Open Recommendations

The Facility Director ensures the Interdisciplinary Safety Inspection Team adheres to Veterans Health Administration requirements, including recording meeting minutes and including all required members, and monitors for compliance.

The Facility Director implements processes to ensure Interdisciplinary Safety Inspection Team staff accurately identify and document safety hazards within the Patient Safety Assessment Tool and monitors for compliance.

The Facility Director ensures staff address identified Mental Health Environment of Care Checklist deficiencies in accordance with Veterans Health Administration guidelines and monitors for compliance.

The Facility Director ensures Interdisciplinary Safety Inspection Team members comply with Mental Health Environment of Care Checklist training requirements and monitors for compliance.

Update the Sponsored Projects Handbook in these ways: a. Implement controls related to residual funds on fixed price projects to address excessive balances; and b. Ensure that the financial review, record, and reconciliation procedures provide sufficient guidance for units to meet minimum standards of documentation.

Implement mandatory training and track attendance for unit PIs, unit Fund Managers, and others identified by OSP as involved in the sponsored project program that: a. Covers key responsibilities including but not limited to project identification and initiation, financial management (payroll and non-payroll), reporting, and closeout; and b. Provides examples of how to document financial reviews, unit expenditure records, and quarterly reconciliations in accordance with the updated Sponsored Projects Handbook.

Incorporate key internal processes in written policies and procedures concerning OSP: (1) reviewing project activities and balances; (2) monitoring sponsored projects; and (3) using checklists.

Determine and document the allowability of the questioned $157,850 for payroll costs and $74,382 for non-payroll costs charged to Project 505247 and resolve any costs determined to be disallowed with the sponsor.

Determine and document the allowability of the questioned $81,924 for payroll costs charged to Project 505223 and resolve any costs determined to be disallowed with the sponsor.

Develop and implement written unit timekeeping procedures in compliance with Smithsonian policies.

Determine and document the allowability of the questioned $24,260 for non-payroll costs charged to Project 786172 and resolve any costs determined to be disallowed with the sponsor.

Determine and document the allowability of the questioned $118,238 from catering costs charged to government-funded projects and resolve any costs determined to be disallowed with the sponsor(s).

Develop and implement procedures to monitor the following: a. The timeliness and compliance of units' project expenditure reviews, records, and reconciliations with the updated Sponsored Projects Handbook; and b. The timely submission of reports to sponsors.

Develop and implement a process to resolve balances prior to closeout, and standardize the timeframe to complete all components of project closeout.

Resolve the $3,833,459 of available balances identified in this report that could potentially be put to better use.

Resolve the $702,362 of receivables balances identified in this report that could potentially be put to better use.

Resolve the $159,120 of encumbered and pre-encumbered balances identified in this report that could potentially be put to better use.

The Chief, Criminal Investigation, should update policies and procedures to provide UOF coordinators with read-only access to view the status of their inventory in the CIMIS.

The Chief, Criminal Investigation, should develop processes and procedures to ensure that unassigned firearm transfers are timely updated in the CIMIS.

Communicate to divisions and offices and records liaison officer's general instructions, including an expected timeline, for transferring permanent records to NARA, and monitor their timely execution.

Establish a routine formal records management evaluations process to ensure that agency records management activities comply with federal regulations.

Establish a remediation process for instances of noncompliance identified during routine evaluations.

Identify the resources needed to routinely complete records management evaluations.

Restructure and reduce the number of remote work agreements to comply with its established remote telework cap policy.

Consistently apply locality pay for remote Postal Regulatory Commission employees or remove the locality pay component from the telework policy.