Corrective Action Plans

Management agrees with the finding. The Center is currently in the process of updating its fiscal policies and procedures to align with the requirements of 2 CFR Part 200. The Finance Committee is leading this effort and is reviewing each policy area identified, including conflict of interest, allowable costs, subrecipient monitoring, and record retention. Updated policies and procedures will be finalized and presented for Board approval by August 30, 2025. Once approved, the Center will ensure implementation across all departments and provide internal guidance to promote consistent application. Anticipated Completion Date: August 30, 2025 Responsible Party: Finance Committee, with support from Executive Director, Nichole Henry.

STDC acknowledges the auditor's finding regarding the inclusion of $12,153 in administrative costs in a supplemental reimbursement request submitted via Form B-13 to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program – Part B. The costs in question lacked contemporaneous supporting documentation at the time of audit review. While STDC maintains that all costs submitted were incurred in good faith to support the Ryan White program, the lack of appropriate documentation constitutes a lapse in internal controls by the former Finance Director, Julia Gonzalez, over post-award claims processing. STDC has initiated an internal review and will consult with DSHS to determine the appropriate repayment action. Additional controls and protocols are being implemented to ensure that all future reimbursement requests—especially post-period—are fully documented, verified, and approved. Corrective Action Plan Finding Number: 2023-02 Planned Completion Date: July 31, 2025 Responsible Official: Director of Finance Corrective Actions to Be Implemented: 1. Policy and Procedure Development STDC shall develop a written policy governing post-award and supplemental reimbursement requests, with clear requirements for documentation and approval. The policy will define acceptable forms of documentation, including invoices, time records, internal allocation spreadsheets, and procurement records. 2. Document Verification Protocol Require pre-submission validation of all reimbursement entries by the Finance Director. 3. Supervisory Review and Sign-Off Supplemental claims must receive sign-off from both the Finance Director and the Executive Director prior to submission. Claims will include documentation verification and reconciliation to program records. 4. Training Ensure all finance department staff involved in grant accounting and reporting are trained on documentation requirements under 2 CFR Part 200, and internal review protocols for final and supplemental financial reports. 5. Communication with DSHS STDC will communicate with DSHS regarding the questioned costs and will take appropriate action based on agency guidance, including cost disallowance and repayment as required. 6. Quarterly Internal Reconciliation Establish recurring quarterly reviews of actual costs incurred versus amounts reimbursed to identify discrepancies and prevent accumulation of unsupported claims.   Policy Title: Post-Award Reimbursement and Documentation Policy Effective Date: July 10, 2025, or upon adoption by the STDC Board of Directors Applies to: Finance Department, Grants Compliance, Department Heads Purpose To ensure that all reimbursement requests, including post-award and supplemental claims, are adequately documented, supported, and reviewed in compliance with 2 CFR §200 Subpart E. Policy Overview STDC shall not submit for reimbursement any cost for which contemporaneous and auditable documentation is not available. All supplemental reimbursement submissions must undergo a formal review and approval process to ensure the allowability, allocability, and documentation of all requested costs. Procedures 1. Required Documentation: Every cost line item included in a supplemental reimbursement must be supported by original documentation including: o General ledger detail o Paid invoice or payroll record o Allocation spreadsheet (if applicable) o Program approval or correspondence 2. Review Process: The Department Heads, or their designee, will verify that all documents meet federal allowability and documentation standards prior to submission to the Finance Department. A Supplemental Reimbursement Review Checklist must be completed and signed before submission of any supplemental requests. 3. Approval Authority: Final approval must be obtained from the Finance Director and Executive Director. 4. Retention Requirements: All reimbursement submissions and supporting documentation must be retained according to the STDC Local Record Retention Schedule. 5. Reporting Discrepancies: Any discrepancy, missing documentation, or unsupported cost identified must be reported to the Finance Director immediately for resolution before claim submission.

Finding 2023-002 – Material Weakness Program: Federal Highway Works Administration - Highway Planning and Construction Cluster The delays in the commencement and completion of the audit, as well as the material misstatements and excessive year-end closing journal entries, were primarily due to significant turnover in our finance department during the fiscal year and the financial closing process. Effect of Condition: We acknowledge that these issues led to material adjustments identified through the audit procedures, which significantly delayed the audit process Corrective Action Plan: 1. Enhanced Accounting Processes: o StanCOG is in the process of reviewing and strengthening internal controls to ensure that all assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses are properly recorded and reported in a timely manner. o StanCOG is implementing a more robust financial closing process, ensuring proper application of accounting principles to all financial closing accounts and processes. 2. Staffing and Training: o StanCOG has brought in new staff with an education and background in accounting principles. o StanCOG has begun the recruitment process to fill the vacancies in the finance department with qualified personnel. o StanCOG has retained experts in Financial Metropolitan Planning that will assist with cross-training staff. o StanCOG will continue to provide finance team members with training, tools, and resources to continue to educate the finance team to help mitigate material weaknesses in the department going forward. 3. Internal Review and Monitoring: o StanCOG will institute a monthly internal review process to identify and correct any discrepancies promptly. o StanCOG will monitor the financial closing process closely to ensure timely and accurate completion. o StanCOG will review and revise existing accounting policies and procedures to reflect updates as necessary. Timeline for Implementation: • Recruitment and onboarding of new finance staff: By in-progress - Ongoing • Completion of cross-training programs: By August 2024 - Ongoing • Full implementation of enhanced accounting processes: By October 31, 2024

Finding 2023 – 006 CONDITION During the current audit period, the Cook County Department of Public Health (DPH) did not perform adequate monitoring of its subrecipients as required by Federal regulations. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS DPH will implement procedures to ensure that the subrecipient monitoring process is adequately documented to ensure financial monitoring is performed, the subrecipient’s risk of noncompliance is evaluated, and the process includes the review of single audit reports. Management Approval of the Policy and Tools have been shared with the auditors. Implementation Phase includes but will not be limited to 1) identifying designated personnel team/consultant, 2) training staff, and 3) monitoring plan to ensure that the policy is followed. Anticipated completion of the corrective action is estimated to be December 31, 2024. The corrective action will be coordinated by the Director of Grants Accounting.

Finding 2023 – 005 CONDITION During the current audit period, the Cook County Department of Public Health (DPH) did not adequately comply with its subrecipient monitoring requirements in accordance with federal regulations. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS DPH will implement prior corrective action plan for future subrecipients awarded with federal funds. The corrective measure will include adequately documenting financial monitoring and review of single audit reports. Management Approval of the Policy and Tools have been shared with the auditors. Implementation Phase includes but will not be limited to 1) identifying designated personnel team/consultant, 2) training staff, and 3) monitoring plan to ensure that the policy is followed. Anticipated completion of the corrective action is estimated to be December 31, 2024. The corrective action will be coordinated by the Director of Grants Accounting.

CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN Finding 2022-002: Subrecipient Monitoring Public Allies has developed a Risk Assessment tool that will be implemented with subgrantees ("local sites") for Program Year '23. The tool?s development was driven by noted best practices and guidance shared with AmeriCorps grantees and Public Allies? prior monitoring findings. The tool includes a self-assessment by local sites and the results will drive the level of monitoring and training and assistance each site receives. Public Allies will also be piloting a new Progress Report, that will provide an at-a-glance assessment of site performance based upon metrics determined in collaboration with subgrantees. The programmatic monitoring process will be led by a dedicated monitoring team that is supported by staff that provide direct programmatic training and technical assistance to sites. For fiscal monitoring, Public Allies has shifted from outsourcing all accounting and financial management to bringing all accounting in-house. As described above, this staff now includes a Finance Director, a Staff Accountant and Senior Accountant. This shift was the result of an evaluation of internal operations and financial management systems. The addition of multiple full-time accounting staff has improved our capacity to monitor and manage subgrantees, effectively track and manage process improvements, ensure fiscal-related grants compliance, and efficiently manage our federal grant funding requests and reports. A fiscal Grants Manager was hired to review subgrantee financial reporting, provide technical assistance, and implement financial monitoring of subrecipients. Finally, a desk audit will be implemented in FY23. The number of files to be reviewed for each site will be determined based upon risk factors assessed, including: AmeriCorps Monitoring Common Findings, staff retention data, prevalence of turnover in AmeriCorps members, and length of time since the site underwent an audit. Requested programmatic and fiscal documents will include: ? Ally/Member Leadership Journal Position Descriptions ? Time Logs ? Ally/Member Evaluations ? Exit Documentation ? Ally/Member Payroll Register, and ? Operating Partner Due Diligence ? Annual Financial Statement ? Separation of Duties Survey ? Internal Controls Questionnaire The Public Allies Network will be notified of the Desk-Based Audit by May 26th and the desk audit will conclude by fiscal year end. Findings of the audit, in the form of a Monitoring Report will be shared with subrecipients, including required follow-up necessary to remediate compliance findings. Results of the desk audit will be used to determine future training needs, policy recommendations, and future monitoring Person Responsible: Najah Woods, Apprenticeship Program Grants Manager Implementation Date: August 31, 2023

Finding #2022-009: regarding subrecipient monitoring were not performed on the Health Equity Grant, Award# 11442, CFDA # 93.391 as required by CCH Policy and Federal Regulations. Cause: The cause of this finding resulted from subrecipients being identified as vendors in the Grant application. The Program Lead informed Finance late which did not allow sufficient time to mobilize CCH staff and/or external consultant to perform subrecipient monitoring. Correction Action: The CCH Director of Grant Accounting will engage an outside consultant to conduct subrecipient monitoring for the grant and collaboratively work to modify the established policy. Anticipated completion of the corrective action will be December 31, 2023.