Office of Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress October 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019

During this semiannual reporting period, we completed congressionally mandated audits of the National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) information systems security and financial statements. These audits resulted in recommendations that will help NEA continuously improve information systems security, financial reporting accuracy, and financial transparency. In addition, we received and addressed seven hotline complaints, primarily enabling us to help citizens avoid scams by individuals fraudulently representing themselves as NEA employees. Furthermore, we issued four grant award audit reports which included $1.3 million in questioned cost and included recommendations to improve award management. Through our audit follow-up process, we worked with NEA managers and awardees to clear eleven open recommendations, resulting in improved stewardship of NEA award funds.