Open Recommendations

(U) Rec. 1.a.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy Secretary of Defense designate a DoD Component to lead the DoD effort to satisfy the requirements of section 1088 of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, including coordinating with Congress to determine the actions necessary to satisfy the requirements of section 1088 of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

(U) Rec. 1.a.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy Secretary of Defense designate a DoD Component to lead the DoD effort to satisfy the requirements of section 1088 of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, including developing and implementing a plan of action with milestones to ensure that the DoD satisfies the requirements of section 1088 of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that quality assurance surveillance plans prepared by either the government or a contractor include all work requiring surveillance and the method of surveillance, as required by FAR section 46.401.

We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that CORs maintain surveillance documentation of contractor performance in contract files, as required by FAR sections 1.604 and 4.803.

We recommend that the Director of the Census Bureau ensure that CORs receive and maintain in the COR file documentation supporting invoice payments, as required by contract terms and the FAR.

Determine the allowability of the questioned transactions and recover $29,997 if applicable.

Works with FHWA to determine the allowability of the questioned tribal transactions and recover $10,210,603, if applicable.

We recommend the Director of USCIS develop USCIS guidelines on terminating OAW parole and making referrals to ICE for enforcement action.

We recommend the Director of USCIS and Director of ICE update the USCISICE MOA in consideration of USCIS data access limitations.

We recommend the Director of USCIS and Director of ICE continue to review and update records for OAW parolees to improve data accuracy for individual records.

We recommend the DHS Secretary clarify DHS component responsibility for monitoring and addressing parole expiration for OAW parolees without other long-term status to ensure individuals are lawfully present in the United States after parole expiration.

We recommend the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans coordinate with USCIS and ICE to develop guidelines for consideration of factors such as derogatory information and prior decisions on benefit requests during the re-parole and extension of parole processes.

We recommend that USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Cost, Audit and Support Division determine the allowability of the $744,195 direct questioned costs ($2,713 ineligible and $741,482 unsupported) on pages 32, 44, 55, and 63 of the audit report and recover any unallowable amount.

We recommend that USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Cost, Audit and Support Division verify that the African Institute for Development Policy corrects the six instances of material noncompliance detailed in the audit report.

We recommend the Director for the Office of Labor-Management Standards outline requirements needed to strengthen enforcement authority to align with the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959’s intentions to protect workers’ rights and interests to unionize by recommending rule changes or legislative changes to increase employer and consultant compliance.

We recommend the Director for the Office of Labor-Management Standards develop an online system to intake, track, and monitor tips from receipt to completion, including anonymity protection.

We recommend the Director for the Office of Labor-Management Standards increase awareness of the tip line through enhanced publicity, such as posting it on DOL’s complaint webpage.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials emphasize the evaluation of O&M contractors’ proposed staffing and communicate with onsite PBS staff prior to contract award to ensure contract terms and conditions can be fully met.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials confirm and enforce O&M contractor compliance with contractual requirements governing: “Personnel” and “Contractor Key Personnel”; and contingency plans for “Loss of the Contractor’s onsite personnel.”

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials ensure that the O&M contract language clearly specifies the time requirements for routine service request completion and that the requirements are communicated to O&M contractors.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials thoroughly review and understand the O&M contracts’ QCP inspection requirements.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensure that PBS contracting officials improve oversight of O&M contractors’ compliance with the terms and conditions of their GSA contracts.

Establish a process to take future projects’ constructability into account when assessing track outage and force account needs.

Require EGS conduct additional verification and validation for launch imagery equipment prior to launch attempts should launch conditions change.

Establish a course of action and timeline for individual Artemis system design changes before beginning integrated system assembly stacking operations.

We recommend the Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer, Technology and Innovation, implement the planned project to upgrade software and hardware to supported versions.

We recommend the Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer, Technology and Innovation, take action to remediate both instances of insecure protocols in use where technically and operationally possible.

The Executive Director ensures staff store reusable medical equipment in temperature- and humidity-controlled storage locations.

Re-evaluate the OSTEM performance goals to ensure they are distinct and well correlated with outcomes.

Develop a procedure to ensure OSTEM tracks and reports funding for all Agency STEM engagement activities.

Re-evaluate jurisdictions eligible for EPSCoR funds to ensure effective and equitable distribution of Agency funds.

Require all NASA organizations capture STEM engagement activities in STEM Gateway.

The Under Secretary for Health, Veterans Integrated Service Network directors, and facility leaders ensure staff enter data into the local cancer registry database in a timely manner.

Create processing timeframes for returned funds for current and future disaster programs.

Rec. 1.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director develop and implement policy that requires the DoD Education Activity Civil Rights Program to review all Serious Incident Reports, including ensuring that Serious Incident Reports related to discriminatory conduct are linked when appropriate.

Rec. 1.b: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director develop and implement policy that requires updating incorrectly identified discriminatory conduct Serious Incident Reports.

Rec. 1.c: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director develop and implement policy that requires documenting in the Serious Incident Report or Director?s Critical Information Report database all instances of reported discriminatory conduct.

Rec. 1.d: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director direct the Civil Rights Program to create and provide to all current and incoming administrators a mandatory training class on identifying and reporting discriminatory conduct and harassment.

Rec. 1.e: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director develop and implement policy that requires updates to Serious Incident Reports at the Civil Rights Program's request and requires the Civil Rights Program to approve all civil rights related Serious Incident Reports prior to closing the records.

Rec. 1.f: The DoD OIG recommended that the DoD Education Activity Director develop and implement policy that requires that the Civil Rights Program records and tracks all informally resolved complaints of hostile environments and discriminatory conduct (as identified in DoDEA AI 1443.01, section 4.1.a) in a standardized format.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services establish procedures to improve communication among all stakeholders involved in setting new CDLT rates during a PHE.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services improve its procedures, which may require seeking legislative authority, for setting and adjusting rates for new CDLTs during a PHE by providing the MACs with the flexibility needed to set and adjust payment rates that would cover the laboratory costs of providing services when responding to a PHE.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response develop internal written policies and procedures for the JFA process that align with Federal requirements and include the use of allocation methodologies that accurately reflect the benefiting offices' use of the product or service.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response review the FY 2018 and 2019 JFA allocation methodologies along with the methodologies used during subsequent FYs to determine whether the costs were allocated to each office based on appropriate methodologies, and correct any improper allocations to avoid potential Antideficiency Act violations.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response maintain documentation of the work performed by employees whose salaries are paid using BARDA funds to ensure that appropriations are used for their intended purposes in accordance with Federal requirements.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response review the 10 remaining sampled employees that we could not interview to determine whether any salaries were improperly charged to BARDA appropriations and identify potential Antideficiency Act violations.

We recommend that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response report any Antideficiency Act violations identified.

We recommend that Thailand's Ministry of Public Health develop and implement policies and procedures that address the retention of employee timesheets and FFR and audit reporting requirements for Federal awards.

We recommend that the Alabama Medicaid Agency refund to the Federal government $5,039,433 (Federal Share) in overpayments.

We recommend that the Alabama Medicaid Agency improve TCM program oversight by giving additional guidance to TCM providers regarding: billing of services, to verify that they are allowable and nonduplicative; case manager hiring practices, to verify adherence with the State plan's qualification requirements; target group eligibility screening processes, so that only eligible individuals receive TCM services; and the maintenance of supporting documentation for billed services.