Review of VA's Guidance on Protecting Religious Beliefs

In the report to accompany H. R. 2029, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2016, the House Appropriations Committee requested the Office of Inspector General (OIG) review VA’s guidance to ensure religious sensitivity. VA’s religious tolerance guidance generally aligned with Federal laws and included policies that provided reasonable assurance of ensuring sensitivity to the religious beliefs of veterans and their families, and employees at VA facilities. However, as of February 2016, VA was operating with eight policies governing the protection of religious beliefs that VA had not reviewed for recertification or rescission as required by VA policies. This included five from the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) and three from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Although our review did not find evidence that VA’s outdated guidance contributed to religious insensitivity, VA should have recertified or rescinded these eight policies. The length of time VA was past due in performing these actions ranged from about 14 months to approximately 22 years. VA had not updated these policies because NCA and VHA did not complete timely reviews to compensate for the time needed for drafting guidance and to obtain necessary staff concurrences. By updating guidance, VA will help mitigate future risks of religious insensitivity. We recommended the Interim Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs and the Under Secretary for Health recertify or rescind and replace religious tolerance guidance documents and develop mechanisms to ensure staff begin the process of updating guidance and compensate for the time needed to draft guidance and obtain staff concurrence. We also recommended the Under Secretary for Health provide a means to assist in obtaining timely concurrences. The Interim Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs and the Under Secretary for Health concurred with our recommendations and provided acceptable corrective action plans. We will monitor planned actions and follow up on their implementation.