Corrective Action Plans

Department of Education, United States Department of Agriculture, Federal Aviation Administration 2023-004 R&D Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.334, 10.001, 20.109 Condition: MSU established a micro-purchase threshold of $75,000 for contracted services and was not able to provide documentation to support this threshold. Recommendation: We recommend the institution review and revise their current procurement policy and review requirements to ensure that their policy is meeting Federal requirements. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Mississippi State University will make corrections to the Procurement and Contracts Manual to ensure compliance with 2 CFR 200.320. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Jennifer Mayfield, Director of Procurement and Contracts and Jonathan Tucker, Director Sponsored Programs Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2024 If the Department of Education, United States Department of Agriculture, or Federal Aviation Administration has questions regarding this plan, please call Jonathan Tucker at 662-325-1930.

Department of Health and Human Services 2023-003 SEFA Reporting – Recording Expenses in the Correct Period – Assistance Listing No. 93.211 Condition: Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) contained expenses that were not allowable. Auditors’ Recommendation: We recommend the institutions review and revise its current reporting procedures and review requirements to ensure that federal expenditures are properly identified, recorded, and classified in the accurate year. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: During a reconciliation of the project, Post-Award Accounting identified $1,175 in salary that should not have been recorded to the grant. These expenses were not reported to the sponsor, nor were they invoiced. However, expenditures were not removed from the grant fund promptly. To address this finding, campus grant administrators will be provided with a deadline to remove unallowable expenditures. If the expenditures are not removed according to this deadline, the responsible departmental chair or dean will be notified of the non-compliance until the expenditure is removed. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Julie Schwindt, Director, Post-Award Accounting Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2024. If the Department of Health and Human Services has questions regarding this plan, please call Julie Schwindt at 601-984-1058.

Department of Education 2023-002 Title I, Special Education Grants to States, Career and Technical Education – Assistance Listing No. 84.010, 84.027, 84.048 Condition: The Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) contained errors and incorrect information which affected the major program determination. Auditors' Recommendation: We recommend the institution review and revise its current reporting procedures and review requirements to ensure that federal expenditures are properly identified and classified. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Mississippi State University will review and revise its current reporting procedures related to awards reflecting multiple ALNs and sources of funding. The Office of Sponsored Projects and Sponsored Programs Accounting will collaborate, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure federal expenditures are properly identified and classified for reporting on the Schedule of Federal Expenditures. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Kacey Strickland, Executive Director for Research Administration and Jonathan Tucker, Director of Sponsored Programs Accounting Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2024 If the Department of Education has questions regarding this plan, please call Jonathan Tucker at 662-325-1930

Department of Health and Human Services 2023-001 R&D Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 93.680, 93.084, 93.059 Condition: The Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) contained errors and incorrect information which affected the major program determination. Auditors’ Recommendation: We recommend the institution review and revise its current reporting procedures and review requirements to ensure that federal expenditures are properly identified and classified. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: The Director of Post-Award Accounting, hired in November 2022, continues to review sponsored award procedures, including procedures and reports integral to our ERP system, Workday. These ongoing reviews will not only include the expenditure amounts reported for sponsored award on the SEFA but will also include the accuracy of other agreement terms and conditions that contribute to the SEFA preparation. A management review process has been implemented to further review agreement terms captured within the Workday ERP system. This additional management review takes place at the time of new award set-up when the manager reviews the new award attributes in Workday for accuracy and alignment to the notice of award document. Additionally, all existing awards, previously established within Workday, are being reviewed to ensure agreement terms are accurately recorded within Workday. UMMC is engaging a Workday Certified consulting firm to review the operational efficiency of Workday for Post-Award Accounting. The scope of this engagement will be to align our usage of Workday to industry best practices, including best practices for award set-up, management, and reporting. The scope of work is expected to be completed by December 31, 2024; however, our own internal reviews of data integrity will be completed by June 30, 2024, with any necessary corrections reflected in Workday. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Julie Schwindt, Director, Post-Award Accounting Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2024 If the Department of Health and Human Services has questions regarding this plan, please call Julie Schwindt at 601-984-1058.

Finding 2023-003 – Material Weakness AL No: 20.507 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Transit Formula Grants - Direct Award Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles. Condition: The District’s internal controls over compliance requirements did not identify ineligible costs applied to four separate Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants as follows. • Section 5307 Grant Award CA-2020-173-01: The District overclaimed Route 42 and Woodland fixed route operating expenses that should have been reimbursed by a local match as required by other FTA grants applied to the same routes, resulting in ineligible costs of $1,073,260 being charged to the program. Questioned Costs: $1,073,260. • Section 5307 Grant Award CA-2022-140-01: The District overclaimed Route 42 expansion fixed route operating expenses that should have been reimbursed by a local match as the wrong federal percentage was applied in the claims, resulting in ineligible costs of $33,129 being charged to the program. Questioned Costs: $33,129. Section 5307 Grant Award CA-2022-147-04: The District overclaimed communication expenses for Woodland paratransit operating routes, resulting in ineligible costs of $12,513 being charged to the program. Questioned Costs: Ineligible costs were below the $25,000 floor for questioned costs under 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.516. • Section 5307 Grant Awards CA-2022-204-01 and CA-2021-162-03: The District claimed engine overhaul expenses that did not qualify as preventative maintenance costs allowed by the terms and conditions of the grant, resulting in ineligible costs of $17,902 being charged to the program. Questioned Costs: Ineligible costs were below the $25,000 floor for questioned costs under 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.516. Criteria: 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E (Uniform Guidance) Section 200.303 states that “The nonfederal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award.” Cause: Several federal grants applied to these routes had local match requirements that were not captured by the District’s review procedures due to recent staff turnover and lack of documented procedures to track expenses charged to all funding sources combined. Not all paratransit operating expenses were reported and tracked separately in the allocation spreadsheet leading to expenses being double claimed under different grants for different purposes. This is due to the allocation spreadsheet not having a summary page totaling all expenses charged to programs to make sure the total expenses allocated agree to the total population of expenses allocated. Effect: Expenses were charged to more than one grant when filing claims and ineligible costs were applied, resulting in the overclaimed amounts cited above. Context: The ineligible costs were discovered through reconciliation of the operating expenses and capital costs from the claims to the general ledger. It was noted that the District did not have any FTA awards for capital maintenance during the year. The overclaimed amounts of $1,073,260, $33,129, and $12,513 have been removed from revenue as the FTA has currently approved the District claiming the expenses under different grants. There were potentially additional operating expenses under Paratransit services that could have offset some of these overclaimed amounts. The ineligible costs of $17,902 have been submitted to the FTA through a budget revision to allow for capital funding under the two related awards and is currently pending FTA approval. Recommendation: We recommend the District develop written procedures for allocating expenses to routes and purposes used to claim expenses under federal grants and to track the different funding sources applied. A summary tab should be added to the allocation spreadsheet to sum amounts for each route computed on separate tabs on the spreadsheet to make it easier to reconcile total operating expenses, preventive maintenance, insurance, communications and other expenses allocated to the population of expenses in the general ledger. View of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management acknowledges the audit finding and agrees with the recommendation. The District is taking immediate corrective action by training staff and seeking temporary assistance to support operations during ongoing training and improvement. While the new financial system aimed to enhance our processes and efficiencies, we recognize the need to modify the general ledger processes to better detect required transactions. The District will focus promptly on resolving these issues to prevent future errors and oversights. Further, we will prioritize reviewing all grant award agreements and collaborating closely with our grant program coordinators to ensure compliance and accuracy in grant-related activities.

Finding 2023-007 – Education Stabilization Fund – Special Tests and Provisions - Wage Rate Requirements Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Matthew Parkinson, CFO Contact Phone Number: 317-869-4364 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: MSD Warren has construction projects at two sites payable out of ARP. MSD Warren’s contracts for those projects contain Davis-Bacon provisions. MSD Warren will collect payroll data to verify compliance with Davis-Bacon. Anticipated Completion Date: 12/15/24

Finding 2023-006 – Education Stabilization Fund – Reporting Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Matthew Parkinson, CFO Contact Phone Number: 317-869-4364 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: MSD Warren will submit a revised ESSER data report to DOE. Anticipated Completion Date: Completed as of the date of this report.

Finding 2023-005 – Special Education Cluster - Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Matthew Parkinson, CFO Contact Phone Number: 317-869-4364 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: MSD Warren will seek competitive quotes for these services prior to the 24-25 school year. Anticipated Completion Date: 6/30/24

Finding 2023-003 – Child Nutrition Cluster – Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Matthew Parkinson, CFO Contact Phone Number: 317-869-4364 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: The CFO will send a memo to all administrators identifying quote and bid thresholds. The school district will obtain at least 3 quotes or use an alternative acceptable procurement method for large purchases. Anticipated Completion Date: 6/30/24

Finding 2023-002 – Child Nutrition Cluster – Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Matthew Parkinson, CFO Contact Phone Number: 317-869-4364 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: Business Office and Payroll staff will review a Labor Distribution Report to verify that the staff is only paying appropriate personnel from the Food Service Fund. Anticipated Completion Date: 6/30/24

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Due to the health concerns of the pandemic as well as unprecedented claims volume, claimants were not required to come into a local office for identity verification, the waiting week was waived for 2020, and the requirements for work search were adjusted in order to protect employees and claimants. Before the pandemic, all claimants were required to come to the local office to verify their identity. Removing these process controls resulted in several consequences as itemized below: • By waiving the waiting week, the claimant was able to receive payment the following week. For example, a fraudster could file a claim on Friday, then receive payment on Sunday, removing the typical week that an employer would respond to validate the separation from employment. • The information mailed to the employer and claimant were not received before payments were made due to the lack of waiting week. • Businesses were closed at that time and did not respond to the unemployment paperwork timely to report fraudulent claims. • Identity theft fraudsters often changed the address of the individuals for which they had filed claims in order to prevent the victims from being notified and reporting the fraud. In 2020, the work search requirement was reinstated. In 2021, all claimants had to verify their identity in-person at the local office before the claim was opened for a regular unemployment claim. The UIdentify program was utilized for identity verification for the PUA claims filed after January 1, 2021. The waiting week was reinstated in January 2021, which lengthened the time period for employers to respond before payment was issued. In addition, Internal Audit created the Fraud Investigation Unit and hired additional staff to focus on investigating the identity theft fraud claims. When the perpetrator is identified, a determination is issued and an overpayment is established in the perpetrator’s name/SSN for collection. The NASWA Integrity Data Hub (IDH) crossmatch was implemented in July 2020 as well in an effort to identify additional fraudulent claims for investigation. ADWS was the first UI program to implement 2 projects with the Department of Labor for identity verification. One is using Login.gov and the other involves the United States Postal Service where they verify the identity of claimants for using multifactor authentication and in person presentation of ID. The Login.gov pilot started in 2022 and the USPS pilot project started in 2023. 1. The Login.gov project uses the current system that Federal agencies use to verify identity and went into service in Arkansas as of March 2022. A link is given to the claimant, when they select verify ID through login.gov and go through the steps to verify their identity through the federal government system. If they are approved, we are sent an IA2 verification to the UI processing system to allow staff to match back to the claim to prove ID verification. 2. The United States Postal Service project, implements in Arkansas March 2023, offers the claimant the same link as Login.gov, but grants the additional option to verify their identity at any US Post Office in the country. A barcode is created and must be taken with a valid government-issued ID (they are given examples) along with proof of current address to the post office in person. If they are approved, we are sent an IA2 verification to the UI processing system to allow staff to match back to the claim to prove ID verification. Anticipated Completion Date: Corrective action was taken for the ALA staff recommendations. Contact Person: Name: Sheri Rooney Title: Program Administrator Agency: Division of Workforce Services Address: 2 Capitol Mall City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR 72201 Phone Number: 501-682-3382 Email Address: Sheri.Rooney@arkansas.gov

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Arkansas Department of Education recognizes this finding. ADE Finance understands the importance of supporting documentation for non-LEAs and has implemented a plan for FY23 communications. Furthermore, ADE Finance conducted follow-up communication with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on March 1, 2024. It was concluded that FTE position data for non-LEAs were optional for Years 1 and 2 Annual Performance Reports per the ESSER Form Review Webinar Guidance. ADE was further instructed to omit non-LEA information from the template should it be unreasonable to provide for the FY22 reporting year in question. ADE will ensure non-LEA entities provide the requested 5.a – Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Compliance Supplement information for supporting documentation with FY23 and subsequent Reporting Periods. Anticipated Completion Date: May 2024. ADE Finance is coordinating communication with non-Local Educational Agencies (non-LEAs) in effort to revise the data for FY22, however will omit the related data per U.S. Department of Education (ED) guidance provided on March 1, 2024, should non-LEAs be unable to provide quality data. Contact Person: Name: Amy Thomas Title: Accounting Operations Manager Agency: Arkansas Department of Education Address: Four Capitol Mall, Room 204 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72201 Phone Number: 501-682-3636 Email Address: Amy.Thomas@ade.arkansas.gov

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: ASBO has made the registration at Sam.gov part of the application process that will be handled through the subgrant portal being developed with our new grants monitoring contractor. This will now be an electronic field that will be entered by the subgrantee. The 3rd party administrator will be responsible for verifying the subgrant applicant Sam.gov registration is valid and active. Anticipated Completion Date: System anticipated go live Date: April 26, 2024 Contact Person: Name: Glen Howie Title: Director Agency: Department of Commerce, Arkansas State Broadband Office Address: 1 Commerce Way, Suite 601 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR 72202 Phone Number: 501-682-1123 Email Address: Glen.howie@arkansasEDC.com

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: ASBO has entered a contract with a new 3rd party administrator to provide oversight for all subgrant awardees. This contact is active now. We developed our contract to ensure improved monitoring for expenditures and verification of receipts. Also, we are in the process of developing a portal which will allow this contractor and ASBO to have full access to all documents from subgrantees. Our new vendor does have prior experience with subgrants management. In addition, ASBO commits internally to the following: • We will monitor all capital purchases when the invoices are received at our office. • We will pull a random sample of five invoices per month and conduct our own review of expenses. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action (Continued): Highlights for the Baker contract: ASBO’s broadband grant program management vendor-partner, Michael Baker International (MBI), is contracted for the following activities and deliverables: • Developing the workflow, process, and online forms that facilitate project monitoring and expense reimbursement. • Responsible for pursuing and documenting additional information required for project monitoring and reimbursement activities. These activities shall be completed within the framework of the Broadband Grants Project Monitoring and Reimbursement System (see below for details) and not through external email or other document exchange system. • Develop and apply standardized naming conventions for all project documents that will be maintained throughout the life of the project. Documents shall be stored in a manner that promotes transparency and facilities ease of use by auditors. • Take all reasonable measures to ensure grant activities are implemented in a manner that ensures transparency, accountability, and oversight sufficient to (1) minimize the opportunity for waste, fraud, and abuse; (2) ensure that subrecipients use funds to further the objectives of Federal programs and the Arkansas State Broadband Office; and (3) allow the public to understand and monitor subgrants awarded under the program. • Ensuring all reimbursement activity complies with Federal requirements, including Section 60102 of the Infrastructure Act, 2 C.F.R. Part 200 and any supplemental guidance issued by the Federal government. • Responsible for knowing what constitutes eligible and ineligible expenses under both state and Federal rules. • Provide education and guidance to subrecipients and the ASBO on key oversight and compliance requirements. • Ensure payment activities follow all state and Federal policies and procedures. Contractor acknowledges policies may change over the life of the contract. • Identify policies the ASBO is required to adopt and assist in drafting those policies to ensure ASBO compliance with Federal regulations. • Assist the Arkansas State Broadband Office in enforcing program rules and laws and imposing penalties for nonperformance, failure to meet statutory obligations, or wasteful, fraudulent, or abusive expenditure of funds. Such penalties include, but are not limited to, imposition of additional award conditions, payment suspension, award suspension, grant termination, de-obligation/clawback of funds, and debarment of organizations and/or personnel. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action (Continued): • Conduct audits of subrecipients as are necessary and appropriate. Contractor shall report the results of any audits it conducts to the Arkansas State Broadband Office. • Develop a template contract for subrecipients, specifying key terms including contract length, performance standards, construction and service rollout schedules, competitive access requirements, regulatory compliance requirements, environmental controls, grant reporting and data sharing requirements, monitoring and oversight procedures, and penalties for non-compliance. • Retain and provide to the Arkansas State Broadband Office upon request all records, documents, and communications of any kind that relates in any manner to grant awards and project procurement, performance, and reimbursement. This data shall be labeled and stored in a manner that promotes transparency and facilitates ease of use by auditors. Additionally, MBI is building two new systems for ASBO and subgrantee use: 1. Broadband Grants Project Monitoring and Reimbursement System 2. Grant Application Submission, Evaluation, Award, and Appeal System These systems will have the following features: • Facilitate inputs, responses, data gathering, analysis, and adjudication decision recommendations and subsequent documentation of payment decisions for the Arkansas State Broadband Office’s final approval. • Provide a secure mechanism for grant applications and safeguard protected, proprietary, and other confidential information. • Assign a unique identifier to each application and each project. Contractor shall develop and apply a standardized naming convention to all applications and associated documents that will be maintained throughout award, technical review, project monitoring, and project closing. Documents shall be named and stored in a manner that facilitates ease of use by auditors. • System shall exhibit built-in quality controls, such as pre-screening, that assist applicants in submitting applications that meet all minimal requirements for consideration (such as requiring a SAM number). • MBI shall be responsible for pursuing and documenting additional information required for clarification of submitted applications, technical reviews of applications, and project monitoring Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action (Continued): • and reimbursement activities. These activities shall be completed within the framework of the Grant Application Submission, Evaluation, Award, and Appeal System or the Broadband Grants Project Monitoring and Reimbursement System and not through external email or other document exchange systems. Anticipated Completion Date: System anticipated go live Date: April 26, 2024 Contact Person: Name: Glen Howie Title: Director Agency: Department of Commerce, Arkansas State Broadband Office Address: 1 Commerce Way, Suite 601 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR 72202 Phone Number: 501-682-1123 Email Address: Glen.howie@arkansasEDC.com

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Due to the health concerns of the pandemic as well as unprecedented claims volume, claimants were not required to come into a local office for identity verification, the waiting week was waived for 2020, and the requirements for work search were adjusted in order to protect employees and claimants. Before the pandemic, all claimants were required to come to the local office to verify their identity. Removing these process controls resulted in several consequences as itemized below: • By waiving the waiting week, the claimant was able to receive payment the following week. For example, a fraudster could file a claim on Friday, then receive payment on Sunday, removing the typical week that an employer would respond to validate the separation from employment. • The information mailed to the employer and claimant were not received before payments were made due to the lack of waiting week. • Businesses were closed at that time and did not respond to the unemployment paperwork timely to report fraudulent claims. • Identity theft fraudsters often changed the address of the individuals for which they had filed claims in order to prevent the victims from being notified and reporting the fraud. In 2020, the work search requirement was reinstated. In 2021, all claimants had to verify their identity in-person at the local office before the claim was opened for a regular unemployment claim. The UIdentify program was utilized for identity verification for the PUA claims filed after January 1, 2021. The waiting week was reinstated in January 2021, which lengthened the time period for employers to respond before payment was issued. In addition, Internal Audit created the Fraud Investigation Unit and hired additional staff to focus on investigating the identity theft fraud claims. When the perpetrator is identified, a determination is issued and an overpayment is established in the perpetrator’s name/SSN for collection. The NASWA Integrity Data Hub (IDH) crossmatch was implemented in July 2020 as well in an effort to identify additional fraudulent claims for investigation. ADWS was the first UI program to implement 2 projects with the Department of Labor for identity verification. One is using Login.gov and the other involves the United States Postal Service where they verify the identity of claimants for using multifactor authentication and in person presentation of ID. The Login.gov pilot started in 2022 and the USPS pilot project started in 2023. 1. The Login.gov project uses the current system that Federal agencies use to verify identity and went into service in Arkansas as of March 2022. A link is given to the claimant, when they select verify ID through login.gov and go through the steps to verify their identity through the federal government system. If they are approved, we are sent an IA2 verification to the UI processing system to allow staff to match back to the claim to prove ID verification. 2. The United States Postal Service project, implements in Arkansas March 2023, offers the claimant the same link as Login.gov, but grants the additional option to verify their identity at any US Post Office in the country. A barcode is created and must be taken with a valid government-issued ID (they are given examples) along with proof of current address to the post office in person. If they are approved, we are sent an IA2 verification to the UI processing system to allow staff to match back to the claim to prove ID verification. Anticipated Completion Date: Corrective action was taken for the controls the ALA staff recommended. Contact Person: Name: Sheri Rooney Title: Program Administrator Agency: Division of Workforce Services Address: 2 Capitol Mall City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR 72201 Phone Number: 501-682-3382 Email Address: Sheri.Rooney@arkansas.gov

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Department of Human Services Response DHS concurs with the finding. The SNP database has been updated to reflect that a National Disqualified List (NDL) search was run on the 15 providers that were reviewed. The Health and Nutrition Unit for the Office of Early Childhood conducted a staff training on the written application procedure with an emphasis on performing and documenting NDL searches prior to approval of the application. (Note: Effective August 1, 2023, DHS DCCECE has transitioned to Arkansas Department of Education.) Arkansas Department of Education Response Arkansas Department of Education’s Office of Early Childhood, Health and Nutrition unit conducted training December 2023 and continues to maintain staff training on the written application procedure to ensure providers are reviewed against the National Disqualified List (NDL) database and prior to approval. Anticipated Completion Date: Department of Human Services Response Complete Arkansas Department of Education Response Continuous Contact Person: Name: Pamela Burton Title: Director, Health and Nutrition Unit, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Agency: Arkansas Department of Education Address: 700 Main Street, Room 1216 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72203 Phone Number: 501-320-8978 Email Address: Pamela.Burton@ade.arkansas.gov

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Department of Human Services Response DHS concurs with the finding. Specifically, the documentation provided to auditors during the audit period did not include a full review of allowable expenditures correlated to the federal draws. During the quarter, indirect costs are estimated and are then adjusted to actual indirect costs when the quarterly cost allocation report is completed. If an overpayment was identified after comparing to the cost allocation report, the next federal draw would be reduced by the overpayment. Due to the timing of the DHS Cost Allocation report and the omittance of the allowable 2022 CNP Block grant expenditures, the expenses were understated for 2023 CNP Block grant resulting in the appearance of a federal overpayment. Following the audit, it was determined DHS DCCECE staff coded 161 transactions totaling direct costs of $1,977,927.62 of allowable expenses for October 2022, November 2022, and March 2023 in the State’s accounting software, AASIS, to the 2022 CNP Block grant when only $505,835.54 federal grant funds were available. The difference of $1,472,092.08 in federal funding was properly drawn from the 2023 CNP Block grant, but AASIS error corrections were not timely submitted to the managerial accounting prior to the close of SFY2023 to ensure the proper allocation of the expenditures. The cost allocation report provided to auditors during the audit period only included the 2023 CNP Block grant AASIS coding and did not include the 2022 CNP Block grant AASIS coding of $1,472,092.08. The remaining difference of $24,186.92 is due to timing of DHS’s Cost Allocation quarterly report that became available July 20th for the June 30th 2023 CNP Block grant expenses. DHS submitted additional documentation to ALA in February 2024 accounting for all allowable expenditures. DHS Managerial Accounting staff have been provided additional cost allocation training and audit response training. Documents responsive to audit requests will be more fully reviewed prior to submission as senior finance management staffing allows. Effective August 1, 2023, DHS DCCECE has transitioned to Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). DHS will continue to work in cooperation and coordination to provide all relevant financial information, documentation, or other items necessary for the administrative functions of DCCECE so as not to disrupt any services. Arkansas Department of Education Response Arkansas Department of Education, Finance unit monitors fund balances in the States’s accounting system, AASIS, at minimum, every other day. The frequency of this process accounts for previous activity in funds or cost centers and pending activity recognized at the time of the review including, but not limited to, upcoming expenses and drawdown requests. ADE procedures ensure the finance unit closely oversees cash on hand, if any, and all necessary drawdowns are completed for immediate use. Additionally, funds associated with the Office of Early Childhood (formerly DCCECE) that were carried to ADE are shown in the cash edit table, allowing the fund to have a negative balance in the State’s accounting system, AASIS. Including funds in the cash edit table supports the agency in preventing excess drawdowns by allowing funds to be received after expenses are processed. ADE is confident this procedure ensures accurate amounts are drawn. Anticipated Completion Date: Department of Human Services Response Complete Arkansas Department of Education Response ADE Finance has implemented the named procedure and continues to monitor cash on hand closely, as the ADE Office of Early Childhood staff, (formerly DHS DCCECE), are trained in this procedure. Contact Person: Name: Misty Eubanks Title: Deputy Secretary for Operations and Budget and Interim Chief Financial Officer Agency: Department of Human Services Address: P.O. Box 1437, Slot S201 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72203-1437 Phone Number: 501-320-6327 Email Address: misty.eubanks@dhs.arkansas.gov Name: Amy Thomas Title: Accounting Operations Manager Agency: Arkansas Department of Education Address: Four Capitol Mall, Room 204 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72201 Phone Number: 501-682-3636 Email Address: Amy.Thomas@ade.arkansas.gov

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Department of Human Services Response DHS concurs with the finding. The Division of Childcare and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) utilized a custom software platform to provide payment files to the State’s accounting software, AASIS, to issue payments to recipients. Within this software, the AASIS coding for Sponsor Administrative costs is coded to CNP Block Consolidated (ALN 10.555) instead of CNP CACFP Sponsor Administrative (ALN 10.558) for the questioned costs of $98,474.00. Expense error corrections were not received timely by managerial accounting staff prior to the close out of SFY2023. Effective August 1, 2023, the division formerly known as DCCECE at DHS transitioned to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). DHS alerted financial staff with ADE in February 2024 to review the custom software platform to ensure grant expenses are being properly coded now. Due to depleted grant funds in CNP CACFP Cash in Lieu (ALN 10.558), the questioned costs of $38,341.68 in grants funds were manually moved by DHS Managerial Accounting staff into the CNP Block Consolidated grant. Managerial accounting staff have been retrained to ensure adequate federal funds are available prior to drawing. If manual adjustments are required, the division’s CFO, or their designee, must review and approve manual adjustments prior to the managerial accounting staff executing manual adjustments. DHS Office of Finance is developing an internal control documenting the prior approval process. DHS will continue to work in cooperation and coordination with ADE to provide all relevant financial information, documentation, or other items necessary for the administrative functions of DCCECE so as not to disrupt any services. Arkansas Department of Education Response The Arkansas Department of Education, Finance unit monitors federal grant awards by using separate cost centers for each program and award year within. This process provides transparent delineation of expenses and revenues within the State’s accounting system, AASIS. Additionally, ADE Finance owns an established procedure to reconcile federal grant awards for each month, within 90 days of the month’s end. The reconciliation procedure accounts for all activity within the grants and ensures data is aligned from the federal drawdown system to the State’s accounting system, AASIS. Anticipated Completion Date: Department of Human Services Response 3/31/2024 Arkansas Department of Education Response The itemized CNP programs are reconciled using ADE procedures as of August 1,2023. ADE ensures the accuracy of data from August 1, 2023, through January 31, 2024. Contact Person: Name: Misty Eubanks Title: Deputy Secretary for Operations and Budget and Interim Chief Financial Officer Agency: Department of Human Services Address: P.O. Box 1437, Slot S201 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72203-1437 Phone Number: 501-320-6327 Email Address: misty.eubanks@dhs.arkansas.gov Name: Amy Thomas Title: Accounting Operations Manager Agency: Arkansas Department of Education Address: Four Capitol Mall, Room 204 City, State, Zip: Little Rock, AR, 72201 Phone Number: 501-682-3636 Email Address: Amy.Thomas@ade.arkansas.gov

Contacts: Alex Antkowiak, David Kilpatrick, and Katherine Robinson Titles: VP Accounting and Senior Director, Education Programs & Productions, and Payroll Manager, respectively Anticipated Completion Date: September 2024 Corrective Action: The Center is committed to ensuring the appropriate documentation is in place to adhere to federal regulations regarding activities allowed or unallowed and allowable costs. In response to the audit finding, the Center is taking the following corrective actions to address the audit recommendations: • Accounting will convene meetings with Production and Operations Managers to communicate the Fiscal Year 2023 Federal Award Findings, study and strengthen internal controls in place, review the general criteria within 2 CFR Section 200.403 for manager awareness, and reinforce the importance of accuracy and timeliness of pay rates. • Production and Operations Managers will enact recommendations from Accounting Personnel to strengthen internal controls, proactively communicate with Unions throughout the year and prior to year-end to stay informed of any changes to rates established in Collective Bargaining Agreements and apply changes in pay rates prospectively from date of notice and retrospectively when required. • The Payroll Department, in collaboration with Accounting, will establish a schedule to sample support from managers for compliance with transparency initiatives. Status as of February 2024: The Theater for Young Audience Touring Production and Operations Manager in charge of payroll processing has updated processes to create an audit trail for pay rate calculation, update payroll submission form to include a PDF copy of the audit trail for Payroll Department’s inspection.

Finding 2023-003 – Head Start Cluster – Reporting Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Brenda Overton Contact Phone Number: 574.393.5866 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: We will ensure all required federal reports have a documented, formal review of the reports before they are submitted to ensure the information submitted is accurate Anticipated Completion Date: April 2024

Finding 2023-001 – Head Start Cluster - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Brenda Overton Contact Phone Number: 574.393.5866 Views of Responsible Official: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: We will ensure all vouchers are reviewed by a secondary individual, all supporting backup is maintained for each claim, and all payroll amounts agree to approved contracts. Anticipated Completion Date: April 2024

U.S. Department of Agriculture 2023 - 003 Food Distribution Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 10.568, 10.569 Recommendation: We recommend that Gleaners review its process and procedures to ensure all control sign-offs are maintained on receipts. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Management has reviewed the process and procedures with department manager and new staff. Management will follow up quarterly to verify the process is completed accordingly. Names of the contact persons responsible for corrective action: Tiffany Stead and Joseph Slater Planned completion date for corrective action plan: 10/1/2023.

Recommendation: We recommend the District design procedures and controls to ensure adequate prior approval of construction related expenditures charged to the Education Stabilization Fund program. Explanation of disagreement with audit findings: There isno disagreement with the audit finding. District Response: Name of the contact person responsible for corrective action: Ruben Hernandez, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services. Planned completion date for corrective action plan: Immediate.

Criteria: 2CFR 200.303(a) establishes that the auditee must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides assurance that the entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and conditions of the federal award. Condition: The Health System’s final expenditure listing identified as eligible and claimed under the Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution program were not reviewed and approved by a separate individual outside of the preparer. In addition, the Health System’s special report submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services for Period 4 was not reviewed and approved by a separate individual outside of the preparer. Responsible Individual: Ashley Woodward, Chief Financial Officer Corrective Action Plan: Management is aware of this control deficiency. Management is reviewing its system of internal control over compliance and plans to implement a control process which includes a secondary review and approval of the summarized final expenditure listing used to claim the allowable costs under the federal program and a secondary review and approval of required reports to be submitted to the federal agency. Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2024

FA 2023-001 Strengthen Controls over Wage Rate Requirements Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education Assistance Listing Number and Title: COVID-19 - 84.425U - American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Number: S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: None Identified Prior Year Finding: Not Applicable Description: A review of construction-related expenditures charged to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund programs revealed that the School District's internal control procedures were not operating to ensure that Wage Rage Requirements were followed properly. Corrective Action Plans: The School District will review and update the current procedures to ensure that the Wage Rate requirements are met. Estimated Completion Date: June 30, 2024 Contact Person: Dr. Samuel P. Light, Superintendent Telephone: (706) 359-3742 Email: slight@lcboe.us