Open Recommendations

The Syracuse VA Medical Center Director ensures annual procedural complexity designation infrastructure reviews are completed accurately and ensures administrative actions are performed as required.

The New York/New Jersey VA Healthcare Network Director evaluates fiscal year 2026 procedural complexity designation infrastructure reviews for all Veterans Integrated Service New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network facilities and takes action to ensure reviews are accurate and deficiencies are addressed as required.

The Under Secretary for Health ensures a timeliness expectation for infrastructure waiver submissions pursuant to Veterans Health Administration Directive 1220(1).

Provide remedial or refresher training to management handling grievances in areas of concern to include topics such as, but not limited to, knowledge of national bargaining and local agreements, grievance arbitration procedures, responding to union requests for information, and contending with challenges from union representatives.

Develop a platform to share best practices identified by individual districts on grievance management and require each district to provide a plan to implement applicable best practices.

Require the use of the Overtime Administration tool at facilities with high or recurring overtime grievances, unless restricted by local agreements.

Require and reiterate training for supervisors on proper administration of overtime, including, but not limited to, overtime desired lists, equitable distribution of overtime, and craft jurisdiction rules.

1) identify high or recurring grievance payment locations, 2) require applicable local management in those locations to develop and implement an improvement action plan to reduce grievances, and 3) monitor grievance progress in those locations.

Develop guidance to 1) identify which management positions have the authority to enter into local agreements, 2) include risk management practices such as expiration dates, legal review, or mandatory periodic review clauses, for management responsible for negotiating future local agreements, and 3) create a digital repository for local agreements.

Develop and maintain a national repository for local memorandums of understanding for standardized ease of access by and for all levels of local management.

1) Develop automated controls in the Grievance and Arbitration Tracking System to add system-required fields for justification statements on decision letters, and 2) provide refresher training for supervisors on requirements for proper completion of decision letters.

Develop a plan and timeline to issue regulations for States to implement SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer security measures that detect and prevent card cloning and skimming fraud so that the projected fraudulent and replaced benefits, totaling $555 million, could be put to better use.

MCC's Chief Information Officer develop a schedule for completing the overdue security assessment of the internal system and conduct the assessment accordingly.

MCC's Chief Information Officer develop and implement procedures requiring contracts for external systems to include assessments of security controls at a frequency MCC defines

Provide specialized training to SecD supervisors and investigators that focuses on recognizing potentially constitutionally protected activity and includes guidance on conducting interviews without unnecessarily intruding into such activity.

Establish clear protocols that require: (a) a heightened approval process for opening SecD investigations of employees with security clearances when these investigations are likely to concern potentially constitutionally protected activity; and (b) notifications within SecD leadership when such investigations are opened.

Implement heightened supervision of SecD investigations of employees with security clearances when these investigations are likely to concern potentially constitutionally protected activity. Consultation with the FBI's Office of General Counsel regarding the propriety of interview questions in such investigations should be part of the heightened supervision process.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

Amend its existing policy regarding the review and approval of journal vouchers to include a review of all non-reversing entries recorded during the fiscal year and to review all year-end journal vouchers before they are recorded in the agency's general ledger.

Perform and document a review of all manual journal entries that includes a before and after analysis which illustrates the effect of the entry on the principal financial statements using the current year Treasury United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) Section V Crosswalks to the financial statements. If accounts are presumed to offset, then they must offset within the same line of the same financial statement within the same fiscal year reporting period (i.e., before closing entries are recorded following the end of the fiscal year).

At least quarterly, initiate and document a review of all entries and account balances for which a manual correcting entry may be needed to address potential misstatements due to system posting logic, such as offsetting upward and downward adjustments of prior year obligations, and record the appropriate entries to prevent misstatement of financial statement accounts and line items.

During the review of manual journal vouchers, verify and document that the authoritative guidance and internal tools used to support the entry are valid and current.

Have the STB Finance Team complete training relating to adjusting entries, including the selection of USSGL accounts, to improve the quality and precision of the review and approval process.

Independently review the most current version of OMB Circular A-136 and the USSGL Treasury Crosswalks to identify changes in data elements, classification, and presentation and ensure that these changes are incorporated into financial statement and footnote templates for current year reporting. A search for new versions of the USSGL Crosswalks and OMB Circular A-136 should be performed each time the financial statements are prepared.

Review the current version of OMB Circular A-136 to independently verify that all required footnotes are included and bring any omissions to the service provider's attention so that errors or omissions can be corrected.

Review the service provider's Financial Statement and Notes Review Checklist to verify that the checklist is up to date and includes all required elements per OMB and Treasury guidance and then complete the checklist independently. Alternatively, STB management should develop and complete its own review checklist based on current Treasury and OMB reporting requirements.

Request its financial management service provider to: 1) reevaluate the inclusion of account balances that were excluded in the Other Liabilities footnote, or 2) disaggregate (i.e., separately report) intragovernmental Other Liabilities balances reported as a single line item on the balance sheet that are not included in the footnote so that the total amounts reported for Other Liabilities on the Balance Sheet and in the footnote agree.

Ensure that its review process includes procedures to disaggregate material balances reported in the financial statements and footnotes, agree balances to source documents, agree the footnotes to the principal financial statements, and verify the mathematical accuracy of all statements and schedules included in the financial statement package.

Document the review and certification of the financial statements and footnotes clearly and indicate what was reviewed, when the review was performed, and who performed the review for each reporting period.

Complete training relating to the preparation and/or review of financial statements and footnotes to improve management's understanding of Federal reporting requirements and to ensure that the financial statements and footnotes are complete, accurate, and appropriately presented.

Perform a review of 100 percent of employee benefit elections and Official Personnel Folders(OPFs) to ensure they are complete and accurate.

Develop policies and procedures that include the performance of periodic reviews of employees' OPFs to ensure that they are complete and accurate.

Obtain replacement documentation for employee forms and other documentation that have been determined to be incomplete or irretrievable from databases and other electronic sources following management's initial and periodic routine reviews.

Implement and enforce its existing policies and procedures requiring the periodic review of all open obligations to ensure that closeout of completed contracts, including the de-obligation of funds and return of the balances for any advanced payments, is performed regularly and timely.

Develop and implement a written procedure that provides detailed guidance and instructions for the calculation of the organization's year-end accounts payable and other accruals.

Develop and implement a look-back analysis or other control procedure to review disbursements made early in the subsequent reporting period (i.e., at the beginning of the next fiscal year) to identify subsequent transactions and undelivered orders balances related to goods and services received in the current and prior fiscal years that should have been included in the year-end accounts payable balance. Any prior accrual should be amended, when needed, prior to the external release or publication of the financial statements.

The Under Secretary for Health clarifies the requirements for suicide risk and intervention training for audiologists and delineates responsibility for ensuring training is completed as required.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates the definition of healthcare provider for the purposes of suicide risk and intervention training.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates the accuracy of suicide risk and intervention training assignment, consistent with Veterans Health Administration policy, for all healthcare providers.

The Under Secretary for Health ensures audiology staff complete suicide risk identification screening as required.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates oversight of and barriers to mental health integration in audiology services and takes action as appropriate.

The Under Secretary for Health clarifies the requirements for suicide risk and intervention training for audiologists and delineates responsibility for ensuring training is completed as required.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates the definition of healthcare provider for the purposes of suicide risk and intervention training.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates the accuracy of suicide risk and intervention training assignment, consistent with Veterans Health Administration policy, for all healthcare providers.

The Under Secretary for Health ensures audiology staff complete suicide risk identification screening as required.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates oversight of and barriers to mental health integration in audiology services and takes action as appropriate.

Enforce procedures for Veterans Health Administration human resources officials to monitor employee service obligations and initiate a debt notice when an employee breaches that agreement, if warranted.

Identify and review active incentives of Veterans Health Administration employees who transferred within or left VA and take action, if appropriate.

Establish enhanced internal controls to ensure compliance with the law on recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives and take appropriate action when an employee with an active service obligation transfers within the Veterans Health Administration.