The following are summaries of news transmitted to RRC subscribers this month in email issues, the date of which is indicated in parentheses following each item. Weekly email and monthly print issues of RRC are archived on your subscriber-only website. Please call 888.580.8373 or email service@hcca-info.org if you require a password to access RRC’s subscriber-only website or are not receiving weekly email issues of the newsletter.

◆ In the first analysis of its kind, a federalwide organization of inspectors general has identified seven “top management performance and management challenges” plaguing federal agencies, based on a review of 2017 IG reports. Grant management is among the challenges, along with information technology security and management, financial management, and procurement management, according to the report by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency issued on April 18. Grant management challenges are “related to the process used by federal agencies to award, monitor, and assess the success of grants. Deficiencies in any of these areas can lead to misspent funds and ineffective programs.” The report noted the following “key areas of concern” among agencies: “ensuring grant investments achieve intended results, overseeing the use of grant funds, and obtaining timely and accurate financial and performance information from grantees.” (4/19/18)

◆ Three baboons who “breached perimeter fencing” surrounding Southwest National Primate Research Center, operated by the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, were safely recaptured “20-30 minutes after leaving their enclosure,” Texas Biomed announced on April 16, two days after the incident. A total of four baboons “rolled a 55-gallon barrel to an upright position” and climbed on top, and three managed to escape the property entirely, a situation the statement termed “unique” in the program’s 50-year history with baboons. According to the statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture “reviewed” the use of the “barrels as an enrichment tool used to help mimic foraging behaviors…during their last inspection and found [them] to be a valuable component of the enrichment program.” The statement did not indicate when barrels had been added to the program, but said they were “immediately removed” after the escape. The four are among approximately 1,100 baboons on the property, Texas Biomed said. (4/19/18)