Recommendation: VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness should realign VA's EEO Director position to adhere to the applicable EEOC directive by ensuring the position is not responsible for personnel functions. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should complete VA's EEO Program Manager realignment initiative at VBA and VHA in accordance with VA policy. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should ensure that ORM reviews all existing VA and administration policies and information documents to make sure they are current, complete, and aligned with VA's sexual harassment policy. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness, in consultation with ORM, should finalize the HPP directive and handbook to formalize HPP. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness, in consultation with ORM, should require managers to report all sexual harassment complaints they receive to ORM and ORM should use this information—and other available data about sexual harassment prevalence at VA—to assess and improve its efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that, for sexual harassment complaints addressed through the management process, any corrective actions decided on are implemented, including requiring managers and supervisors to provide evidence to ORM that these actions occurred. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management should require additional training for all VA employees on identifying and addressing sexual harassment, including the HPP process. For instance, VA could make training that is currently offered in some facilities mandatory for all employees (e.g., Prevention of Sexual Harassment) or develop new mandatory training. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture should direct the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to publicize promising practices for Title IX compliance on its websites for their university grantees. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA agreed with the recommendation. In its March 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that it will ensure promising practices information is posted to websites for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Additionally, a notice will be sent to universities to ensure they are aware the information is available, along with specifics regarding access to the same.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity to publicize promising practices for Title IX compliance on its websites for their university grantees. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity (OCRD) has identified promising practices on an ongoing basis in its Title IX compliance review reports. OCRD will develop and publicize a promising practices guide on its website for reference by university grantees. The estimated completion date is June 1, 2020. GAO will review this action once it receives documentation from DOE.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services should direct the Director for the Office for Civil Rights to publicize a stand-alone list of promising practices for Title IX compliance on its websites for their university grantees. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated the Office for Civil Rights will incorporate effective practices from materials posted on its website and external sources in a stand-alone list of effective practices to help universities comply with Title IX. The Office for Civil Rights will also draw from its Title IX enforcement work to update the effective practices list on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity to finalize and publish Title IX complaint procedures, consistent with DOJ's regulations. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity (OCRD) has developed a draft outline of complaint procedures. OCRD is benchmarking these procedures against NASA and NSF external civil rights complaint procedures. OCRD will finalize and publish Title IX complaint procedures, consistent with the Department of Justice's regulations. The estimated completion date is October 31, 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture should direct the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to finalize and publish revised Title IX complaint procedures. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA agreed with the recommendation to finalize and publish Title IX complaint procedures. According to the department's March 2020 formal comment letter, USDA's Departmental Regulation (DR) 4330-002, Nondiscrimination in Program and Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance from USDA, addresses processing Title IX administrative complaints filed with the Department in any program or activity receiving financial assistance from USDA. The Departmental Regulation (DR) 4330-002 was revised in 2019 and is currently in the clearance process for publication.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture should direct the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to clarify on its website that individuals on USDA-funded grants can file Title IX complaints through the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights—including clarifying who is considered "customers." (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA agreed with this recommendation. According to the department's March 2020 formal comment letter, USDA's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) will add language on its website to make clear recipients of USDA-funded grants are included in the definition of a customer and, as such, may file Title IX complaints through OASCR. Additionally, the requested information will be added to the Frequently Asked Questions section on OASCR' s website.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services should direct the Director for the Office for Civil Rights to assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination—including sexual harassment—and communicating to individuals on agency-funded grants the option to notify the agency of these concerns, outside of the Title IX complaint process. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that outside of the Title IX enforcement process, the Office for Civil Rights updated its sex discrimination web pages to inform persons on how to file complaints of discrimination directly to the Office for Civil Rights, including complaints of sexual harassment. The Office for Civil Rights has also incorporated information about Title IX rights and obligations in outreach material used on university campuses, including information addressing sexual harassment.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity to assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination—including sexual harassment—and communicating to individuals on agency-funded grants the option to notify the agency of these concerns, outside of the Title IX complaint process. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity (OCRD) will evaluate the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of discrimination, including sexual harassment, outside of the Title IX complaint process described in DOE's Title IX regulations, as well as communicating this option to individuals on DOE funded grants. The estimated completion date is December 31, 2020.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NASA should assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination—including sexual harassment—and communicating to individuals on agency-funded grants the option to notify the agency of these concerns, outside of the Title IX complaint process. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA agreed with the recommendation. According to the agency's February 2020 formal comment letter, NASA plans to assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination and harassment and communicating to individuals on agency-funded grants the option to notify the agency of these concerns. In conducting the feasibility assessment, NASA will benchmark with agencies that currently have the capability to receive and review concerns of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment. NASA will also examine internal resources to ensure successful implementation. NASA estimates completion by September 20, 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture should direct the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights to assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination—including sexual harassment—and communicating to individuals on agency-funded grants the option to notify the agency of these concerns, outside of the Title IX complaint process. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA agreed with this recommendation. According to the department's March 2020 formal comment letter, USDA is to direct the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) to assess the feasibility of receiving and reviewing concerns of sex discrimination (including sexual harassment) and including language in agency-funded grants on the option to notify the agency of harassment issues outside of the Title IX complaint process. The Office of the Mission Area Liaison within OASCR will assess the feasibility of creating a tracking system to capture inquiries and concerns outside of the Title IX complaint process. If feasible, the system will serve as a risk assessment tool to identify issues, potential violations, trends, risks, and areas prime for focused compliance review, according to USDA's formal comment letter.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services should direct the Director for the Office for Civil Rights and the Director of NIH to develop and implement formal procedures for sharing relevant information about Title IX (compliance reviews, violations, and complaints) and sex discrimination concerns, including sexual harassment. For example, HHS components should internally share information regarding findings of Title IX violations, concerns of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and Title IX compliance review reports. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that the Office for Civil Rights and NIH will review the current procedure for sharing information, and development and implement (as necessary) formal procedures for sharing relevant information about Title IX and sexual harassment concerns. Furthermore, an action plan to address the recommendation will be provided in the department's 180-day letter response to Congress.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should establish goals and an overall plan to assess all of the agency's sexual harassment prevention efforts for their university grantees, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate its sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms (e.g. Title IX or sex discrimination websites). (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Energy: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity will conduct research into best practices for harassment prevention efforts for university grantees and benchmark with other federal agencies. The estimated completion date for establishment of goals is January 31, 2021 and the estimated completion date for establishment of an overall plan is August 31, 2021.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services should establish goals and an overall plan to assess all of the agency's sexual harassment prevention efforts for their university grantees, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate its sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms (e.g. Title IX or sex discrimination websites). (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Office of the Secretary
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation. In its February 2020 formal comment letter, the department stated that NIH has created goals for all NIH grantee sexual harassment prevention efforts, as noted in GAO's report. NIH will develop a plan to assess progress towards achieving those goals, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate policies and communication methods. To the extent Title IX enforcement and outreach efforts may prevent sexual harassment, the Office for Civil Rights will develop a plan for leveraging enforcement efforts and outreach communications to help HHS grantees implement prevention efforts. HHS will submit an action plan that fully address department efforts regarding this recommendation in its 180-day letter response to Congress.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NASA should establish goals and an overall plan to assess all of the agency's sexual harassment prevention efforts for their university grantees, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate its sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms (e.g. Title IX or sex discrimination websites). (Recommendation 14)

Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NASA agreed with the recommendation. According to the agency's February 2020 formal comment letter, NASA accepts its responsibility to establish policies and communication mechanisms to help university grantees to prevent sexual harassment, and the agency is committed to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of these efforts. At the same time, NASA judges that the most effective way to discharge these responsibilities is to adopt the approach now being developed by the National Science and Technology Council. NASA will establish goals, plans, and methods pursuant to this recommendation by adopting the policies and approaches developed through the interagency process. The estimated completion is to be determined based on timelines and milestones established by the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Safe and Inclusive Research Environments Subcommittee Subcommittee.

Recommendation: The Director of NSF should establish goals and an overall plan to assess all of the agency's sexual harassment prevention efforts for their university grantees, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate its sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms (e.g. Title IX or sex discrimination websites). (Recommendation 15)

Agency: National Science Foundation
Status: Open

Comments: NSF agreed with the recommendation. According to the agency's February 2020 formal comment letter, NSF is embarking on an assessment process to improve its policies and practices continually in order to achieve the goal of safe and inclusive research environments.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture should establish goals and an overall plan to assess all of the agency's sexual harassment prevention efforts for their university grantees, including methods to regularly monitor and evaluate its sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms (e.g. Title IX or sex discrimination websites). (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Status: Open

Comments: USDA agreed with this recommendation. According to the department's March 2020 formal comment letter, USDA will consider developing language to include in university grantees' terms and conditions regarding allegations of sexual harassment. Additionally, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) will reach out to other agencies within the Title IX Quarterly Working Group to assess best practices for monitoring and evaluating sexual harassment prevention policies and communication mechanisms. Finally, USDA will increase its communication with university grantees and increase oversight through compliance reviews.

Recommendation: In consultation with DOE, HHS, NASA, NSF, and USDA, the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice should direct the responsible Civil Rights Division sections to fully adopt two federal interagency leading practices—agree on agency's roles and responsibilities and develop mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report results of collaborative efforts, for its Quarterly Title IX STEM discussion group. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of Justice: Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOJ generally agreed with the recommendation. According to the department's February 2020 formal comment letter, the Civil Rights Division (CRT) is prepared to delineate agencies' roles and responsibilities within the Quarterly Title IX STEM Discussion Group and is willing to develop an enhanced process for evaluating, monitoring, and reporting on the group's collaborations in enforcing Title IX that is achievable within DOJ's current resource allocation, or if more resources become available.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should fully include in the new policy for sexual harassment the principles in the Centers for Disease Control's framework for sexual violence prevention, including risk and protective factors, risk domains, and tertiary strategies. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: In written comments on the draft report, DOD concurred with this recommendation. In April 2020, officials with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness stated that development of a new sexual harassment prevention strategy was complete and going through DOD's internal review process. The officials stated that the Undersecretary's review and approval of the assessment report will be complete before the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2020. We will continue to monitor DOD's efforts and update the status of this recommendation as more information becomes available.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness to incorporate in its continuum of harm prevention strategy all the elements that are key for establishing a long-term, results-oriented strategic planning framework. The elements are (1) a mission statement, (2) long-term goals, (3) strategies to achieve goals, (4) external factors that could affect goals, (5) use of metrics to gauge progress, and (6) evaluations of the plan to monitor goals and objectives. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: In written comments on the draft report, DOD concurred with this recommendation. According to officials with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, development of a new sexual harassment prevention strategy is complete and the strategy is going through DOD's internal review process. Additionally, a Defense Equal Opportunity Reform Group assessment report containing a review of the department's efforts to prevent sexual harassment was also submitted to the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. The official's stated that the Undersecretary's review and approval of both the new strategy and assessment report should be completed by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2020. We will continue to monitor DOD's efforts to address this recommendation and will update its status when more information becomes available.