Dear Mr. Waguespack:
The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) hereby provides our official response to the fiscal year 2024 single audit finding and follow up to the FY23 finding. As requested, please see the details of our response below:
• This response is p...
Dear Mr. Waguespack:
The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) hereby provides our official response to the fiscal year 2024 single audit finding and follow up to the FY23 finding. As requested, please see the details of our response below:
• This response is provided for the finding, “Noncompliance with Reporting Requirements for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA).”
• GOHSEP concurs in part with the individual finding and recommendation:
o This Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) FY24 audit covered a sample of Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) projects.
o The finding provided that GOHSEP entered four (4) HMGP and twelve (12) FMA subawards into FSRS greater than 30 days after the FEMA award was made.
• The FY24 HMGP projects that were selected for audit were the same projects that were selected by LLA for the FY23 audit follow up.
• This essentially creates a duplicative finding on these projects
• Additionally, those HMGP FSRS entries were entered on January 23, 2024, which pre-dated the FY23 finding and our corrective actions being implemented during calendar year 2024. Please reference our FY23 Single Audit Report Response for those details. Since these projects were already entered by the time of last year’s finding, there is nothing further that can be done to correct these project entries.
• Of the FY24 FMA projects that were selected for audit, two of them were also selected by LLA for the FY23 audit follow-up, creating a duplicative finding.
• The remaining 10 FMA projects in question were all entered in calendar year 2024 as part of our FY23 corrective action plan.
• GOHSEP concedes that the questioned FSRS entries were not made in accordance with the portion of 2 CFR Part 170, Appendix A(I)(a), which requires the entries to be made by the end of the month following the month in which the obligation was made.
• As discussed with LLA staff, GOHSEP encountered issues with staff having limited access to all necessary grants in FSRS.
• Also as previously discussed, GOHSEP Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) was unable to use the FFATA reporting feature in GOHSEP Grants (system of record) to import the data into FSRS.
o GOHSEP concurs in part with LLA’s recommendation that GOHSEP should strengthen internal controls to ensure that appropriate personnel have the necessary access to FSRS and are timely entering the required award information for FFATA reporting in accordance with federal requirements.
• Our Corrective Action Plan from FY23 is being implemented; however, there are still issues beyond our control in the FSRS system, as far as permissions for more than one staff, as well as the report from GOHSEP Grants working as it should.
• We recognize there were still some entries made greater than 30 days after award, and we are working to correct the parts of the process that aren’t working as efficiently as it should.
• FSRS is being retired this Spring, and the process for the new system entry will require an entirely new implementation plan.
• Corrective Action Plan:
o Persons responsible for corrective action:
• Sandra D. Gaspard (Assistant Director, HMA)
• Jeffrey Giering (Executive Officer, HMA)
o Corrective Action Planned:
• GOHSEP HMA will ensure that the FEMA reports that are necessary for FSRS entry are being received by the correct staff in a timely manner, and ensure the data is checked and entered more than once monthly.
• GOHSEP HMA will continue working with GOHSEP IT and with the GOHSEP Grants vendor to ensure that the FFATA reporting function in the system becomes functional and continues working correctly. This will enable HMA staff to more accurately and efficiently enter the required obligation information into FSRS, versus a manual process.
o Anticipated Completion Date:
• 90-Days
We appreciate your assistance with this matter. If you need additional information, please contact Sandra D. Gaspard, Assistant Director, HMA at 985-969-0410 or via email at Sandra.Dugas@la.gov.