Open Recommendations

Require medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 to ensure supply chain staff periodically review unit conversion factors in the Generic Inventory Package to ensure accurate system values and quantities are recorded and then correct any discrepancies.

Require medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 to develop and implement procedures to maintain stock within the required thresholds as outlined in Veterans Health Administration Directive 1761.

Require medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 to ensure supply chain staff review and update ABC classification labels on expendable supplies in accordance with Veterans Health Administration guidance and establish a process to routinely verify that labeling aligns with the official ABC classification report.

Ensure medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 develop a process to ensure facility staff safeguard expendable supplies in accordance with Veterans Administration Handbook 0730.

Ensure medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 develop and implement local procedures that require clinical service areas to notify supply chain staff when equipment is relocated and establish protocols to validate and update equipment location during clinical moves or room changes and ensure equipment items are properly tagged.

Require medical facility directors in Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 to enforce timely completion of reports of survey in accordance with Veterans Health Administration policy and implement oversight mechanisms to monitor the timely initiation, approval, and closure of reports.

Ensure facilities implement corrective actions to effectively address deficiencies identified during the Veterans Integrated Service Networks quality control reviews.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should revise the IRM 21.3.5, Taxpayer Inquiry Referrals Form 4442, to require CSRs to add the AMS case number in the historical narrative section within AMS.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services, should collaborate with the Commissioner, SB/SE Division, Commissioner TE/GE Division and Chief, CI to develop centralized intake, tracking, and resolution processes for inquiry referrals processed outside of AMS, and ensure that business unit employees working outside of AMS use the AMS case number in their tracking processes.

Develop and implement oversight activities for ECAP to provide reasonable assurance that selfcertified commodity information for routine applications is accurate.

Document the agency’s program risk assessment process to ensure the agency considers and validates risks related to the accuracy of self-certified information on pre-filled applications.

Develop and implement a risk-based counterfeit stamp identification and mitigation strategy with documented vulnerabilities and risks; initiatives and priorities; roles and responsibilities, including a revenue assurance champion; and performance tracking mechanisms.

Take immediate action to enhance counterfeit stamp testing of mail processed on Advanced Facer Canceller System 200 machines, such as by more targeted or sample testing using the high-revenue protection mode.

Some or all of the recommendation is not publicly available due to concerns with information protected under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should develop a process to validate the accuracy and completeness of the ACS chat applications’ data.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should establish standards to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the ACS chat applications using quantitative performance measures and indicators.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should correct the programming error related to the calculation of the handle time metric.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should implement a control to ensure the resolution code is not blank and is limited to only one entry.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should implement and assess the results of the ACS live chat survey.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should update the automated chatbot survey to allow taxpayers to provide written feedback at the completion of the session.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should implement evaluative reviews for employees working ACS live chats to ensure that live assistor performance is meeting customer service standards.

The Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, should establish policies and procedures for managing the ACS live chat application, including the expectations and duties of ACS managers.

In June 2025, we notified the Director, SB/SE Division, Collection Inventory Delivery and Selection, of our concerns that the ACS function’s automated chatbot is not providing taxpayers with adequate customer service in certain situations. Specifically, our concerns were that taxpayers are not having their inquiries and issues adequately addressed through the chatbot’s self-help options due to technical problems. We recommended that the IRS update the broken links and insufficient responses within the ACS automated chatbot and its word bank to recognize keywords and questions. We also recommended that the IRS implement the ability to enter keywords or questions for the…

Leverage existing System resources to develop and implement a process to provide pretravel briefings covering threat and risk awareness to employees traveling on official business trips or taking Board devices to high-risk and restricted countries, at a minimum.

Leverage existing System resources to develop and implement a process to provide Board-specific travel threat awareness trainings for employees in high international travel or senior positions and employees in high traveling divisions, at a minimum.

Leverage existing System resources to develop an optional post-travel questionnaire and establish a process to provide the questionnaire to Board employees who are required to report international travel based on the implementation of recommendation 6, at a minimum.

Establish a program that consolidates and assesses international travel data available to Board divisions regarding employee international travel, including
a. creating capabilities to aggregate and analyze foreign travel data from available sources, including the travel reimbursement platform, the security clearance holder reporting application, and the travel device request platform.
b. developing a process to reconcile clearance holder unreported travel data.
c. expanding foreign travel data analysis beyond risks related to travel with devices and developing a process to conduct travel trend analysis including indicators of suspicious travel patterns, define levels of organizational risk tolerances for suspicious travel activity and follow-up…

Strengthen travel reporting requirements by
a. determining which Board positions or division employees should be required to report personal international travel before departure based on access to System sensitive information.
b. updating policies and procedures detailing travel reporting requirements for relevant positions and divisions with access to
System sensitive information.
c. designating a program to monitor reported travel and defining risk monitoring and threat awareness reporting expectations for that program.

Develop a process to ensure all division designated travel reviewers are informed of country-specific risks at least annually and provide training when updates occur to the international travel with mobile devices process.

We recommend the Vice President, Projects and Outages, update the Nuclear project management procedure to define rework and provide guidance for documenting and tracking rework.

The Martinsburg VA Medical Center Director conducts a comprehensive review of the peer review process from identification to completion to ensure adherence with Veterans Health Administration Directive 1190(1), Peer Review for Quality Management, amended July 19, 2024, and takes action as warranted.

The Martinsburg VA Medical Center Director ensures the chief of surgery assesses Surgeon Bs alleged disruptive behavior and takes action if needed, in accordance with VA Handbook 5021, Employee-Management Relations, and Martinsburg VA Medical Center bylaws.

Train management at all delivery units in the district on the proper procedures for accurately reporting delayed mail.

Enforce the requirement for management at the Huntington and Southfield stations to monitor fuel card purchases and verify that all high-risk fuel transactions have an appropriate comment.

Ensure Congress is made aware of the continued need to mandate the use of systems designated by the U.S. Secretary of Labor, such as the Prisoner Update Processing System (PUPS), for cross-matching federal incarceration data.

Work with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Services, Bureau of Prisons, and UI Integrity Center to facilitate states’ streamlined access to federal incarceration data leveraging the Do Not Pay initiative and the Integrity Data Hub.

Develop and implement controls to ensure more efficient use of statutory grant funds, which should include performing data analytics on grant spending and performance data.

Establish and implement procedures to collect and analyze detailed financial data on career services expenditures, which should include identifying the reason for the growth in career services.

Develop and implement controls to ensure ETA leadership and other stakeholders are aware of the complete administrative costs—including those of workforce entities currently exempt from reporting administrative costs—incurred by the WIOA statutory grant programs.

Develop guidance for grant recipients and subrecipients to clarify how to determine if an expenditure materially increases the value or useful life of a capital asset.

Establish a dollar threshold for construction projects over which grant recipients need to obtain approval from ETA.

Remedy the $998,253 in questioned costs associated with construction.

Remedy the $23,718 in questioned costs due to not reconciling the provisional rate with the final indirect cost rate.

Remedy the $14,581 in questioned costs associated with the Texas State Board director’s salary expense charged directly to the statutory grant programs.

Develop guidance that clarifies what documentation is required to support individualized career services provided to participants by grant recipients and subrecipients.

Ensure ETA officials responsible for monitoring grant recipients enforce the documentation requirements in their grant agreements.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services and Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division should revise IRM 21.1.1, Accounts Management and Compliance Services Overview, to require representatives to document all types of dropped or disconnected calls, or calls that were not properly transferred, including the circumstances of the disconnection when known.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services and Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division should emphasize to all representatives the importance of following hold time requirements, handling calls properly (e.g., using appropriate tone, avoiding jargon, etc.) and asking probing questions to ensure compliance with procedures and ensure that callers receive good customer service.

The Chief, Taxpayer Services and Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should evaluate recurring quality of service issues identified by Taxpayer Services’ internal quality reviews, identify areas of improvement, and implement procedural changes or additional training to reduce their recurrence.

Seek reimbursement of the $60,359 overpayment to Allied for PSP2 financial assistance.