Amid hiring surge, two VA agencies face employee background check deficiencies

Neither the Veterans Benefits Administration or the National Cemetery Administration effectively manages their personnel background check programs, according to a Veterans Affairs Department Office of Inspector General report published on Monday. 

“As a result of program deficiencies, both administrations assume unnecessary risk by allowing staff who are not fully vetted to handle sensitive personal information and interact with veterans for extended periods of time,” wrote Larry M. Reinkemeyer, the assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations, in the report 

Based on estimates of the number of new employees each agency hired in 2021 and 2022, the OIG created a statistical sample of 353 VBA employees and 47 NCA employees to analyze noncompliance with background check requirements. It found the following: 

• Two of the 353 individuals at VBA did not sufficiently complete employee questionnaires, which prevented their background checks from being initiated. Investigators wrote that “any uninitiated background investigation poses a risk that warrants further attention by VA senior leaders.” Ultimately, both investigations were completed, but only after alerts from the OIG and months after the fact.  
• Fifty-seven percent of checks for NCA employees were not started within 14 calendar days of their start dates, as required, compared to 2% for VBA employees. 
• After the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency completes a background investigation for a VBA or NCA employee, the administrations are supposed to adjudicate the investigation’s results — weighing favorable and any unfavorable information — within 90 days. However VBA did not do this in 71% of cases and NCA did not meet that requirement for 58% of employees. Among delayed investigations, the average time was 297 days for VBA and 264 days for NCA. 
• VBA officials did not maintain investigation documentation in personnel folders for 67% of employees, while NCA did not do this in 44% of cases. 

The OIG determined that these issues occurred because VBA and NCA prioritized prescreening new employees over adjudicating post-hire background investigation results. In doing so, this worsened backlogs and constrained oversight. 

VBA, in particular, increasingly focused on prescreening to expeditiously onboard employees in response to the hiring surge largely brought about by the 2022 PACT Act, which expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances. 

VA’s OIG initiated this review following reports in 2018 and 2023 that found deficiencies in the Veterans Health Administration’s employee background check system. 

Since that 2023 report, VA has implemented a program to inspect compliance with background check policy requirements and created a central platform for data from such investigations. 

With respect to the new report, the OIG recommended that VBA execute a compliance plan that the agency developed for its background check program and ensure that investigations are initiated and adjudicated within required timelines and that documentation is filed properly. For NCA, it suggested crafting a plan to oversee its background check system and evaluating program resources so that related requirements are being met. 

VA officials concurred with all of the recommendations.