State Agency: NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Program Name: Disaster Grants – Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) ALN #: 97.036 Single Audit Contact: Celines Jorge-Gecewicz Title: Director of Finance for Disaster Recovery Programs Telephone: (518) 473-5694 ...
State Agency: NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Program Name: Disaster Grants – Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) ALN #: 97.036 Single Audit Contact: Celines Jorge-Gecewicz Title: Director of Finance for Disaster Recovery Programs Telephone: (518) 473-5694 E-mail Address: Celines.Jorge-Gecewicz@dhses.ny.gov Audit Report Reference: 2025-012 Anticipated Completion Date: 3/31/2026 Corrective Action Planned: The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) Disaster Recovery Programs (DRP) acknowledges the identified discrepancies between amounts as reported to the Federal government and the supporting documentation associated with those award amounts as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA). DHSES DRP has implemented immediate corrective actions to strengthen internal guidance related to reporting and internal controls monitoring to ensure timely and accurate FFATA reporting. The nature of FEMA reimbursement often takes years from the emergency declaration to the reimbursement of expenses and the project closeout and may include multiple disbursements to applicants over multiple fiscal years. FFATA data reported in all prior New York State Fiscal Years was completed in the now retired FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS.gov). This system was retired on March 6, 2025, and replaced with subaward reporting on SAM.gov on March 8, 2025 – just 23 days before the close of State Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. All existing data from FSRS.gov was migrated to SAM.gov. During transition training, Federal representatives indicated that while there could be accuracy issues related to the data migration – grantees would not be required to remediate these issues. After the completion of migration, DHSES DRP staff noticed data inaccuracies and submitted support requests through the US General Services Administration’s Federal Service Desk (fsdsupport@gsa.gov) and USAspending Service Desk Team (usaspending.help@fiscal.treasury.gov). However, to date, no Federal solution has been identified. While efforts to identify a solution at the Federal level have been unsuccessful, DHSES DRP staff continue to review and correct all information previously submitted for open disasters. Going forward staff will make necessary corrections to SAM.gov, where feasible, to achieve full compliance. Additionally, the State will revise Budget Bulletin L-0302 - Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act Guidance to remind agencies to be aware of the conversion to SAM.gov and the need to verify/correct data, and report inaccuracies to the Federal government.