Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action:
Program Year 2024 was an unusual year in that (1) key Agency staff members were on extended leave or resigned, (2) one of the program’s primary consultants took extended leave, and (3) the program experienced a major influx of stimulus fu...
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action:
Program Year 2024 was an unusual year in that (1) key Agency staff members were on extended leave or resigned, (2) one of the program’s primary consultants took extended leave, and (3) the program experienced a major influx of stimulus funds through separate awards that required separate management, coordination, and reporting. These exceptional circumstances slowed Agency staff’s ability to follow-up with subrecipients that had not submitted timely and accurate reports; subrecipient reports are necessary to submitting accurate and fully responsive federal reports.
To help minimize the likelihood of future late submissions, the following control procedures will be established and implemented:
• Prepare and transmit a comprehensive schedule of reports and respective due dates to subrecipients at the beginning of each program year; this schedule will be included in the Program Operations Manual.
• Feature reporting and associated compliance requirements as a regular topic during annual training activities
• Create a shared electronic, internal Agency calendar with reminders for initial, intermediate, and final due dates for report information
• If necessary, upload report information in stages to federal reporting database to ensure submission deadlines are met.
• Assign responsibility to a staff member to oversee the data collection process, review collected data for accuracy and consistency and, if necessary, provide technical assistance to subrecipients that need help preparing accurate reporting.
Anticipated Completion Date: June 15, 2025
Contact Person: Iris Pennington
Home Utilities Assistance Manager
Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment
5301 Northshore Drive
North Little Rock, AR 72118
(501) 682-0842
Iris.Pennington@arkansas.gov