In November 2016, we issued our review of the Peace Corps' Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Response Program as required by the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011. As part of this evaluation, we reviewed 138 cases files for sexual assaults reported to the Peace Corps. Upon review of a sample of recently unredacted documents, we were able to verify the accuracy of our original 2016 analysis. This memorandum has been appended to the original 2016 report.

This document provides information concerning the negative impact of personnel turnover on agency operations, drawing on an analysis of interviews conducted by OIG evaluators from 2010 through 2015 in 27 country program evaluations. In addition, we have included highlights from 34 audit and evaluation reports over the same period that referenced challenges related to position vacancies and staff turnover.

In 2009, Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey was murdered while serving in Benin, just after reporting concerns that a seasonal Peace Corps contractor was sexually abusing students. Her tragic death raised serious concerns with the agency’s handling of Volunteer safety, security, and the confidentiality of Volunteer complaints.

Our report contains 13 recommendations focused on improving programming, training, and Volunteer support at the post.

We found that the post’s financial and administrative operations required improvement to comply with agency policies and applicable federal laws and regulations. Our report contains 14 recommendations directed to both the post and headquarters. At the post, our recommendations included strengthening controls over security certifications, leases, and imprest fund verifications; safeguarding controlled substances; and improving management of Volunteer allowances and purchase card transactions.

This semiannual report informs Congress of the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General's work for October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017.

Our report made 27 recommendations focused on improving programming, training, and Volunteer support at the post.

This audit found that the post’s financial and administrative operations required improvement to comply with agency policies and applicable federal laws and regulations. Our report contains 10 recommendations directed to the post, including that it properly record payee names when disbursing funds and enhance controls over Volunteer allowances, ticketing for air travel, and interim advances.

Inspector General Kathy A. Buller's statement before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concerning Inspector General empowerment.

This audit found that Peace Corps/China's financial and administrative operations were effective and complied with agency policies and applicable federal laws and regulations. However, there were a few areas in need of improvement. Our report makes five recommendations directed to both the post and headquarters on these areas.

This semiannual report informs Congress of the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General's work for April 1, 2016 - September 30, 2016

The Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 required the Peace Corps to undertake reforms related to sexual assault risk reduction and response training and policy. This report contains OIG’s evaluation of the effectiveness and implementation of the training and policy, in addition to a review of a statistically significant number of sexual assault cases. The Peace Corps generally complied with the Act’s requirements. However, we identified several aspects of the agency’s sexual assault risk reduction and response program that needed improvement to better train Volunteers and enhance the Peace Corps’ response to sexual assault victims. NOTE: This report has been appended to include a memorandum updating OIG's data limitation qualification.

The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requires that annually each Office of Inspector General review its agency’s information security program and report results to the Office of Management and Budget. Based on the results of this review, we are concerned about the quality of the IT security program, especially considering the sensitive data that the Peace Corps maintains, such as health records and sexual assault incident information about Peace Corps Volunteers.

These challenges illustrate the most significant areas the Office of Inspector General believes need improvement for the Peace Corps to effectively manage its resources and minimize the potential for fraud, waste, and abuse occurring in its operations.

The Office of Inspector General's annual plan outlines the work planned for the year ahead, including agency wide audits or evaluations, mandated reviews, and which posts may receive audits or evaluations.