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Open Recommendations (31 total)

Freedom of Information Act: Additional Guidance and Reliable Data Can Help Address Agency Backlogs

GAO-24-106535
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) to update the materials for OIP's training on annual FOIA reporting to highlight that agencies are required to report weighted average processing times for FOIA requests, and include instructions on how agencies should calculate their weighted average processing times. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Freedom of Information Act: Additional Guidance and Reliable Data Can Help Address Agency Backlogs

GAO-24-106535
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy to issue guidance advising agencies to identify actions in their backlog reduction plans to help ensure staff with the necessary skills are available to support reduction efforts. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) to develop a process for OIP to more closely examine the data agencies report on component-level FOIA requests and average request processing times to help agencies ensure they report accurate average processing times. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy to issue guidance advising agencies to include elements of effective action plans in their backlog reduction plans. Such elements include identifying and analyzing root causes of their backlog; identifying actions the agency will take to address those root causes; and establishing specific backlog reduction goals, performance measures, and milestones for tracking progress. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Anti-Money Laundering: Better Information Needed on Effectiveness of Federal Efforts

GAO-24-106301
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should lead an effort, in coordination with the Departments of Homeland Security and the Treasury, to develop a methodology for producing government-wide data on the outcomes of anti-money laundering investigations. This effort could be conducted in conjunction with the interagency working group DOJ was directed to form in the joint explanatory statement accompanying its fiscal year 2023 appropriation. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOJ agreed with our recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when DOJ provides its 180-day letter, which is due in September 2024.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings

GAO-24-105717
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 8)
Open
The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department had no comments on the implementation status of this recommendation. Until the department consistently compares their inventories of software licenses in use to known purchases for each of their five most widely used software licenses, it is likely to miss opportunities to reduce costs on duplicative or unnecessary software licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings

GAO-24-105717
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 7)
Open
The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Child Trafficking: Addressing Challenges to Public Awareness and Survivor Support

GAO-24-106038
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that OVC develops achievable performance goals for its anti-trafficking programs for children that reflect leading practices, such as being objective, measurable and quantifiable. (Recommendation 3)
Open
As of November 2023, DOJ reported that by July 2024, it would analyze its strategic goals and performance data to establish performance goals for its child-serving anti-trafficking programs. DOJ's Office for Victims of Crime anticipates that these performance goals will be reflected in its fiscal year 2025 funding opportunities focused on anti-trafficking programs for children. While these are positive steps, we will close this recommendation once DOJ has established performance goals for its child-serving anti-trafficking programs.

Child Trafficking: Addressing Challenges to Public Awareness and Survivor Support

GAO-24-106038
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that OVC, in coordination with OTIP, establishes a mechanism—aligned with leading collaboration practices—to guide the offices' collaboration efforts to combat child trafficking. (Recommendation 1)
Open
As of February 2024, DOJ reported that a draft memorandum of agreement is under review that formalizes collaboration plans between DOJ's Office for Victims of Crime and HHS's Office on Trafficking in Persons to combat child trafficking. DOJ also reported that in November 2023, the two offices began convening bimonthly meetings focused on the agencies' efforts to combat child trafficking. We will close this recommendation once DOJ provides a copy of its finalized memorandum of agreement with HHS, as well as documentation of the offices' bimonthly meetings on child trafficking.
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