The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a report concluding that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) must take additional steps to demonstrate the importance of fraud prevention and awareness in FEMA disaster assistance programs.
The OIG explained that it conducted an audit because FEMA’s disaster assistance programs “are highly susceptible to fraud, waste, and abuse,” posing “significant risk to taxpayer dollars.” The OIG said that its objective was to determine the extent to which FEMA had instituted effective mechanisms to demonstrate the importance of fraud prevention in its disaster assistance programs.
The OIG said that it found that although FEMA had instituted several effective mechanisms to demonstrate the importance of fraud prevention in its disaster assistance programs, it “needs to do more.”
The OIG explained that, in line with audit report recommendations contained in a 2011 report, FEMA now uses standard system queries and additional business rules to flag potentially fraudulent disaster assistance applications.
However, the OIG added, FEMA must take additional, proactive steps to create and sustain a culture of fraud prevention and awareness.
Specifically, the OIG recommended that:
- FEMA’s chief security officer periodically conduct workforce studies and take action to right-size the fraud prevention and investigation branch workforce as appropriate to accomplish its mission effectively;
- FEMA’s chief security officer reassess and project the fraud prevention and investigation branch’s workforce requirements annually based on the workloads from prior disasters;
- FEMA’s chief security officer implement and staff the program reviews and analytics branch within the fraud and internal investigations division to assess and determine the effectiveness of fraud prevention and detection activities for all FEMA disaster assistance programs;
- FEMA’s chief learning officer implement monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure FEMA personnel complete annual fraud prevention and awareness training; and
- FEMA’s chief learning officer update all guidance, manuals, and training materials to provide consistent direction for reporting fraud and suspected fraudulent activity in the agency’s disaster assistance programs.
The OIG said that although FEMA promotes prompt assistance to disaster survivors, “it does not place equal emphasis on ensuring program integrity and fiscal responsibility.” The OIG concluded that until FEMA takes “visible, substantial, and continual steps needed to carry out its mission programs by detecting and reporting potential fraud in a systematic and timely manner, it will continue to risk the loss and misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
FEMA concurred with all five recommendations and said that it has begun to implement corrective actions.
Learn more: OIG-19-55.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].