U.S. Veterans Affairs OIG audit finds high noncompliance rates with vetting requirements

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently conducted an audit on how well the department vets its contractor employees and found high rates of noncompliance. 

The report released on Thursday stated that many of the employees under these contracts did not have a fingerprint check, which is required, or have a formal background check conducted.

"The team found that 94 percent of contract files reviewed did not include position designations establishing the investigative requirements for the contract," the report states. "In addition, 90 percent did not include language to communicate vetting requirements to the contractor."

According to the OIG, it is crucial that contractor employees must be properly vetted or else they put the health and well-being of veterans at risk.

The VA has come under scrutiny over the past few years for security issues and incompetence. Last year, the nominee for deputy secretary of the VA was accused by a whistleblower of being involved in a data breach.

The report states that at least 79% of contractor employees did not have a proper background investigation.

It also noted that the high rate of vetting noncompliance came from different departments, such as the Office of Information and Technology and the Office of Human Resources and Administration/Operations having "outdated and conflicting or inaccurate policies on the subject." The OIG made recommendations to fix these issues, including the different offices collaborating with each other and updating the policies.

"The IOG also recommended the executive director of the Office of Acquisition and Logistics update and publish the VA Acquisition Regulation and VA Acquisition Manual to direct acquisition professionals to correct policies for vetting contractor employees," the report adds.

The St. Cloud VA Medical Center in Minnesota was specifically recommended for compliance checks after it was discovered that 52% of contractor employees had criminal records. None of them went through the vetting process.

"The criminal records included arrests and convictions ranging from petty misdemeanors to felonies such as disorderly conduct, domestic abuse, physical and sexual assault, financial card fraud, and terroristic threats," the report shows.