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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Federal Actions Needed to Help Connect College Students with Benefits
GAO-25-106000
Apr 10, 2025
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5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should develop a written plan for implementing provisions in the FAFSA Simplification Act related to sharing FAFSA data with SNAP administrators, to aid in benefit outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should, in consultation with USDA, evaluate its approach to identifying and notifying FAFSA applicants who are potentially eligible for SNAP benefits and adjust its approach as needed. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should inform colleges and state higher education agencies that FAFSA notifications are being sent to applicants who are potentially eligible for SNAP benefits. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Administrator of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service should, in consultation with Education, issue guidance to state SNAP agencies—such as in its SNAP outreach priority memo—to clarify permissible uses of student data, including FAFSA data, for SNAP outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Administrator of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service should issue guidance to state SNAP agencies—such as in its SNAP outreach priority memo—to clarify the permissible uses and disclosure of SNAP data to support SNAP student outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Fraud Risk Management
GAO-25-107290
Jan 28, 2025
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7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should finalize its key guidance documents on fraud risk management—the Fraud Risk Management Implementation Plan and the Fraud Risk Assessment Portal Methodology—and clearly establish a process for conducting fraud risk assessments for HHS programs, including TANF, at regular intervals and when there are changes to the program or its operating environment. (Recommendation 1)
Open
HHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. We will provide updated information when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation.
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should develop and document standard operating procedures for conducting regular fraud risk assessments tailored to TANF. This should include the roles and responsibilities of HHS entities involved in the process. (Recommendation 2)
Open
HHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. We will provide updated information when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation.
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should develop a process for direct and regular communication with state and local agencies, and their respective OIGs or auditors, about TANF fraud risks that includes an approach for soliciting information from these entities and document this process in its standard operating procedures for conducting fraud risk assessments tailored to TANF. (Recommendation 3)
Open
HHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. We will provide updated information when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation.
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should update the design of HHS's Fraud Risk Assessment Portal to have the functionality to allow users to assess the likelihood and impact of each fraud risk identified in a program, such as TANF; determine the related fraud risk tolerance; and include those results in the portal as part of their fraud risk assessments. (Recommendation 4)
Open
HHS did not concur with this recommendation. We continue to believe that this recommendation is valid because users should be able to perform the likelihood, impact, and fraud risk tolerance assessment of each fraud risk identified in a program, such as TANF, in HHS's centralized Fraud Risk Assessment Portal as part of their fraud risk assessments. We will monitor HHS's efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Health and Human Services As part of finalizing HHS's key guidance documents on fraud risk management, the Secretary of HHS should require users to assess the likelihood and impact of each fraud risk identified in a program, such as TANF; determine the related fraud risk tolerance; and include those results in the Fraud Risk Assessment Portal as part of their fraud risk assessments. (Recommendation 5)
Open
HHS did not fully concur with this recommendation. We continue to believe that this recommendation is valid because HHS should require users to perform the likelihood, impact, and fraud risk tolerance assessment of each fraud risk identified in a program, such as TANF, in HHS's centralized Fraud Risk Assessment Portal as part of their fraud risk assessments. We will monitor HHS's efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should update the design of HHS's Fraud Risk Assessment Portal to have the functionality to allow for the regular assessment of any additional fraud risks facing TANF, including those identified by GAO. (Recommendation 6)
Open
HHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. We will provide updated information when we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation.

Foster Care: HHS Should Help States Address Barriers to Using Federal Funds for Programs Serving Youth Transitioning to Adulthood
GAO-25-107154
Jan 22, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary for Health and Human Services should ensure the Administration for Children and Families documents a plan to have regional offices work with states, Tribes, and U.S. territories to address any barriers they face in spending federal Chafee funds and ensure the plan includes guidance on how regional office staff can help jurisdictions address these challenges.
Open
HHS agreed with this recommendation and said it would develop a plan to share information with regional offices on states, Tribes, and U.S. territories spending of Chafee funds. In addition, the agency said regional offices will use this information to reach out to relevant states, Tribes, and U.S. territories to discuss reasons for underspending and provide technical assistance. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.

Older Americans: HHS Should Apply Leading Practices as It Coordinates Overlapping Programs
GAO-25-107020
Jan 08, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should ensure that ACL, in consultation with other member agencies as appropriate, develop a written plan for its work with the Coordinating Committee that incorporates the eight leading practices on enhancing interagency collaboration. (Recommendation 1)
Open
HHS agreed with this recommendation, stating that it will share the leading practices with members of the Coordinating Committee and develop a written plan with members' input. We will monitor the agency's progress on these efforts.
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