In This Section
Inspectors General Findings
Each federal agency has an Inspector General (IG) responsible for overseeing how federal funds are spent and for working with the agency to minimize fraud, waste, and abuse. IGs for agencies who received Recovery Act funds are reviewing their stimulus spending to ensure Recovery-related projects meet legal and administrative requirements. The IGs are also reviewing their agencies administrative practices to ensure that effective controls are in place for managing Recovery funds. Reports of IG findings are below.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 36 items.
Thursday, August 6, 2009The General Services Administration (GSA) received $5.55 billion in Recovery Act funding to construct courthouses, federal buildings, and border stations, and to convert federal buildings to high-performance green buildings. In assessing GSA's ability to effectively manage these funds, the GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified several challenges that should be addressed. The agency needs to hire or contract a sufficient number of qualified personnel who buy goods and services on GSA's behalf. To manage construction projects and related purchases, the agency should establish a thorough planning and documentation process, as well as develop alternate funding avenues. In addition, the OIG reminded the agency of the minimum requirements for converting federal building to high-performance green buildings.
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Friday, July 31, 2009Of the $500 million in Recovery Act funding the Social Security Administration (SSA) received to administer disability and retirement payments, up to $40 million can be used for an electronic medical records system to process disability claims. SSA's Office of Inspector reviewed the agency's spending plan for the electronic records system and found that the plan met the requirements established by the Recovery Act and the guidelines issued by the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Inspector General noted that the agency is planning to spend $24 million for contracts and projects related to electronic medical records technology by January, 2010 and recommended that once the $24 million is awarded, the agency reassess whether it could award additional contracts and, therefore, expend more of the $40 million allotted for this initiative.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009The Recovery Act provides an estimated $87 billion in additional funding to the states through 2010 to protect and maintain their Medicaid programs in the current economic downturn. In its second audit of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Recovery Act funding, the HHS Office of Inspector General found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services correctly calculated temporary increases in Medicaid's Federal medical assistance percentages for the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2009 (i.e., October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009), and awarded approximately $15.2 billion in additional funding to the states.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Education conducted an analysis of 41 audits and 13 investigations that took place between 2003 to 2009 and identified various weaknesses in the administration of grants by State and local education agencies. These agencies will receive dramatic increases in funding through the Recovery Act, and in order to minimize fraud and mismanagement, the OIG has recommended that the Department enhance the guidance on grant requirements as well as fraud awareness and prevention.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviewed prior audits and observed that the EPA's Recovery-funding to recipients with known weaknesses or open recommendations could increase the risks of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. The OIG advised that the EPA should verify whether or not fund recipients have corrected weaknesses identified in previous reports before awarding new funds.
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