The VA’s controls are “not effective to prevent” potential improper destruction of documents related to veterans’ benefits claims, an IG report has said.
The report is a followup to one issued last year in which the IG found that one regional office was not following policy on the management of paper records, although it could not confirm allegations that the office staff inappropriately shredded claims-related documents. The IG then conducted unannounced inspections at 10 other regional offices to determine whether document control was a systemic weakness; they answered in the affirmative.
Auditors identified 69 of 155 claims-related documents improperly scheduled for destruction, which staff had not properly associated with veterans’ claims folders. Two of those documents affected benefits and nine others had the potential to do so—while the rest did not affect benefits, they were required to be included in the claims folders of the VA’s electronic systems, it said.
Both management and staff found the policies confusing and not all received annual training as required, it added, and records management staff did not consistently review documents or maintain violations logs. “These actions put documents at risk for inappropriate destruction, which could result in loss of claims and medical evidence, incorrect decisions, and delays in claims processing,” it said.
The report said management was responsive to its recommendations.
