Through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) provides services to 574 federally recognized tribes with a population of about 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The DOI also has responsibilities for the protection of 56 million surface acres of Indian trust land and provides education services to 41,051 students in 183 Indian Country schools and dormitories.
Our work has found that weaknesses in oversight leave federally funded programs intended to benefit Native Americans susceptible to fraud, waste, mismanagement, and abuse. Fraud and mismanagement divert funds from those in need. We will focus on preventing and detecting mismanagement of funding intended to benefit Native Americans.
Our work has also found that poor and unsafe physical or security conditions at schools for Indian children jeopardizes the safety of students and staff and could reduce the students’ ability to learn. The problems persist despite repeat audit and investigative findings. We prioritize conducting reviews that can identify problems and lead to improvements in the safety conditions in Indian schools.