The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released a report on the Office on Violence Against Women’s (OVW) handling of grants during the pandemic. Acting Inspector General William M. Blier announced that the report identifies areas where OVW can enhance its grant program administration by applying lessons learned.
The OIG report highlights several findings. One major issue is that OVW needs to evaluate its monitoring processes. From fiscal years 2019 through 2022, OVW monitored less than 10 percent of its active grant recipients, which is below its established standard. This shortfall persisted even after adjusting monitoring goals due to pandemic-related challenges, raising concerns about the effectiveness of OVW’s monitoring process.
Another finding indicates that OVW should review its approval practices for no-cost grant extensions. The review covered five programs where OVW approved no-cost extensions for 468 grant recipients, with 91 recipients receiving two or more such approvals. Some extended recipients were also granted new awards before their extended periods ended, increasing the number of active grants and complicating monitoring efforts.
Additionally, the report notes that OVW lacks written policies for approving multiple no-cost grant extensions beyond internal procedures guiding staff in award management.
In response to these findings, the DOJ OIG made two recommendations aimed at improving OVW's management of grant awards. The OVW has agreed with both recommendations.
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