Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Office of Inspector General:Cooperative Audit Resolution and Oversight Initiative

Cooperative Audit Resolution and Oversight Initiative (CAROI) at a Glance

The Cooperative Audit Resolution and Oversight Initiative (CAROI) provides today’s government officials with a concrete tool to improve programs and address fiscal and programmatic challenges. CAROI can play a pivotal role in preventing and resolving audit findings and oversight issues. It can also contribute to the success of some of government’s most significant initiatives. For example, it can help monitor spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), promote “open government” and help reduce improper payments. With traditional, paper-driven processes, audits with questioned costs are often subject to lengthy legal battles that can result in negative outcomes while yielding insignificant monetary recoveries. In addition, the causes of the audit findings are frequently not subject to corrective action. As a result, subsequent audit reports repeatedly identify the same issues. Programs suffer when findings are not resolved. CAROI is a tool for achieving: 1) alternative and creative approaches to resolving oversight findings1 and their underlying causes and 2) greater success in attaining program goals at all levels of government through the constructive use of monitoring and technical assistance (i.e., oversight activities).

CAROI Goals and Principles

Four Goals of CAROI

  • Create and maintain a dialogue
  • Resolve audits/oversight findings cooperatively
  • Improve audits
  • Coordinate audits, monitoring, and technical assistance activities

Six CAROI Principles

  • Facilitate the resolution of oversight findings
  • Improve communications
  • Foster collaboration
  • Promote trust
  • Develop understanding
  • Enhance performance

The OIG instituted CAROI as a pilot program in FY-2013 with great success. OIG has implemented CAROI as a formal process in FY-2016. To learn more about CAROI please visit the following resources:

Guide to Improving Program Performance and Accountability Through Cooperative Audit Resolution and Oversight Initiative

CAROI's Discovering New Solutions Through Cooperative Audit Resolution