Summary: Through its social services program, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offers assistance to individual Indians and tribes. GAO found that two of these services, involving payments for welfare and the burial of indigents, are plagued by unjustified, improper, and inconsistent payments and are ripe for fraud and waste. These problems stem from weak internal controls--some as basic as inadequate supervision, failure to separate employee duties, and poor computer security. Similar problems have been repeatedly identified in BIA's social services program for more than a decade. The long-standing nature of internal control weaknesses and ineffective BIA efforts in the past to correct them indicate that an overall management commitment at all levels will be needed if an effective system of controls is to be established. Recent congressional initiatives to address persistent accounting and internal control weaknesses in BIA's management of Indian trust funds and the Office of Audit and Evaluation will need management support at all levels if these initiatives are to succeed. To ensure full management support, increased congressional oversight may be warranted.
