Semiannual Report to Congress

April 1, 2011 – September 30, 2011
Office of the Inspector General


American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Recovery logo

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provides $787 billion in funding as a stimulus to the economy. Of that funding, the Department received $4 billion for grant funding to enhance state, local, and tribal law enforcement; to combat violence against women; and to fight Internet crimes against children.

The OIG is conducting aggressive Recovery Act oversight involving the coordinated efforts of auditors, investigators, and inspectors. Through this multidisciplinary effort, the OIG has provided advice to Department granting agencies regarding best practices in the awarding and monitoring of grants, trained Department grant managers on fraud risks, reached out to state and local agency Recovery Act recipients of Department grant funds, audited and evaluated the Department’s use of Recovery Act funding, and conducted investigations of allegations of misuse of Recovery Act funds by Department grant recipients.

In particular, since the enactment of the Recovery Act in February 2009, the OIG has trained 5,838 federal, state, and local program managers and participants on Recovery Act fraud awareness, conducted 106 outreach sessions with state and local agencies, and initiated 41 audits and reviews of Recovery Act funds. In addition, the OIG is conducting nine investigations of allegations pertaining to the Department’s Recovery Act programs. During this semiannual reporting period, the OIG issued four reports on the Recovery Act grant management activities of the Department as well as state and local entities.

From enactment of the Recovery Act in February 2009 through September 30, 2011, the Department has obligated more than 99 percent of its $4 billion in Recovery Act funds. Moreover, as of September 30, 2011, the Department had expended about 72 percent of its Recovery Act funds. The Department has handled this increased workload without any significant increase in staff.

We provide a summary below of our findings from our audit work during this review period that related to Recovery Act funds.

Reports Issued

OIG Audits of Recovery Act Grants

During this reporting period, the OIG audited Recovery Act grants awarded by Department grant-awarding agencies to state and local recipients. Below are examples of our audit findings:

Investigations

 


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