Open Recommendations

Review the 210 RRF award recipients currently marked in the PPP loan data as potentially fraudulent or ineligible that were not selected for post award review.

Extend the record retention period and notify all RRF award recipients in writing in accordance with 2 CFR 200.334.

Assess the post award review process and manpower requirements to ensure post award reviews are conducted in a prompt manner. Use the results of the assessment to improve processing times to ensure reviews are completed before the statute of limitations expire.

Take immediate administrative actions to recover improper payments from the 5 hotels and 18 recipients found to be ineligible, for a total of 23 ineligible award recipients identified totaling $39 million.

Establish and implement procedures to recover unused funds or recover funds paid to ineligible recipients and prioritize this effort.

To address concerns in the COVID-19 EIDL program, we recommend the Administrator direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to perform a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, consistent with federal regulations, to include periodic comparisons of costs incurred and amounts collected on the portfolio of COVID-19 EIDLs of $100,000 or less to assess whether collection costs exceed recovery amounts.

To address concerns in the COVID-19 EIDL program, we recommend the Administrator direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to reevaluate and amend as appropriate the April 27, 2022 decision to end active collections contingent on the outcome of the more comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.

To address concerns in the COVID-19 EIDL program, we recommend the Administrator direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to ensure SBA does not end active collections pursuant to the April 27, 2022 decision on any COVID-19 EIDL of $100,000 or less made to borrowers who received multiple COVID-19 EIDLs that, when combined, exceed $100,000.

To address concerns in the COVID-19 EIDL program, we recommend the Administrator direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to ensure SBA does not end active collections on any COVID-19 EIDL that appears to be fraudulent, false, or misrepresented, including loans identified as such by OIG or other federal oversight entities, without 1) reviewing the loan application for fraud and 2) attempting active collection, at a minimum, regardless of the outcome of a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.

To maximize the return to taxpayers, we recommend the Administrator direct the Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access to evaluate the COVID-19 EIDL portfolio, in collaboration with Treasury, to determine if selling the portfolio, including delinquent loans of $100,000 or less, is in the best interest of the government.

We recommend that the New Jersey Department of Health follow up with the 20 nursing homes reviewed in this audit that demonstrated life safety, emergency preparedness, and infection control deficiencies to ensure that they have taken corrective actions.

We recommend that the New Jersey Department of Health instruct all nursing homes to install carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with New Jersey requirements.

We recommend that the New Jersey Department of Health work with CMS to develop a risk-based approach to identify nursing homes where surveys should be conducted more frequently than once every 15 months, such as those with a history of multiple high-risk deficiencies or frequent management turnover.

We recommend that the New Jersey Department of Health work with CMS to develop a plan to address the foundational issues preventing more frequent surveys at nursing homes with a history of multiple high-risk deficiencies.

We recommend that the New Jersey Department of Health work with CMS to develop standardized life safety training for nursing home staff.

Take corrective action for the 135 allegations we identified in all three samples of our audit.

Based on the results of its actions taken for sample allegations, take corrective action for the remaining population of 14,777 beneficiaries whose allegations were still pending.

Establish a process to periodically follow up on the recovery of organizational payee overpayments established in the Social Security Online Accounting and Reporting System to ensure employees take additional action to recover misused benefits.

The agency assigns a key role in the organizational structure that has the overall responsibility to manage human resources for overseas PSCs.

The agency creates or modifies data collection tools to gather the data necessary to conduct comprehensive reviews of human resources management for overseas PSCs that could improve performance outcomes and operational effectiveness.

The agency conducts a comprehensive review of human resources management for overseas PSCs to improve performance outcomes and operational effectiveness.

The agency develops a plan to implement improvements identified in the comprehensive review of human resources management for overseas PSCs.

The agency ensures that each post establishes a hiring process that includes a standard timeline for hiring and clarifies the responsibilities of staff that have a role in the process.

The agency establishes grievance policies and procedures for overseas PSCs that includes guidance about how grievances are raised and resolved.

The agency establishes a standard operating procedure that ensures staff handbooks are updated timely and effectively.