The Census Bureau Did Not Effectively Manage and Monitor Contractor Performance for Paid Advertising in the 2020 Census Integrated Communications Contract

The U.S. Census Bureau awarded the 2020 Census Integrated Communications Contract (ICC) in August 2016 as part of a campaign to raise awareness and encourage response during the 2020 census. Our audit objective was to determine whether the bureau effectively managed selected ICC task orders to ensure desired outcomes were achieved. We focused on four task orders, totaling $436.5 million, related to strategy, planning, and execution of the ICC’s paid advertising component. Overall, we found the bureau did not properly administer the contract or monitor the contractor’s performance in compliance with federal and departmental regulations and policies. I. Contracting officials did not ensure that the task orders included the required performance standards for the contractor or the methods for assessing the contractor’s performance against the standards. II. They also did not follow contract procedures for the plan used to evaluate the quality of the contractor’s performance. III. Finally, they did not maintain supporting documentation for paid media invoices totaling $363 million. As a result, the bureau could not ensure that the contractor complied with contractual requirements and could have accepted substandard performance, potentially wasting millions of taxpayer dollars. In particular, the $363 million in payments for media services represent unsupported costs. We issued six recommendations to the Census Bureau Director to improve the administration and execution of contracts and task orders, including specifying performance standards, preparing the required quality plans, and maintaining required documentation.