Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Vet Center Inspection Program provides a focused evaluation of aspects of the quality of care delivered at vet centers. The OIG inspected four randomly selected vet centers throughout Pacific district 5 zone 3: Phoenix and West Valley, Arizona; Antelope Valley, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.The OIG inspection focused on four review areas: suicide prevention; consultation, supervision, and training; outreach; and environment of care. In the suicide prevention review, the OIG team evaluated vet center staff participation in the VA medical facility mental health executive council meeting resulting in one recommendation across two of the four vet centers inspected. The consultation, supervision, and training review identified concerns with external clinical consultation, vet center director monthly chart reviews, and completion of select trainings resulting in three recommendations across three of the four vet centers inspected. The outreach review evaluated outreach plan completion, inclusion of strategic components, and tailoring of outreach activities to cultural background information identified in the plan which resulted in one recommendation across all four vet centers inspected. The environment of care review evaluated vet centers’ physical environment and general safety resulting in five recommendations across all four vet centers inspected.The OIG issued a total of 10 recommendations for improvement.

The OIG’s Oversight of the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivering for America Plan

During our unannounced inspection of Baker County Sheriff’s Office (Baker) in Macclenny, Florida, we found Baker and ICE staff complied with ICE’s 2019 National Detention Standards for Non-Dedicated Facilities (NDS 2019) for classification, grievances, recreation, segregation, facility conditions, and medical care. However, Baker and ICE staff did not always comply with standards related to the voluntary work program, staff-detainee communication, and use of force.