The DOI OIG created the Recovery Oversight Office (ROO) to ensure accountability of funds received by DOI under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. ROO will take a three-pronged approach of prevention, detection, and reporting. Our efforts will focus on: preventing fraud, waste, and mismanagement of recovery and reinvestment dollars; reducing the impact of such misuse when it does occur; and ensuring transparency in our oversight efforts.

ROO is headed by the Assistant Inspector General who manages and coordinates the OIG's oversight strategies and activities. ROO is comprised of a multi-faceted staff of auditors, evaluators, investigators, and analysts. Click here to view the ROO work plan.

Prevention

To assist the DOI in preventing fraud, waste, and mismanagement, ROO will:

1. Deliver technical assistance through education and fraud awareness training to DOI and its bureaus on contract and financial assistance fraud;
2. Review and help to improve the quality of single audit reporting by delivering education to auditors who perform single audits; performing quality control reviews of single audits with an emphasis on ARRA funds; ensuring non-compliance is fully reported; and posting the results on the OIG web site and Recovery.gov, as appropriate;
3. Liaison with DOI, including consulting on performance management, accountability, and internal controls assessments for grants and loans;
4. Serve as a conduit of information to DOI on best practices and lessons learned on activities performed under ARRA;
5. Review complaints from the OIG Hotline and other sources; and
6. Place emphasis on ensuring diligent oversight of high-risk bureaus, areas, and programs.

Detection

To assist the DOI in detecting fraud, waste, and mismanagement, ROO will:

1. Perform Critical Point Evaluations (CPEs), which are limited scope reviews of planned or ongoing major projects or initiatives to identify potential problems before the results of such problems are realized. We will conduct a CPE on the Department and each bureau;
2. CPEs will cover areas such as: project selection, governance structures for Department and Bureau oversight of ARRA expenditures, sufficiency of internal controls, contract and financial assistance awards and administration of those awards, project outcomes, and risk management plans;
3. Perform periodic monitoring of contracting database and other forensic analysis for suspicious and irregular activity;
4. Collaborate with the DOI OIG Hotline staff to identify suspicious activity related to ARRA funds; and
5. Perform proactive initiatives such as site inspections of buying, awarding, and performance locations and testing of data integrity in systems reporting on ARRA spending.

Reporting

To ensure Congress, the Administration, the Department, and the public are aware of any findings, ROO will make reports available to the public, provided the information is not legally restricted.

ROO will report findings in the form of:

Investigative Memoranda and Reports: Memoranda and reports issued in response to Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board inquiries/referrals or which transmit investigative communications and findings.
Advisories: A report describing our findings and observations/recommendations about a particular review area that is published on the Recovery Oversight Office Web site and Recovery.gov.
Discrepancy Reports: A report typically transmitted by email regarding some issue of noncompliance we discovered about a practice or process under review. Discrepancy reports do not include recommendations and are not published.
Semiannual Reports: An OIG-wide report required by law that summarizes OIG efforts (audits, investigations, evaluations, and inspections) conducted during the preceding 6 months. This report is provided to Congress and is published on the OIG Web site.
Financial Reports: As required by the Recovery Act, we provide information regarding our expenditure of funds to Recovery.gov.