[Description omitted; DOJ has determined that this recommendation contains information that is limited official use or classified.]

Completely implement monitoring activities over the effectiveness of existing controls to ensure expenses, including accruals, are recorded accurately. Such activities should include, at a minimum:
a. Coordinating with the participating agencies to monitor the design and effectiveness of accrual controls.
b. Responding to the results of such monitoring with appropriate revisions to process-level activities and controls as necessary.

Enhance existing risk assessment processes to identify and respond to potential areas of increased risk in key process areas, including consideration of materiality and aggregation risk across the participating agencies and types of business events.

Enhance existing financial statement preparation controls to identify and correct presentation errors in the financial statements and related note disclosures.

Update and reissue its Asset Forfeiture Financial Management and Administrative Guide to more clearly define the investigative action that should be used as the seizure date for purposes of actual or constructive custody and valuation of seized property. Specifically, this should include consideration of digital assets that are direct transferred. Additionally, establish the accounting requirements for AFP participants to adhere to timely and accurate data input to the AFP's asset tracking system, including the definition of the date of seizure of assets and the timeline to obtain a professional appraisal, to enforce accountability.

Develop new and/or enhance existing process controls for participating agencies and monitoring controls within the Asset Forfeiture Management Staff to ensure participating agencies accurately and timely record seizure transactions in the AFP asset system-with a supported appraisal-to enforce accountability for internal control responsibilities of responsible parties.

Establish a materiality amount for non-financial measures in the financial statements and perform existing controls over valued property or design new controls specific to the presentation of firearm counts.

Assess reconciliation, review, and other monitoring controls; implement more consistent processes across components and improve data for analysis and reporting, to enhance the design of period end financial reporting controls, including the identification and investigation of events and transactions impacting all financial statements.

Work with the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement to ensure its FYs 2020, 2021, and 2022 Crime Victim State Certification Forms accurately reflect all activity and payments and take necessary steps to recover the excess awarded funds as appropriate.

Require the Maryland GOCPP to develop and implement adequate controls to ensure required grant-related records are retained in accordance with DOJ and state guidelines.

Require the Maryland GOCPP to strengthen its annual state certification reporting practices to improve reporting accuracy.

Require the Maryland GOCPP to develop and implement controls to ensure adequate oversight and improve the accuracy of performance reporting.

Work with the Maryland GOCPP to strengthen procedures for its secondary review of payments and implement enhanced accounting controls to help mitigate the risk of duplicate payments.

Remedy $80,550 in duplicate victim compensation payments.

Remedy $66,653 in unallowable questioned costs associated with victim compensation payments.

Remedy the $4,400 in unsupported questioned cost associated with a victim compensation payment.

Ensure the Maryland GOCPP updates its CICB Manual to: (1) require that the supporting files for claims contain written justification for any deviation from the CICB's policy on processing decisions, and (2) reflect the applicable and accurate statutory award limits established by the state of Maryland.

Provide specialized training to SecD supervisors and investigators that focuses on recognizing potentially constitutionally protected activity and includes guidance on conducting interviews without unnecessarily intruding into such activity.

Establish clear protocols that require: (a) a heightened approval process for opening SecD investigations of employees with security clearances when these investigations are likely to concern potentially constitutionally protected activity; and (b) notifications within SecD leadership when such investigations are opened.

Implement heightened supervision of SecD investigations of employees with security clearances when these investigations are likely to concern potentially constitutionally protected activity. Consultation with the FBI's Office of General Counsel regarding the propriety of interview questions in such investigations should be part of the heightened supervision process.

The BOP should develop policies or formal procedures regarding timelines for scheduling medical appointments for inmates and documenting and tracking the scheduling of such appointments. Such policies or formal procedures should explain the designations of routine, urgent, and emergent; provide expectations for when such designations are used and how quickly orders with such designations should be completed; and set forth processes for monitoring the status of orders and notifying the ordering provider of such status.

The BOP should refine their policies or formal procedures to ensure that inmates who report serious medical symptoms or receive critical test results are provided regular follow-up medical care. As part of these policies or formal procedures, the BOP should consider requiring each institution to develop an "urgent list" of inmates who have urgent medical needs to ensure they receive consistent follow-up medical care.

: The BOP should develop policies or procedures to help ensure that inmates who are scheduled for colonoscopies follow the diet and medication regimen to properly prepare for such colonoscopies.

The BOP should monitor changes to federal and DOJ compassionate release requirements and guidelines, including the USSG, and consider making corresponding changes to its Compassionate Release Program Statement. For example, in view of provisions in the 2023 sentencing guidelines, we further recommend that the BOP assess whether it should revise its Compassionate Release Program Statement to state that the BOP should consider a reduction in sentence when the defendant is suffering from a medical condition that requires long-term or specialized medical care that is not being provided and without which the defendant is at risk of serious deterioration in health or death.

The BOP should revise its policies, procedures, or training to ensure that BOP employees handling Reduction In Sentence requests based on medical circumstances consider not only whether an inmate has a definitive diagnosis but also whether the BOP has been meeting the inmate's medical needs, has the ability to meet the inmate's medical needs going forward, and has scheduled the medical appointmentsnecessary to diagnose the inmate's medical condition.

The BOP should require that a physician, midlevel provider, or other medical professional be consulted in connection with all Reduction In Sentence requests based on medical circumstances.

The Department should develop policies or procedures that provide guidance to AUSAs about steps they should take and factors they should consider when responding to motions for compassionate release based on extraordinary medical circumstances. As part of such policies or procedures, the Department should consider requiring AUSAs, before responding to a motion for compassionate release, to seek input from BOP medical professionals or other medical experts and address timeliness and quality of past medical care by the BOP for the inmate, understaffing at the facility where the inmate is housed, and the BOP's ability to meet the inmate's needs.

The BOP should revise its policies, procedures, or training to ensure that BOP employees understand the importance of carefully reading court orders and seeking guidance when they do not understand them; wait for approval from the relevant U.S. Probation Office before releasing inmates who require such approval; and take other steps to ensure safe and humane transport of inmates to their release destination, including seeking assistance from a BOP social worker or medical provider and utilizing air ambulance services where appropriate.

Determine the scope of the pest control problem within the dry-food storage areas at Federal Correctional Institution Terre Haute and address it.

Strengthen its RRC contractor performance monitoring practices and procedures to ensure that the BOP adequately assesses contractor performance to the specific requirements of the contract and receives the full scope of services it has contracted with providers to deliver.