OIG ISSUES REPORT ON THEIR INVESTIGATION OF DEPT OF STATE 'CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR)' DEFICIENCIES

SUMMARY OF REVIEW

BACKGROUND

The Department of State (Department) spends substantial resources on contracts; in FY 2017

alone, the Department’s obligations included $15.5 billion for contractual services and

supplies.

1

To use taxpayer resources prudently, the Department must ensure that contractors

are appropriately selected, work is properly conducted and monitored, contract objectives are

achieved, and costs are effectively contained. Despite its importance, contract oversight

continues to be a significant management challenge for the Department.

OIG sought to

determine what underlying factors might have contributed to, or caused, deficiencies in the

performance of COR duties and whether actionable recommendations can be made to

address those underlying factors.

FINDINGS FROM RECENT AUDIT REPORTS

OIG reviewed inspection reports published from January 2016 through

December 2017 and found that 36 percent (15 out of 42) contained findings related to CORs.

These included CORs who did not monitor contractors’ technical progress, did not properly

review contractors’ invoices before approving them for payment, and did not maintain

complete COR files.

In Embassy Accra,10 for example, only one of the six CORs properly

monitored contractors’ progress and maintained complete COR files.

In Embassy Beijing,11 some

designated CORs neither monitored contractors’ progress nor maintained related monitoring

documentation in the COR files.

Of the 26 COR files OIG reviewed in Turkey,12 only 11 were

complete.

OIG also found that the staff overseeing contractors at several overseas missions

lacked the formal designation and training to do so.13

==Mandating Use of the Department’s Electronic Filing System Would Mitigate

Some of the Obstacles Posed By Dispersal of Contracting Officer

Representatives ==

sauce:

https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/isp-i-18-33.pdf

AUDIT OF VA HEALTH ADMINISTRATION - $41.6M QUESTIONED COSTS FOUND

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited the Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA’s) Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers from June 2017 through June 2018 to determine if VHA effectively provided program services to qualified veterans and their caregivers. The Family Caregiver Program pays a monthly stipend to caregivers of eligible veterans.

FINDINGS

The OIG found that veterans and their caregivers did not receive consistent access to the program.

The OIG found that caregiver support coordinators (CSCs) did not determine eligibility within the required 45 days for about 65 percent of the 1,822 veterans approved for the program from January through September 2017.

The OIG also found that VHA did not correctly apply eligibility criteria when enrolling veterans. Four percent of the 1,604 veterans discharged from the program from January through September 2017 were never eligible.

As a result, VHA made about $4.8 million in improper payments to their caregivers.

VHA also did not consistently monitor and document the health statuses of an estimated 50 percent of the veterans discharged during the same period. The OIG found clinicians and CSCs either did not adequately document the extent that veterans’ health conditions changed or they failed to routinely monitor veterans and their caregivers before the reassessment leading to their program discharge.

VHA failed to manage the Family Caregiver Program effectively because it did not establish governance that promoted accountability for program management.

Also, VHA did not establish a staffing model to ensure medical facilities were well equipped to manage the program’s workload.

OIG RECOMMENDATIONS

The OIG recommended designating additional program oversight, applying program criteria to ensure eligibility determinations are accurate, ensuring veteran applications are processed within the 45-day standard, consistently monitoring and documenting veterans’ health statuses, and establishing guidelines for when a veteran’s need for care changes.

sauce:

https://www.oversight.gov/report/va/program-comprehensive-assistance-family-caregivers-management-improvements-needed

Audit Report:

https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-17-04003-222.pdf

SCATHING AUDIT REPORT ON EPA

Without E-Invoicing and Stronger Payment Process Controls, EPA Is Placing $1.2 Billion at Risk Annually

1.2B AT RISK

sauce:

https://www.oversight.gov/report/epa/without-e-invoicing-and-stronger-payment-process-controls-epa-placing-12-billion-risk

REPORT:

https://www.epa.gov/office-inspector-general/report-without-e-invoicing-and-stronger-payment-process-controls-epa

NEW US TREASURY DESIGNATIONS: Build on International Efforts to Hold Accountable Persons Responsible for Serious Human Rights Abuses in Burma

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four Burmese military and Border Guard Police (BGP) commanders and two Burmese military units for their involvement in ethnic cleansing in Burma’s Rakhine State and other widespread human rights abuses in Burma’s Kachin and Shan States. Burmese military commanders Aung Kyaw Zaw, Khin Maung Soe, Khin Hlaing, and BGP commander Thura San Lwin, along with the 33rd Light Infantry Division (LID) and the 99th LID, were designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016 to target perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption.

“Burmese security forces have engaged in violent campaigns against ethnic minority communities across Burma, including ethnic cleansing, massacres, sexual assault, extrajudicial killings, and other serious human rights abuses. Treasury is sanctioning units and leaders overseeing this horrific behavior as part of a broader U.S. government strategy to hold accountable those responsible for such wide scale human suffering,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “There must be justice for the victims and those who work to uncover these atrocities, with those responsible held to account for these abhorrent crimes. The U.S. government is committed to ensuring that Burmese military units and leaders reckon with and put a stop to these brutal acts. We will continue to systematically expose and bring accountability to human rights abusers in this region and many others and greatly appreciate the efforts of civil society who are doing the same.”

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm460

>>2655551

>Anyone else feel like Q team is or maybe has been for a few weeks or so, waiting for something to happen?

No don't feel that way at all. I actually feel like things are happening now.

SHOWTIME

We just aren't able to see the clear connections yet. I.E. Elon Musk/Tesla ….8/9 Q says SHOWTIME and 8/9 SEC Complaint filed from Tesla Internal Investigator turned whistleblower re: drug trafficking out of Tesla Factory and spying on employees with same routers found in DC….CONNECTED?

>>2655693

>If the nwo, which is full of pedos and satanists, how would China fit in?

Not sure but Q did say this, "What if China, Russia, and others are coordinating w/ POTUS to eliminate the NWO?"