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Adoption Tax Credit: IRS Needs a Comprehensive Educational Outreach Plan
GAO-25-107429
Aug 11, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the Acting Chief of Communications and Liaison and the Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer to develop a comprehensive educational outreach plan for the adoption tax credit that aligns with our Leading Practices for Consumer Education Planning, including identifying key stakeholders and developing clear, consistent messaging. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In September 2025, IRS officials stated that they are drafting a comprehensive educational outreach plan for the adoption tax credit. Officials expected to complete the plan by November 2025 in advance of the 2026 filing season. An educational outreach plan for the adoption tax credit would help IRS ensure that adoptive families know about the credit, their eligibility, and other requirements, as well as help taxpayers avoid costly mistakes in either failing to claim the credit or doing so inappropriately. Such a plan is particularly important in light of changes to the credit that were enacted in July 2025.

Whistleblowers: VA Should Assess Data and Monitor Settlement Agreements to Better Ensure Protections
GAO-25-106780
Jul 31, 2025
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that OAWP consistently collects information on corrective actions VA takes on behalf of whistleblowers during the whistleblower retaliation investigation process. (Recommendation 1)
Open
VA agreed with this recommendation. OAWP plans to modify its tracking system and its standard operating procedures to collect and document any corrective actions taken for the whistleblower before a retaliation investigation is completed. Additionally, VA told us OAWP has drafted a revised directive that would require management to respond to non-disciplinary recommendations and other corrective actions, allowing OAWP to track all corrective actions. We await further progress on these efforts.
Office of Special Counsel The Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel should coordinate with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that VA whistleblower retaliation settlement agreements that arise from cases filed with OSC are accurately tracked. (Recommendation 2)
Open
OSC disagreed with this recommendation. OSC stated that exchanging settlement information with VA would place an administrative burden on its small staff, without clear benefit to the agency's effectiveness in addressing whistleblower retaliation. OSC also noted that it is not a data collection or data management agency. We maintain, however, that OSC could enhance the value of the data it already collects for its regular operations by using existing coordination meetings with VA to incorporate information-sharing on settlement agreement tracking. OSC also expressed concern that adopting this recommendation could lead to broader requests for reciprocal data-sharing across agencies. However, our report noted that VA accounts for a significant proportion of OSC's caseload. Also, OSC identified 90 relevant VA whistleblower retaliation settlement agreements from FY19-FY23. However, this did not include 11 additional agreements from FY19-FY23 that OAWP identified as settled. This discrepancy underscores the potential benefit of the improved agency collaboration we recommend.
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should coordinate with the Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel to ensure that VA whistleblower retaliation settlement agreements that arise from cases filed with OSC are accurately tracked. (Recommendation 3)
Open
VA agreed with this recommendation. VA stated that OAWP has drafted a revised directive that would require management to respond to non-disciplinary recommendations and other corrective actions, allowing OAWP to track all corrective actions. We will consider closing this recommendation when this effort is complete.
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that OAWP is delegated the authority to monitor and then monitors whistleblower retaliation settlement agreement implementation, including tracking of relevant settlement agreement data. (Recommendation 4)
Open
VA agreed with this recommendation. The agency expressed willingness to work with OSC on negotiating a memorandum of agreement to enable secure data sharing about settlements and for its Office of General Counsel and OAWP to prepare appropriate documentation from the Secretary of VA for OAWP to monitor settlement implementation. VA also noted that OAWP has already updated its tracking to track all relevant settlement agreement data, including both agency and complainant obligations. We await further progress on these efforts.

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. As of June 2025, HHS anticipates implementing this recommendation in fiscal year 2026.
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