterans Health Administrations Procurement and Logistics Office, in coordination with VAs Office of Acquisition and Logistics, regularly monitors inventory compliance data to identify and communicate with noncompliant facilities to proactively address delinquent inventories.

Require medical facilities to use a standardized report of survey dashboard to centrally report all lost, stolen, or damaged items.

Require medical facility directors to review inventory compliance and establish a process to ensure noncompliant equipment"to include equipment identified in this audit"is reported as lost, stolen, or damaged within required time frames.

Reiterate through formal communication that facilities and regional Veterans Integrated Service Networks are required to fully implement and use the Strategic Equipment Planning Guide and Enterprise Equipment Request process for equipment planning and approval and develop a system to monitor compliance and verifying facilities are using the process as required.

Ensure facilities define and assign Strategic Equipment Planning Guide and Enterprise Equipment Request user roles and responsibilities as applicable.

(U) Rec. 1: This recommendation is Controlled Unclassified Information

(U) Rec. 2.a: This recommendation is Controlled Unclassified Information

We recommend that the Chief Operating Officer for Federal Student Aid (FSA), in conjunction with the Commissioner of NCES, require JJC to Update its existing policies and procedures for collecting, verifying, and reporting accurate data for the Student Financial Aid survey, consistent with the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Keyholder Handbook and survey instructions.

We recommend that the Chief Operating Officer for Federal Student Aid (FSA), in conjunction with the Commissioner of NCES, require JJC to Design and implement procedures for ensuring that employees consider admission records to record and update the accurate classification of first-time, full-time undergraduate students in the student information system before finalizing the cohort.

We also recommend that the Chief Operating Officer for FSA consider taking appropriate action pursuant to subpart G of 34 C.F.R. section 668 because the school reported inaccurate and incorrect information to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) through the Student Financial Aid survey for the 2021–2022 reporting period.

We recommend that the Chief Operating Officer for FSA, in conjunction with the Commissioner of NCES, require JJC to update and implement policies and procedures for collecting, verifying, and reporting accurate data for the Graduation Rates survey to align with current IPEDS reporting requirements and ensure the accurate classification of first-time, full-time undergraduate students.

We recommend that the Chief Operating Officer for FSA, in conjunction with the Commissioner of NCES, require JJC to design and implement procedures for ensuring that employees consider admission records to record and update the accurate classification of first-time, full-time undergraduate students in the student information system before finalizing the cohort.

Ensure a disability compensation examiner who has completed PACT Act training provides an independent assessment and medical opinion for the 29 VHA and five VBA nonpresumptive PACT Act opinions identified by the Office of Inspector General that were provided before completing PACT Act training, and readjudicate the claims as needed.

We recommend that OIT update policies and procedures to ensure that OIT (a) thoroughly documents and understands changes to the SEC’s mobile device management system before such changes are implemented; (b) maintains an accurate inventory of mobile devices enrolled in the SEC’s mobile device management system (including timely follow-up and removal of inactive devices); (c) reviews and escalates mobile device management system notifications involving Capstone officials’ devices; and (d) regularly obtains and, as necessary, responds to information about technical risks from vendors whose products may impact the SEC’s mobile devices.

We recommend that OIT ensure that all SEC Capstone officials’ devices were backed up at the time OIT removed the texting application from SEC devices, and (for each device) document the date OIT verified that all electronic records, including text messages, were successfully saved (as of the October 2022 Capstone initiative and with each subsequent backup). If text messages from any Capstone officials’ devices were not successfully saved, work with ORMS to determine if NARA notification is required.

We recommend that OIT update the applicable system security plan(s) to accurately reflect the mobile device management system audit events and logs that should be forwarded to the SEC’s security information and event management tool, and ensure that those logs support after-the-fact investigations of incidents.

We recommend that OIT develop procedures to periodically verify that the mobile device management system audit events and logs identified in the applicable system security plan(s) are successfully retained in the SEC’s security information and event management tool.

We recommend that OIT update policies and procedures to require OIT management’s approval of commands during troubleshooting activities that result in a factory reset of Capstone officials’ devices, and verification that appropriate device logs and forensic data have been collected and retained beforehand.

Remove the six identified deceased participants from benefit pay status and take other actions, as appropriate.

Coordinate with the OIG to periodically run DNP as needed.

The Chief Information Officer should timely remediate GSS BDA vulnerabilities in accordance with IRS policies.