Information Resource Management Internal Control Issues
Highlights
In a recently completed report for Congress, we evaluated how the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) makes eligibility determinations for its rural housing programs. As part of that review, we used 2000 census data to determine the populations of the rural areas that received RHS housing program loans and grants. We obtained information on the RHS loans and grants provided to communities, from October 1998 through April 2004, from databases maintained by USDA's Information Resource Management (IRM) in St. Louis, Missouri. As with any system, the accuracy of the data and the process used for entry affects reliability and usefulness for management and reporting purposes. During our review, we identified several issues that raised concerns about the accuracy of the information in the IRM databases. For example, while we originally intended to geocode (that is, match) 5 years of the national RHS housing loan and grant portfolio to specific communities, the time needed to ensure the reliability of the data required us to limit much of our analysis to five states (Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ohio). This report is a follow-up on our report to Congress, and its purpose is to discuss the implications of the data issues for the management and reporting functions of the Administrator, Rural Housing Service. In this report, we describe (1) the types of inaccuracies we encountered with the RHS data and (2) what, if any, reviews and systems controls are in place to detect or control database errors.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Rural Housing Service | To improve data entry and accuracy and, in turn, better ensure accurate internal reporting and reporting to Congress, the Administrator, RHS, should issue an Administrative Notice to field management and staff explaining how data are used for management and reporting purposes and advising them of the need to establish a second-party review to help ensure that data in the three IRM databases are accurate and complete. |
Closed – Implemented
On August 24, 2005, the RHS Administrator issued a memo to all State Directors on entering accurate address into its 3 database systems. The memo states that based on a recent audit by the Government Accountability Office and an analysis by Rural Development staff, it was found that a portion of the addresses in the 3 systems contain inaccurate or incomplete property addresses and are not able to be geocoded and accurately mapped. He wrote that it is imperative that address information be entered in the systems accurately, completely, and uniformly so that Rural Development has precise address information in its loan and grant databases. He specified that his memo was primarily concerned with entering new addresses into the 3 production systems. He also specified that all new property addresses must first be verified at a specific website as a second party verification method to help ensure data integrity in the 3 databases.
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| Rural Housing Service | To improve data entry and accuracy and, in turn, better ensure accurate internal reporting and reporting to Congress, the Administrator, RHS, should require that each state office correct errors in existing information. |
Closed – Implemented
In April 2006, RHS reported that it was in the process of upgrading the 3 data systems to automatically verify the property addresses when they are entered into the system. RHS's Deputy Administrator for Single Family Housing wrote that the system enhancement will geocode every address as it is entered or updated in the systems and provide the user with the geo-coding results and that the user could then use the geo-coding information to modify or correct the address originally entered if there is a discrepancy. In August 2006, RHS reported that 2 of the 3 systems were in operation and could geocode over 99 percent of the properties to at least the 5 digit zip code, The 3rd system was completed in the Fall of 2006.
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| Rural Housing Service | To improve data entry and accuracy and, in turn, better ensure accurate internal reporting and reporting to Congress, the Administrator, RHS, should take corrective action to ensure that system edit functions are in place and properly functioning. |
Closed – Implemented
In April 2006, RHS reported that it was in the process of upgrading the 3 data systems to automatically verify the property addresses when they are entered into the system. RHS's Deputy Administrator for Single Family Housing wrote that the system enhancement will geocode every address as it is entered or updated in the systems and provide the user with the geo-coding results and that the user could then use the geo-coding information to modify or correct the address originally entered if there is a discrepancy. In August 2006, RHS reported that 2 of the 3 systems were in operation and could geocode over 99 percent of the properties to at least the 5 digit zip code, The 3rd system was completed in the fall of 2006. RHS has now implemented edit functions for its systems whereby system users get an error message if an exact match is not found for the address entered. Users can then use the information provided to correct the address entered or research the address to obtain the accurate address, thereby improving system accuracy.
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