"VA’s Fiduciary Program has policies in place that are intended to ensure that qualified fiduciaries are selected and regularly monitored; however, insufficient staff compliance with some policies and weaknesses in others hinder VA’s ability to safeguard veterans’ benefits. For example, VA was late in conducting required follow-up visits to monitor fiduciaries or provided insufficient documentation to show whether these visits were conducted in about 18 percent of the cases GAO reviewed. In addition, while GAO estimated that nearly 40 percent of fiduciaries who were required to submit financial reports to demonstrate how beneficiary funds are managed turned their reports in late, VA did not always take actions to obtain them on time or provide documentation that an attempt had been made, as required by VA policy. GAO also found that files did not always contain documentation that a bond was secured when required to safeguard beneficiary estates or that the requirement was waived. Fiduciary Program managers and staff said that they did not always comply with VA policies due, in part, to a lack of time, resources, and staff. In addition, VA’s policies for conducting on-site reviews of professional fiduciaries who manage funds for multiple beneficiaries do not ensure these fiduciaries are effectively identified and monitored. For example, VA’s policy may not ensure that all fiduciaries who need to be reviewed are identified because the agency’s policy allows the use of the fiduciary’s name— which may be entered inconsistently—to match them to beneficiaries rather than requiring a unique identifier, such as a Social Security number. Moreover, VA does not have a nationwide quality review process to ensure that these reviews are conducted properly and consistently.

GAO also found that files did not always contain documentation that a bond was secured when required to safeguard beneficiary estates or that the requirement was waived. Fiduciary Program managers and staff said that they did not always comply with VA policies due, in part, to a lack of time, resources, and staff. In addition, VA’s policies for conducting on-site reviews of professional fiduciaries who manage funds for multiple beneficiaries do not ensure these fiduciaries are effectively identified and monitored. For example, VA’s policy may not ensure that all fiduciaries who need to be reviewed are identified because the agency’s policy allows the use of the fiduciary’s name—which may be entered inconsistently—to match them to beneficiaries rather than requiring a unique identifier, such as a Social Security number."