Open Recommendations

Direct the selected State agency to review the sponsoring organization identified in this finding that declined to provide acceptable State-required documentation to determine whether meal claims of more than $6.6 million are unsupported, recover any costs determined to be unallowable, and determine whether further action is appropriate.

Review and revise guidance such as Existing Flexibilities in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, dated July 26, 2013, as necessary, to provide clarity that States should enforce any additional operating requirements they prescribe.

We determined that the State of North Carolina paid out ERA1 funds in the amount of $803,160 in violation of the ERA1 statute because the funds were disbursed loan ineligible household. On August 12, 2025, Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service issued an invoice for $803,160 to the State of North Carolina, establishing a debt to the Federal Government.

We recommend SSA include terms or conditions in all contracts that require that contractors identified as having significant security responsibilities complete role based security training before they perform their assigned duties and, at least, each fiscal year thereafter.

We recommend SSA implement data validation controls before it processes the role based privacy training assignments to prevent errors and avoid confusion between different components.

We recommend SSA develop and implement a process to send stakeholders routine reminders to update personnel information and periodically validate that all stakeholder information is accurate.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should educate IRS representatives about the fraud scheme and require them to properly authenticate callers before providing tax account information, including tax deposit and tax transcript information.

Conduct a study to establish minimum loan thresholds for performing site visits, implement policies and procedures based the results of that study, and perform site visits to help facilitate appropriate liquidation of collateral on defaulted COVID-19 EIDLs in an effort to maximize collections.

Verify all delinquent COVID-19 EIDL obligors are reported to credit bureaus in a timely manner.

Confer with the DOJ to establish a reasonable standard for referral of delinquent COVID-19 EIDLs to the DOJ for litigation.

Complete efforts to develop and implement program-level goals and metrics for both the Regional and Significant Service Provider Examination Programs. This should include finalizing and implementing the Inherent Risk Methodology Analysis.

We recommend that USAID/Ukraine request that the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection
of Ukraine assess which USAID-delivered Starlink terminals are at high risk of misuse or
theft, and coordinate with SpaceX to suspend service for those terminals.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should perform a study to determine whether a new kiosk program that uses updated technology, or deploys laptops to TACs, would provide effective and efficient self-service options to taxpayers.

We recommend that the Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Cost, Audit and Support Division, Contract Audit Management Branch verify that Creative Associates corrects the one material weaknesses in
internal control detailed on pages 15, 16 and 17of the audit report.

Evaluate which staff should have access to and should update the Consult Toolbox when records are requested or received and update the Consult Business Rules and Uses of the Consult Package Standard Operating Procedure to reflect necessary changes.

Include controls within the Consult Toolbox to prevent errors and improve data quality, including controls on administrative closure of low-risk consults and documenting the records-retrieval method.

Update consult closure policies and procedures to clarify requirements for administrative closure and determine whether metrics for the percentage of records received should be a requirement and included in policy.

Determine whether Veterans Health Administration facilities community care offices should continue to be required to use the administrative closure report for oversight of administratively closed consults, and if not, determine what reports should be required.

Evaluate the workload of community care staff to determine the most efficient way to structure and execute their duties.

Determine if there are mechanisms to identify standardization opportunities and increase efficiency for improving records return processes.

Ensure community care staff follow procedures to reduce duplicate records received.

Evaluate ways to increase use of provider electronic records portals to reduce reliance on electronic fax when retrieving medical records.

Consider increased implementation of technologies to improve records processing once received to reduce the manual renaming of electronic files and uploading of records into the electronic health record.

Ensure records from the Joint Longitudinal Viewer are uploaded into the electronic health record.

The Medical Center Director ensures staff store clean and soiled utility items separately, maintain cleanliness, and dispose of expired items.