Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (2501 Program) in Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019
Report Information
Recommendations
Develop and implement pre-screening controls, such as an eligibility review checklist, to ensure eligibility requirements are verified by OPPE personnel before applications are submitted to the independent review panel for review.
Modify the independent review panel score sheet to include questions that evaluate an applicant’s eligibility. Require the independent review panel to document its conclusions on the score sheet.
Develop and implement pre-screening controls to ensure all SAM checks are conducted and documented.
Provide training on the new controls established in Recommendations 1–3.
Develop and implement oversight controls, such as supervisory reviews of score sheets, to evaluate the performance of the independent review panel to ensure guidance OPPE established to score and rank applications is followed.