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HOME / OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL / MISSION

Our Mission, Authority and Vision Statement

MISSION AND AUTHORITY

The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, creates independent audit and investigative units, called Offices of Inspector General (OIGs), at 61 Federal agencies. The mission of the OIGs, as spelled out in the Act, is to:

This Vision Statement and Statement of Reinvention Principles was unanimously adopted by the Inspectors General at meetings of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency in January 1994.

INSPECTORS GENERAL VISION STATEMENT

We are agents of positive change striving for continuous improvement in our agencies' management and program operations, and in our own offices.

STATEMENT OF REINVENTION PRINCIPLES

We will:

STRATEGIES TO APPLY OUR REINVENTION PRINCIPLES

We, as Inspectors General (IGs), have two distinct roles: we work to promote efficient and effective program management and deter future problems; and we find and report on current problems. We, as IGs, have dual reporting responsibilities. We are among the very few officials whose direct "customers" include both agency heads and the Congress. Further, our customers extend beyond these two primary customers to include program managers and Administration officials who act on IG recommendations, agency employees, and the taxpayers,who support and benefit from the IGs' review of Government programs and operations.

We are barred by legislation from performing "program operating functions." We analyze programs and advise our customers, both management and the Congress, of ways in which programs can be improved. Although, by virtue of our mission, we perform an oversight role, we are not adversaries of program managers. IGs and program managers, within the differences of their roles, share a common goal of improving Government programs. The strategies to apply our reinvention principles are advisory and each Inspector General will need to interpret and implement them in a manner that best serves the needs of his or her office and agency.

Today, the IG community faces the same challenge as does all the Federal Government: that is to achieve excellence in the quality of service to our customers. This strategy is intended to demonstrate our commitment to serve as a model for improving Federal programs and service to our customers. This Statement of Reinvention Principles as developed is no way an abandonment or dilution of the responsibilities of the Inspectors General as set forth under the law. Instead, these principles demonstrate how the Inspectors General can best carry out their duties in harmony with the intent and spirit of the National Performance Review, and concurrently accomplish their legislatively mandated mission.

I. We Will Work With Our Agency Head and the Congress to Improve Program Management.

The opportunity to facilitate positive change within Government is greatest when IGs assist managers by identifying systems deficiencies and making recommendations designed to assure that programs and activities achieve desired results. To this end, we will:

II. We Will Maximize the Positive Impact and Ensure the Independence and Objectivity of our Audits, Investigations and Other Reviews.

In order to comply with the intent of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, and assist in achieving our vision, we will:

III. We Will Use Our Investigations and Other Reviews to Increase Government Integrity and Recommend Improved Systems to Prevent Fraud, Waste and Abuse.

To ensure that our reviews bring the maximum possible return to the Government, we will:

IV. We Will Be Innovative and Question Existing Procedures and Suggest Improvements.

To enhance our role as agents of positive change, we will:

To foster innovation within our own offices, we will:

V. We Will Build Relationships With Program Managers Based On A Shared Commitment to Improving Program Operations and Effectiveness.

We recognize that program managers are accountable for their program's success or failure and we believe that our role is to assist managers with such efforts, without sacrificing our independence and objectivity. With this in mind, we will:

VI. We Will Strive to Continually Improve the Quality and Usefulness of Our Products.

To streamline OIG management and achieve continual improvement in our performance, we will:

VII. Work Together to Address Government-Wide Issues.

We, the Inspectors General, will cooperate to address those integrity, economy and effectiveness issues that transcend individual Federal agencies.

To improve the functioning of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency (ECIE), we will:

To increase the effectiveness of individual OIGs and support individual members in their implementation of this vision statement, we will work together as the PCIE and ECIE to: