All Reports

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (OIG) has identified concerns regarding the award, management, and oversight of a contract for AmeriCorps’ new grants management system. Specifically, this alert identifies several factors contributing to cost overruns that will likely exceed $9 million—more than double the amount of the original contract—including the choice of a firm-fixed price contract for a project with uncertain requirements, a lack of technical expert involvement in contract oversight, and the descoping of contract tasks to accommodate cost overruns.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members at Heal the City Free Clinic (HTC), located in Amarillo, TX, were engaging in prohibited activities. HTC was a VISTA service site for the Lone Star Association of Charitable Clinics, also known as the Texas Association of Charitable Clinics (TXACC).

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) conducted a proactive review of AmeriCorps employees who may have improperly applied for and received unemployment insurance (UI) payments while actively employed. AmeriCorps OIG developed a list of potential matches of AmeriCorps employees and individuals who had applied for UI benefits. AmeriCorps OIG identified ten potential matches for further investigation.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated an allegation that AmeriCorps members serving at the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in Burlington, VT, were directed to alter previously approved timesheets. The investigation foundevidence that CEDO’s AmeriCorps Program Director had directed five members to alter previously approved timesheets, including altering timesheets weeks after the end of their service terms in order to raise the hours served to meet the minimum threshold to earn Segal Education Awards.

An AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigation found that AmeriCorps was inconsistent in how it handled allegations of misconduct by senior management and that AmeriCorps hired a third-party contractor to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement on the part of a senior manager without notifying OIG as required by AmeriCorps Policy 102.

The Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) requires agencies to annually review and identify programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments, estimate the improper payment rates in agency programs, and report on their actions to reduce and recover those payments. We found that AmeriCorps implemented corrective actions that improved its compliance with PIIA reporting requirements relative to past years. For FY 2023, AmeriCorps met eight of ten PIIA compliance requirements. We made three findings relating to the two remaining requirements.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that a contractor submitted invoices under its Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with AmeriCorps that included unallowable and/or unsupported costs.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (AmeriCorps OIG) investigated allegations that the former Executive Director (ED) of the Volunteer and Community Service Commission of Puerto Rico (Commission) attempted to use AmeriCorps funds to award a sole-source contract to a close friend, required prayers before AmeriCorps events, and requested subgrantees allow AmeriCorps members to perform service outside the scope of their grant.