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Federal Domestic Violence Assistance: HHS Should Assess Accessibility-Related Technical Assistance for Local Centers
GAO-24-106366
Sep 19, 2024
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should ensure that the Administration for Children and Families establishes and implements a process to systematically review whether the accessibility-related technical assistance that it supports under the family violence prevention program is reaching and meeting the needs of local centers and, if warranted, take steps to improve the quality and dissemination of technical assistance and ensure that it covers needed topics. For example, HHS could use its revised monitoring tools to collect input from grantees and subgrantees on their accessibility-related technical assistance needs, consider accessibility-related technical assistance when selecting training to observe, or improve the consistency of the data on requests that national resource centers receive for accessibility-related technical assistance from local centers. (Recommendation 1)
Open
HHS agreed with this recommendation and noted steps it plans to take to address it. For example, HHS said that after it has implemented the new performance progress report form for national resource centers discussed in our report, the agency plans to survey family violence prevention program grantees on their technical assistance needs to help ensure that resource centers are addressing those needs, including needs related to serving survivors with disabilities. HHS plans to develop this survey in fiscal year 2025. While this survey could represent a first step toward implementing this recommendation, HHS will need to use the information it collects from the survey as input for a systematic review of its accessibility-related technical assistance. Also, although HHS developed a new mechanism to collect data from national resource centers on the accessibility-related technical assistance they provide, the agency continues to lack consistent data on requests that the centers receive for such technical assistance. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.

IRS Workforce: Actions Needed to Address Barriers to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
GAO-24-105785
Sep 09, 2024
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8 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion updates its barrier analysis policies and procedures to incorporate the regular use of many information sources for trigger identification. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in legal authorities which remain in effect. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion uses relevant results from our analyses of its workforce composition and of outcomes related to employee promotion, salary, and separation to inform its next annual barrier analysis effort. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in legal authorities which remain in effect. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion updates its barrier analysis policies and procedures to ensure regular consultation and collaboration with stakeholders, including employee groups and equal employment opportunity program staff, throughout the barrier analysis process. (Recommendation 3)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in legal authorities which remain in effect. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion conducts a comprehensive assessment of and develops recommendations to address staffing issues hampering its ability to perform barrier analyses. (Recommendation 4)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in legal authorities which remain in effect. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion uses the results of its comprehensive staffing assessment to take actions to address staffing issues hampering IRS's barrier analyses. (Recommendation 5)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in legal authorities which remain in effect. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should ensure that the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion establishes a unified DEIA strategic plan to determine goals for and guide the development and implementation of agencywide DEIA initiatives. (Recommendation 6)
Open
In August 2024, IRS stated that it agreed with this recommendation and would take steps to implement it. However, in March 2025, IRS stated that, in light of Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 issued in January 2025, the agency had ended its DEIA programs and would not take action to address the recommendation. The criteria upon which this recommendation is based is grounded in GAO's work on leading practices for workforce management and internal controls, which remains valid. GAO will continue monitoring developments related to this recommendation, including any additional Executive Orders, guidance, and court decisions.

Transportation Equity: DOT Could Improve Some Performance Goals to Better Assess Progress
GAO-24-105652
Jul 23, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should ensure each equity performance goal has a target or target milestone for the current and subsequent year in DOT's annual performance plan. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should clarify the performance measures or associated methodology descriptions for the equity performance goals we identified as being inconsistent with the practice of clarity. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should revise the descriptions of accuracy and reliability in DOT's annual performance report for the equity performance goals we identified as not having a sufficient description. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Improved Oversight Processes Needed to Help Agencies Address Program Deficiencies
GAO-24-105874
Jun 13, 2024
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations improves or automates existing tracking processes for monitoring agencies' timely completion of Management Directive 715 reports. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
EEOC agreed with the recommendation and, in December 2024, stated that it has taken steps to increase agencies' compliance with MD-715 certification procedures. For example, EEOC conducted ongoing monitoring of agency MD-715 submission status in the most recent certification period opened and developed visual tools and dashboards that display the certification status of all agencies. EEOC also began issuing notices and meeting with agencies that had not certified their reports 30-days before the deadline. EEOC stated that it is exploring the feasibility of further tracking mechanisms to support timely MD-715 certification. We will continue to monitor EEOC's sustained progress in its ongoing monitoring of MD-715 certification, including its ability to continue to improve compliance rates for timely certification and automate its tracking capabilities.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations enhances its ability to compile and analyze information gathered from its Technical Assistance reviews. For example, EEOC could automate existing features to analyze deficiencies contained in agency Management Directive 715 reports to help it identify EEO trends. (Recommendation 2)
Open – Partially Addressed
EEOC agreed with the recommendation and, in December 2024, it stated it is actively working to improve tracking of deficiencies government-wide. The EEOC has developed tools for tracking priority deficiencies government-wide, including the ability to search MD-715, compliance indicators. In fiscal year 2024, EEOC also developed a tool to track agency reported deficiencies using data from fiscal year 2022. We will continue to monitor EEOC's ongoing efforts for sustained progress in developing deficiency tracking tools for subsequent fiscal years that allow it to efficiently identify and monitor deficiencies across agencies.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations requires staff to record the information obtained through Technical Assistance reviews, including all deficiencies, using the same tracking tool consistently. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed
EEOC agreed with the recommendation and, in December 2024, it stated that beginning in fiscal year 2024 EEOC staff were directed to use the same notice letter deficiency tracker system in preparing for technical assistance visits beginning fiscal year 2024. EEOC's Office of Federal Operations leadership conducted a training at the beginning of fiscal year 2024 and again in preparation for fiscal year 2025 to ensure consistency in use. We will continue to monitor EEOC's efforts for sustained progress in offering staff ongoing training on use of the notice letter deficiency tracker to ensure consistent use of the same tools to track deficiencies.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Chair of the EEOC should ensure that the Office of Federal Operations develops and implements criteria and guidelines for invoking its public notification procedures related to agency noncompliance as stated in Management Directive 110. (Recommendation 4)
Open
EEOC agreed with this recommendation and, in December 2024, stated that it would be useful to develop and implement criteria and guidelines for invoking its public notification procedures for agency noncompliance. EEOC is working to develop such standards. We will continue to monitor EEOC's progress .
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