Open Recommendations

The OIG recommends the Associate Director ensures staff identify environment of care trends and establish performance improvement plans with outcome measures to address them.

The OIG recommends the Associate Director ensures the manufacturer satisfies contractual requirements to perform preventive maintenance for beds and stretchers and documents the service.

The OIG recommends the Veterans Integrated Service Network Director works with facility and primary care leaders to address the network call centers effect on primary care team efficiency and workload and reduce the risk of adverse patient safety events.

Revise NHTSA's Special Crash Investigation Procedures Manual to include processes for: a. identifying, and prioritizing crashes to investigate; b. selecting types of crashes for investigation that are likely to produce the most useful results to improve safety and that align with the program's mission; c. assigning crashes to the investigators; d. documenting crashes considered but not selected for investigation; e. adopting an investigation scheduling process that includes tracking and monitoring functions to encourage timeliness and provide early warning of, and document delays in, completing crash investigations; f. establishing realistic timelines and assessing the impact of delays on crash investigation timelines…

Revise the document retention policy and procedure to include a schedule for all supporting evidence for special crash investigations.

Develop, document, and implement a written process to periodically assess and communicate to decisionmakers, stakeholders, and the public how NHTSA's SCI Program investigations are used to identify and influence highway safety improvements.

We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer consider incorporating into policy the requirement that justifications for "other special conveyances," such as car service, include clear and delineable reasoning as to why the selected option meets the FTR's "advantageous to the government" standard.

Direct the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center Plant Manager to develop and execute a plan to ensure the timely processing of nonmachinable packages and maintain a first in, first out processing order.

Assess mail volume and reevaluate operations in the Atlanta region to identify opportunities for more effective use of space, efficient processing and logistics operations, and cost optimization.

Direct the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center Plant Manager to establish a method to identify, document, and address issues daily and hold managers accountable for recurring issues.

Revise projected savings as staffing is balanced with additional facilities and operational needs in the region.

Direct the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center Processing and Logistics managers to review daily scan data to identify problem areas and correct issues to achieve current scanning goals.

Develop a plan to immediately improve performance against transportation key performance indicators at the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center.

Ensure that transportation schedules are reviewed and adjusted to capture potential cost savings for unnecessary trips.

We recommend that USAID/Nigeria verify that Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research corrects the one instance of material noncompliance detailed on page 23 of the audit report.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrators for the
NWS and OAR to develop a detailed implementation plan on how to achieve the TWIEP Plan’s activities using time-bound goals with clear resource expectations, relevant control activities, and performance measures.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrators for the NWS and OAR to develop loss of life and economic loss performance metrics to support performance assessment.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrators for the NWS and OAR to revise existing policies (e.g., Policy on Research and Development Transitions, Products and Services Change Management, Verification, and Termination of NWS Information Services) to evaluate the operational performance impacts associated with research investments that have transitioned to operations.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrators for the NWS and OAR to conduct an assessment of how IDSS risk communication efforts for tornado watches and warnings affect the public’s actions to reduce loss of life or property, and revise the IDSS Policy Directive as appropriate.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrator for OAR to conduct an assessment of existing processes for ensuring the consistent communication of key performance metrics and address identified gaps, such as the inaccurate public-facing GPRA tornado lead-time metric definition.

We recommend the NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations direct the Assistant Administrator for OAR to conduct an assessment of potential lead-time metrics and determine which approach, or combination of approaches, is best suited for facilitating representative performance assessment and external oversight.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO update the agency’s SSPP documents and establish a privacy program plan that aligns with NIST SP 800-53, Rev.5.1.1 requirements as required by OMB.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO develop and implement a SCRM strategy, policies, and procedures that align with NIST and as OMB requires.

We recommend the FEC OCIO secure (redacted) by monitoring configuration settings to ensure compliance with STIG security configuration settings as required by the agency’s SSP.

We recommend the FEC OCIO review and monitor STIG security configuration settings for its Server 2 as required by the FECLAN SSP.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO implement STIG security configuration settings for Server 1 in accordance with the agency’s FECLAN SSP. If the agency cannot utilize its directory GPOs, we recommend that the agency use alternative methods.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO conduct regular security scans of Server 1 to verify compliance with STIG security configuration settings in accordance with the agency’s FECLAN SSP.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO reassess and reprioritize resources to identify opportunities to accelerate the remediation of urgent, critical, and high vulnerabilities.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO regularly conduct risks assessments in accordance with OMB Circular A-130, Managing Information as a Strategic Resource, to help identify other corrective actions to improve the timeliness of vulnerability remediation.

We recommend that the FEC develop and implement SLA policy and procedures and define KPMs for managing the performance of third-party service contracts.

We recommend that the FEC OCIO ensure (redacted) logs are forwarded to and actively monitored by the agency’s centralized SIEM system, in accordance with the agency’s system security plan.

Review, and take appropriate corrective action for, the 67 remittance exceptions that employees processed incorrectly.

Using a risk-based approach, review, and take appropriate actions on, remaining unissued remittance funds.

Provide targeted training to Program Service Center employees who process remittance exceptions on the policy-compliant procedures to address the errors we identified.

We recommend that FSIS update its policy to include applicable legal requirements and financial processes pertaining to its Cooperative Interstate Shipment program.

We recommend the DHS Secretary designate a DHS component or office to oversee parole expiration for parolees under the reviewed parole processes who are no longer authorized to remain in the United States, and report on the prevalence of this issue.

We recommend the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of USCIS develop and implement a process to identify parolees under the reviewed parole processes who are no longer authorized to remain in the United States.

We recommend that the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of USCIS develop and implement a process to ensure ICE receives timely, accurate data regarding parolees under the reviewed parole processes who are no longer authorized to remain in the United States.

The St. Cloud VA Medical Center Director completes a comprehensive review of surgical service credentialing and privileging processes, ensures facility policy and practice in alignment with Veterans Health Administration policy, and as necessary, consults with Veterans Integrated Service Network leaders, and monitors for compliance.

The St. Cloud VA Medical Center Director reviews the processes specific to ongoing professional practice evaluations, ensures alignment with Veterans Health Administration policy, including surgical service chief consideration of the use of specialty-specific metrics, including surgical procedures performed in the operating room, and monitors compliance.

The St. Cloud VA Medical Center Director completes a review of Medical Staff Executive Council meeting minutes, specific to focused and ongoing professional practice evaluations for the surgical service chief, identifies deficiencies, and takes action as warranted to ensure completion according to Veterans Health Administration requirements.

Update their methodology to evaluate merchant data compliance to include analyzing the volume of packages without unique data for each platform.

Reiterate existing compliance policies to supervisors to drive consistent and effective implementation by staff.

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

Identify and address Merchant Rate Card platforms' technical compliance issues to improve rate accuracy.

Require quarterly business reviews to include data analytics to validate the platforms charge accurate postage and fees and resolve platform issues.

Coordinate with platforms to collect previously undetected short-payments resulting from postage discrepancies identifiable based on package information transmitted to the Postal Service.

Coordinate with platforms to refund previously undetected over-payments resulting from postage discrepancies identifiable based on package information transmitted to the Postal Service.

Review current outreach strategies, including staffing assignments, and make appropriate changes to optimize resources, ensuring maximum awareness of available assistance to disaster survivors.

Implement processes to gather feedback from applicants that would assist the agency in monitoring the effectiveness of its outreach methods.