Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
- Issuer
- Inspector general and oversight reports
- Document type
- Report
- Date
- 2025-09-02
- Case
- Report Prac Blueprint Enhanced Program Integrity Chapter 5 2025 09 02
Summary
Chapter 5 of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee's Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity, dated September 2025, sets out lessons learned and best practices from cross-cutting projects in which several Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) worked together on COVID-19 oversight of more than $5 trillion in federal pandemic funding. It states that the chapter draws on group interviews with OIGs that led or took part in six cross-cutting projects. The chapter describes three types of products (new work, derivative or summary work, and guides and resources) and gives tips for the vision, planning, execution and reporting of a project, including surveys, attestation forms, templates and fact-checks. Appendix 5-A lists pandemic-related cross-cutting products with issue dates, type, lead OIG and participating OIGs.
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PANDEMIC RESPONSE
ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE
Blueprint for Enhanced
Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
September 2025
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting
Projects
Executive Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic required oversight entities to coordinate and work together in new ways
to oversee more than $5 trillion in federal pandemic funding. In this chapter, we share lessons
learned and best practices from teams across the Office of Inspector General (OIG) community
who collaborated on work related to COVID oversight activities. Staff from more than one OIG with
experience conducting audits, evaluations, and inspections participated in projects addressing high-
priority issues impacting multiple federal agencies. The projects generally have four main phases:
vision, planning, execution, and reporting. The goal of this chapter is to help guide OIGs on future
cross-cutting projects.
How We Developed the Chapter
We conducted group interviews with OIGs that had led or participated in six cross-cutting projects.
The goal was to identify insights, best practices, and lessons learned in conducting joint oversight
work. The interviews focused on vision, planning, timelines, quality assurance, and internal and
external communications for each project. We also reviewed internal feedback that OIGs provided
during or immediately after the project was completed.
This chapter is designed to provide tips and insights that OIG teams should consider as they
conduct cross-cutting projects, keeping flexibility and adaptability in mind. We define “OIG team” as
the group of OIGs that participated in a project, and the “lead OIG” as the OIG team that primarily
coordinated the logistics for a project.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 1
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
What is a Cross-cutting Project
Cross-cutting projects bring together staff from various OIGs, with one OIG typically designated as
the project lead. The projects provide an opportunity to present a whole-of-government perspective
on issues affecting policies and programs across the federal government. See Appendix A for a list
of cross-cutting projects.
In general, projects result in three types of products:
1. New Work: Each OIG gathers and analyzes its own agency’s data, and a lead OIG consolidates
the analyses into a single report. In general, the report is organized around a common theme or
program to identify key insights or takeaways across agencies or programs. OIGs can also publish
the results of their work in traditional reports/products. For example:
Pandemic Relief Experiences: A Focus on Six Communities.
Review of Personnel Shortages in Federal Health Care Programs During the COVID-19
Pandemic.
Insights on Telehealth Use and Program Integrity Risks Across Selected Health Care Programs
During the Pandemic.
2. Derivative or Summary Work: OIG teams summarize work previously published by OIGs to
identify key insights or themes across agencies or programs. For example:
Key Insights: Identity Fraud Reduction and Redress in Pandemic Response Programs.
Key Insights: State Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Programs.
Key Insights: COVID-19 in Correctional and Detention Facilities.
3. Guides and Resources: OIG teams identify and review various types of products across the
oversight community. These projects provide reference materials that capture lessons learned and
best practices when conducting oversight work. For example:
Agile Oversight in a Time of Crisis: Lessons Learned and Best Practices in Conducting Oversight
during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Agile Products Toolkit.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 2
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Why Cross-Cutting Projects
This type of work comes with complexities, yet it has rewarding possibilities. Projects can be
complicated, take longer than anticipated, and usually fall outside of the “normal” oversight plans
prepared by OIGs each year. Nevertheless, benefits outweigh challenges.
Cross-cutting projects:
• Provide holistic oversight of issues
affecting various agencies and their To hear more about cross-cutting projects,
programs. visit these OIG links:
• Identify trends or patterns of fraudulent Department of Veteran’s Affairs OIG.
activities occurring across different VA OIG Team Reflects on PRAC Healthcare
programs. Subgroup Work
• Offer an opportunity to learn from Department of Health and Human Services OIG.
other OIGs about activities that may Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons
help improve their own OIG’s internal Learned by IGs
processes and procedures.
• Provide new insights to the OIG
community, Congress, and the public.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 3
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Conducting Cross-Cutting
Projects
The main phases of a cross-cutting project—vision, planning, execution, and reporting—provide a
structured roadmap for navigating complexity, promoting accountability, and driving meaningful
outcomes. Together, they help project teams stay aligned, adapt to evolving needs, and increase the
likelihood of successful implementation. The following sections explore each phase in detail.
Vision
Vision Planning Execution Reporting
The key first step in conducting a joint oversight project is establishing the project’s vision, which
includes defining the project’s goals, identifying who will be involved, and gaining buy-in from OIG
senior leadership.
Defining project goals
• Determine the topics of interest that cut across departments and explore the feasibility of
doing the work.
• Use surveys to canvas a group of OIGs on
the areas that they are concerned about Surveys:
in their programs; available data related
When working with various OIGs, an initial short
to the program, including access to and
survey is helpful to identify common challenges
quality of the data; and work they have or risk areas. The survey could include questions
done on the topic. about:
Identifying participating OIGs 1. Specific issues that are impacting a program,
such as identify fraud.
• Consider the diverse knowledge,
experience, and skills that each OIG can 2. Data needed, specifically data sources and
challenges accessing it, data quality, and
bring to the project, as well as the number
estimated time to conduct data analysis.
of participating OIGs to best support
project goals. 3. Planned, current, and completed work to help
inform project planning.
• Work together to designate a lead (or co-
leads) responsible for overall stewardship
of the project. The lead OIG can help keep
the project moving forward and coordinate
tasks and timelines.
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Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Supporting the vision
• Establish among OIG leadership a shared understanding of—and buy-in to—the project’s
vision. Building consensus and having strong leadership support from beginning to end
are essential to the project’s success and can help ensure flexibility and accommodate
differences throughout the project.
Planning
Vision Planning Execution Reporting
Planning how to execute the high-level vision and goals and what part each OIG will play is critical to
the success of the project. Thorough and thoughtful planning will pay dividends down the road.
Establish roles and responsibilities
• Consider differences in OIG staff’s expertise and availability to match roles and responsibilities
with project needs and expectations.
• Define each OIG’s responsibilities, including those of senior leadership and staff, to ensure
that all participants understand expectations. This clarity strengthens accountability across
the project.
Communicate regularly
• Promote project efficiency and effectiveness with frequent communication within the OIG
team.
• Ensure meetings, emails, shared documents, and the project timeline are accessible to all
participants.
• Use “office hours” to address ad hoc Office Hours:
questions or issues that OIG teams came
A standing day/time when the lead OIG team is
across during the project.
available for participating OIGs to drop in and ask
questions, discuss challenges, brainstorm potential
Determine standards, methodology, solutions, and share best practices.
and quality assurance
• Discuss standards, methodology, and
quality assurance early on can prevent delays later.
• Discuss and understand what standard each OIG will follow and the impact on project
expectations—CIGIE Blue Book or Silver Book, or the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Yellow Book.
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Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
• Identify the methodologies and quality assurance processes that each OIG plans to use when
collecting and analyzing data. This can help promote comparable results across OIGs and
facilitate summarizing data.
• Establish processes for maintaining records, evidence, and work papers in ways that meet the
agreed-upon standards.
• Develop an agreement, such as
an attestation form, describing the What is an Attestation:
standards that OIG teams will follow when
An attestation can document the methods that
conducting the project. an OIG used to conduct the project and could
include a description of the steps it took to verify
Develop the vision for the final product data quality. Each OIG signs an attestation for
• Develop a vision for what the final the project.
product will look like allows each OIG to
understand what will be required during
the execution and reporting phases.
• Identify a “style guide” or standardized template that will be used for the product.
Balance standardization and flexibility
• Standardize reporting, such as presenting information uniformly across OIGs, can be a
challenge when doing joint work.
• Balance standardized reporting with flexibility to demonstrate the uniqueness of each OIG.
Consider scope, timelines, and staffing
• Determine the project’s scope and avoid increasing it as the project progresses, which could
lead to mission creep and strain on available resources.
• Set realistic timelines, factoring in coordination amongst multiple partner OIGs. Build flexibility
into the timeline and understand that setting a schedule that’s too tight can have negative
impacts later in the process.
• The number and capacity of staff participating from each OIG will dramatically impact the
scope and timeline of the project. Further, many OIGs continue their normal workload in
addition to conducting joint work. Teams should take stock of these resource considerations
early in the planning process to ensure OIGs have a reasonable share of responsibilities.
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Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Execution
Vision Planning Execution Reporting
Once the project team has finished planning, it’s time to execute the vision. Execution may
include collecting and analyzing data or identifying relevant work and scrutinizing for themes, best
practices, and lesson learned.
Collect and analyze data
• Templates can help save time when
collecting data and can ensure that What is a Template:
the data is gathered consistently and
Templates can be extremely helpful when planning
accurately. and executing the project. In some cases, the lead
• Flexibility and regular communication OIG provides templates for data collection, which
with the lead OIG are essential to address can help OIGs collect and report data consistently.
unexpected challenges that may arise.
• During data collection, problems with
the data may surface requiring communication with the lead OIG to determine what data is
necessary and what adjustments are needed.
Testing the data for completeness and accuracy
• Build in time to access or request data and to test it for reliability, accuracy, and completeness.
• Provide a forum for sharing data testing procedures, information technology tools, and
collectively addressing data challenges.
Ensuring consistent or comparable information within the team
• Conduct routine updates to the OIG team to ensure that information and data are accurate
and consistent across agencies.
• For derivative work, the lead OIG should confirm with the OIGs that themes and findings from
their published works are summarized and captured accurately.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 7
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Reporting
Vision Planning Execution Reporting
The reporting process for cross-cutting projects consists of several layers of leadership review to
ensure that the content is accurate and has sufficient evidence to support the findings, conclusions,
and recommendations. The process for preparing and issuing the final cross-cutting report falls into
three sections—consolidation, review, and rollout.
Consolidating report content
• Designate one OIG to lead the Project Management:
consolidation effort, which includes
With multiple OIGs working on a project
pulling all the report content into one simultaneously, version control can be a challenge.
document and reviewing the draft to A web-based project management platform—such
ensure consistency of tone and format. as SharePoint—can help manage the process as
it allows OIGs across departments to maintain,
• Use a report template to maintain
access, write, and edit documents or upload files in
consistency of content and structure one system.
across the OIGs.
• Include a summary or insights section
that brings together the work from all OIGs, keeping in mind the need to balance a collective
message and the unique aspects of each agency.
• Establish a process to diligently track and manage various versions of the report to maintain
the integrity of the report.
Reviewing the draft report
• Calculate review timelines based on OIGs Fact-Check and Referencing Review:
having different agency comment periods,
Reviews typically result in edits and different
which need to be de-conflicted and
iterations of a draft. To help ensure that all
aligned. statements are supported by evidence and that
• Plan for at least three “review” data are still accurate, each OIG conducts its
activities—reviewing each OIG’s content own fact-check and references each statement.
Similarly, the lead OIG conducts a fact-check of
submissions, reviewing the consolidated
any summary or aggregated information, including
draft report, and reviewing the final draft. charts, graphs, and other data visualizations.
• Vetting and reviewing drafts across
multiple OIGs can take a substantial
amount of time.
• Small changes to the report can unintentionally alter the accuracy of statements.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 8
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Rolling out the report
• Have one OIG post the report on Oversight.gov to avoid duplicate postings.
• Each OIG works with its communications office to broaden outreach and communication
activities with key stakeholders about the final product.
• Collaborate within the OIG team to maintain consistency of content and communication across
the OIGs, including social media and messaging to Congressional and external stakeholders. It
is helpful to assign a lead OIG to develop this content.
Conducting cross-cutting projects comes with its complexities, can be complicated, take longer than
anticipated, and usually fall outside of the “normal” oversight plans prepared by OIGs each year.
Nevertheless, the benefits of these projects outweigh the challenges.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 9
APPENDIX 5-A:
Examples of Pandemic-Related
Cross-Cutting Products
Report Issuance Type Lead OIG Participating OIGs
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and DOL, ED, HHS,
How It Was Used in Six U.S. Communities: January 2025 New PRAC HUD, Treasury,
Marion County, Georgia USDA
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and DOL, ED, HHS,
September
How It Was Used in Six U.S. Communities: New PRAC HUD, Treasury,
2024
Sheridan County, Nebraska USDA
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and DOL, DOT, ED,
How It Was Used in Six U.S. Communities: July 2024 New PRAC HHS, HUD,
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Treasury, USDA
A Review of Pandemic Relief Funding and DHS, DOL, DOT,
How It Was Used in Six U.S. Communities: May 2024 New PRAC ED, HHS, HUD,
Springfield, Massachusetts Treasury, USDA
Why Unemployment Insurance Fraud
April 2024 Derivative PRAC DOL
Surged During the Pandemic
DHS, DOI, DOT,
Pandemic Relief Experiences: A Focus on DOL, ED, HHS,
March 2024 New PRAC
Six Communities HUD, Treasury,
USDA
AmeriCorps,
Agile Oversight in a Time of Crisis:
CIGIE, DOD, DOI,
Lessons Learned and Best Practices in
March 2024 Tool/ Resource PRAC DOJ, DOJ, FDIC,
Conducting Oversight during the COVID-19
HUD, NASA, SBA,
Pandemic
USAID
Review of Personnel Shortages in DOD, DOJ, HHS,
September
Federal Health Care Programs During the New DOD VA
2023
COVID-19 Pandemic *PRAC-Supported
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 10
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Report Issuance Type Lead OIG Participating OIGs
DHS, DOI, DOT,
Tracking Pandemic Relief Funds that Went
DOL, ED, HHS,
to Local Communities Reveals Persistent July 2023 New PRAC
HUD, SBA,
Data Gaps and Data Reliability Issues
Treasury, USDA
Insights on Telehealth Use and Program DOD, DOJ, DOL,
December
Integrity Risks Across Selected Health New HHS OIG HHS, OPM, VA
2022
Care Programs During the Pandemic *PRAC-Supported
More Than $2.6 Million in Potentially
September
Fraudulent LWA Payments Were Linked to New DHS OIG DHS, DOL
2022
DHS Employees’ Identities
Risk Advisory: Potential Identity or Other September
New PRAC HUD, SBA
Fraud in SBA Pandemic Programs 2022
DOL, ED, GAO,
Key Insights: Identity Fraud Reduction and
June 2022 Derivative PRAC HHS, SBA, SSA,
Redress in Pandemic Response Programs
TIGTA, USPS, VA
Key Insights: State Pandemic December DOL (plus 16 state
Derivative PRAC
Unemployment Insurance Program 2021 audit entities)
Key Insights: COVID-19 Correctional and DHS, DOI, DOJ
May 2021 Derivative DOJ OIG
Detention Facilities *PRAC-Supported
Federal COVID-19 Testing Report: Data
DOD, DOJ, DOL,
Insights from Six Federal Health Care January 2021 New HHS OIG
HHS, OPM, VA
Programs
November DHS, DOE, FDIC,
Agile Products Toolkit Tool/ Resource PRAC
2020 SIGTARP, USAID
Note: This table does not include all cross-cutting products that have been issued by federal Offices of Inspectors General.
It highlights varied examples of different types of cross-cutting products related to pandemic funding.
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 11
APPENDIX 5-B:
Example of an Attestation
Template
In accordance with the Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation issued by the Council of
the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) [or insert applicable standard], the Office
of the Inspector General, [insert federal agency] (XXX OIG) has conducted its review of the data
submitted in support of [insert project name] and has determined that data are sufficiently reliable
for the purpose of a data brief and for display on the www.oversight.gov, or any of the participating
OIG websites. XXX OIG also provides reasonable assurance over the methods used to verify the
data sources and techniques used to collect, process, and report the data. XXX OIG has disclosed
additional information to be included in the Scope and Methodology section of the final [product
type].
Methods Used to Verify Data Sources
XXX OIG determined that the data from [insert system or systems used/source of data] are
generally reliable based upon the procedures performed relating to the [insert name of funds/
programs]. [Insert additional explanation to support or inform this statement.]
Methods Used to Verify Data
[Provide explanation about the steps completed by the OIG to verify/test the data used. This could
include normal systems testing of data that the OIG completes if this is a regular system it has
access to. This could include verification or corroboration of agency provided data. Etc.]
Known Data Limitations
[Most of the data limitations should be outlined in the Scope and Methodology section to be
submitted along with the data template. This section should include a high-level summary of
limitations, such as complete data was only available through June 30, 2021, or the agency does
not maintain data at the sub-recipient level so totals may not be complete.]
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 12
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
Chapter 5 Team
From the Department of Health and Human Services, OIG
Erin Bliss
Abby Amoroso
John Gordon
From the Department of Homeland Security OIG
Yesenia Starinsky
From the Export-Import Bank of the United States OIG
Ami Schaefer
From the PRAC
Sharon Smith
Jennifer Contreras
Alice Siempelkamp
Jarrett Fussell
Kirstyn Flood
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 13
Blueprint for Enhanced Program Integrity
Chapter 5: Cross-Cutting Projects
For more information:
Lisa Reijula
Associate Director of Outreach and Engagement, PRAC
Lisa.Reijula@cigie.gov
Visit us at:
PandemicOversight.gov
Follow us at:
Report Fraud, Waste, Abuse, or Misconduct:
To report allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or misconduct regarding
pandemic relief funds or programs please go to the PRAC website at
PandemicOversight.gov.
A Committee of the
Council of the Inspectors General
on Integrity and Efficiency
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee 14
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