Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
Finding 2020-002: Segregation of Duties Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.076 STEM Education Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity (when applicable), Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1431638 (9/1/2014 – 8/31/2022), 1524963 (11/1/2015 – 9/30/2021), 1500529 (9/1/2015 – 8/31/2022), 1624185 (9/16/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1640791 (9/15/2016 – 8/31/2022), 1720869 (5/15/2017 – 4/30/2022), 1726113 (8/1/2017 – 9/30/2023), 1645003 (3/15/2017 – 2/29/2020), 1821462 (7/1/2018 – 6/30/2024), 1812860 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2020), 1940925 (1/15/2020 – 12/31/2023), 1907950 (7/1/2019 – 6/30/2024), 2015205 (4/1/2020 – 3/31/2022), 2021059 (10/1/2020 – 9/30/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Mathematical and Physical Sciences) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity, Award Number and Year: National Science Foundation: 1821372 (10/1/2018 – 9/30/2024 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1834530 (9/1/2018 – 8/31/2025 pass through entity American Physical Society), 1938815 (8/1/2020 – 7/31/2024) Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster (Science) Assistance Listing Number and Title: 43.001 Science Name of Federal Agency, Pass Through Entity: NNX16AR36A (8/24/2016 – 8/23/2021 pass through entity Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) Material Weakness in Internal Controls Over Compliance, Other matters Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory, or Other Citation): As noted in 2 CFR 200.303 “The non-Federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).” Condition: The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for posting entries into the accounting system without a second level review, and obtaining all bank statements unopened while also having the ability to add or modify payees and unilaterally initiate and authorize electronic fund transfers such as automated clearing house payments. The CFO is also responsible for opening the mail which may contain payments by check, and can manually reduce receivable balances. Cause: Accounting department employees have not been trained to perform tasks that would allow for a proper segregation of duties related to accounting entries. Employees outside of the accounting department are permitted to work from home, which limits the employees who can perform functions such as opening the mail. Effect or Potential Effect: If any one employee can control all stages of a transaction, defalcations or irregularities could occur and not be detected timely. Questioned Costs: None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: 2019-001 Recommendation: We recommend that AAPT provide training to the Finance and Administration staff so that entries can be subject to supervisory review by an individual knowledgeable as to the propriety of the entries. We recommend that AAPT segregate the ability to initiate and authorize electronic payments. We recommend that an employee outside of the Finance and Administration department open the AAPT mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: AAPT has instituted the segregation of duties of submitting and approval of electronic payments. The senior accountant has been authorized to submit the ACH/Wire transfer requests. The CFO has the authorization of approval of submitted electronic payments. The change was activated around March 15, 2024 The staff will be trained on generating journal entries previous prepared by the CFO and supervised and approve by the CFO – completed date May 15, 2024 The administrative assistant of the CEO will come to AAPT twice weekly to process incoming mail and create an initial recordation log of checks or cash received. The administrative assistant will not have access in any system to enter/modify/delete any information related to checks that are received. Anticipated Completion Date: January 2025 Responsible Official: Michael Brosnan, CFO
FINDING 2020-002 Subject: Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities - Matching Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities Assistance Listings Number: 10.760 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other identifying Number): CY2020 Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 14 TOWN OF MONROEVILLE SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Condition and Context The Town had not designed or implemented adequate internal controls and procedures to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Matching compliance requirement. As part of the grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Town was to contribute $15,000 of local funds toward bond council. The Clerk-Treasurer posted all grant activity in Fund 810, Water Line Construction. Through inspection of the Fund, the Indiana State Board of Accounts determined that no local funds were posted to be used to pay toward bond council. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues, which occurred throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 7 CFR 1780.44(d) states: "Applicant contribution. An applicant contributing funds toward the project cost shall deposit these funds in its project account before start of construction. Project costs paid with applicant funds prior to the required deposit time shall be appropriately accounted for." Cause The lack of internal controls resulted in the required local fund contribution of $15,000 not being posted to Fund 810, Water Line Construction. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the omission of the local fund contribution posting of $15,000 occurred, allowing noncompliance with the matching requirement. Furthermore, noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the Town. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $15,000 were identified, as detailed in Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the Town's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 15 TOWN OF MONROEVILLE SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2020-003 Subject: Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: Water and Waste Disposal Systems for Rural Communities Assistance Listings Number: 10.760 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): CY2020 Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context Annual financial reports are to be filed with the awarding agency. The Town was required to file two reports during the audit period, the Statement of Budget, Income and Equity (Form RD 442-2) and the Balance Sheet (Form RD 442-3) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Form RD 442-2 covers financial operations relating to the Town's water main replacement project and the Form RD 442-3 presents the financial status of the project. In both instances, a borrower may submit the financial data on other forms, provided the forms are in a similar format and signed and dated by the organization's official to certify the correctness of the information. Alternatively, an annual audit may be submitted in lieu of the forms. The Town did not prepare or file the required reports, submit financial data on other forms, or submit an annual audit in lieu of the forms to the USDA. As such, we could not substantiate the financial operations or the financial status of the project. Additionally, the Town did not obtain a written waiver from the USDA to allow the Town not to file the reports. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues, which occurred throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 TOWN OF MONROEVILLE SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) 2 CFR 200.302(b) states in part: "The financial management system of each non-Federal entity must provide for the following . . . (2) Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements set forth in §§ 200.328 and 200.329. . . ." 7 CFR 1780.47(e) states: "Borrowers exempt from audits. All borrowers who are exempt from audits, will, within 60 days following the end of each fiscal year, furnish the RUS with annual financial statements, consisting of a verification of the organization's balance sheet and statement of income and expense by an appropriate official of the organization. Forms RD 442-2, 'Statement of Budget, Income and Equity,' and 442-3 may be used." Cause Management of the Town had not established an effective system of internal controls that segregated key functions and would have ensured compliance with reporting requirements of the grant. As a result, Form 442-2 and Form 442-3 were not filed. The Town did not obtain a written waiver from the USDA to support the reports not being filed. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the Town cannot ensure the required reports were filed with the awarding agency. As such, the USDA does not have accurate and current information to discern the financial status of the Town's project. Furthermore, noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the Town. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the Town's management establish a proper system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure required reports, or allowable alternatives, are completed and filed with the USDA. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
Finding 2020-009 Inadequate Payroll Authorization and Approval Controls Information on Federal Program: Criteria: Uniform Guidance (2 CFR §200.303) requires non-federal entities to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Additionally, adequate documentation must be maintained to support payroll costs charged to federal programs. Conditions: During testing of payroll transactions, the following exceptions were noted: 1) For 4 of 8 employees selected for testing, the Center was unable to provide supporting documentation verifying the employee’s salary or hourly rate of pay, or evidence of approval of the employee’s salary or hourly rate of pay. 2) For all 5 payroll dates selected for testing, management indicated that payroll processing approvals are performed verbally. No written or electronic documentation evidencing review and approval of payroll processing was maintained. Cause: The Center does not have formalized procedures requiring documented approval of employee pay rates or documented approval of payroll processing. Management relies on verbal approvals rather than maintaining written or electronic evidence of authorization and review. Effect or Potential Effect: Without documented approval of employee pay rates and payroll processing, there is an increased risk that payroll costs charged to federal programs may be inaccurate, unauthorized, or not properly supported in accordance with federal requirements. Questioned Costs: None. Section III – Federal Awards Findings and Questioned Costs (Continued) A. Current Year Findings and Questioned Costs – Major Federal Award Program Audit (Continued) Finding 2020-009 Inadequate Payroll Authorization and Approval Controls (Continued) Recommendations: We recommend that the Center implement formal payroll controls that require: • Written or electronic documentation evidencing approval of employee salary or hourly rates prior to payroll processing; and • Documented review and approval of each payroll cycle, such as signed payroll registers or electronic approval logs. View of Responsible Officials: Management understands and agrees with the finding regarding inadequate documentation of payroll authorization and approval controls. Management acknowledges that while payroll processes were performed and reviewed, certain control activities—specifically the documentation of employee pay rate approvals and payroll processing approvals—were not formally documented, resulting in the exceptions identified. The Center believes that the conditions noted are primarily related to the lack of formalized documentation procedures rather than a breakdown in the underlying payroll processes. Payroll activities, including the establishment of employee compensation and review of payroll outputs, were performed; however, documentation evidencing these activities was not consistently retained in accordance with Uniform Guidance requirements. Management is committed to strengthening internal controls to ensure full compliance with 2 CFR §200.303 and related federal requirements. As part of these efforts, the Center has begun: 1. Implementing enhanced controls, including the formalization of procedures requiring documented approval of employee salary and hourly rates. 2. Establish documented review and approval of each payroll cycle. 3. Management will continue to monitor the effectiveness of these controls and ensure that appropriate supporting documentation is consistently maintained going forward.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.
2020-102 Lack of Cash Management Documentation (prior two years 2019-104 and 2018-007) (initially reported 2016) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenditures. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to cash management for grants and cooperative agreements to nonfederal entities that are paid on a reimbursement basis, supporting documentation should include the actual costs for which reimbursement was requested and were paid prior to the date of the reimbursement request. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenses made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. No indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing a calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, as applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organizations policy and procedures related to support documentation retention has been evaluated and updated. Supporting documentation for all drawdown requests are retained by grant. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-104 Lack of Documentation Related to Reporting and Lack of Controls Related to Filing Reports (prior two years 2019-106 and 2018-009) (initially reported 2018) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Reporting Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization did not maintain proper documentation in support of reporting requirements and there was no review of the reports prior to submission to the grantor, other than the review done by the preparer. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also under compliance requirements for reporting 2 CFR 200.328 states that information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award for effective monitoring of the federal awards. Cause: The Organization has considered a third-party review after initial submission a sufficient internal control for the UDS report, and did not consider it necessary on the SF-425 due to the limited information required. Effect: The Organization could submit incorrect information. Recommendation: Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the reporting. The documentation should clearly document who prepared the information, who reviewed the information, and that the reviewer considered whether the information was complete and accurate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its reporting policy and implemented the changes. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-105 Lack of Required Policies Associated with Procurement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization does not have written policies in regards to procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the award. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also, based on grant compliance requirements related to procurement and suspension and debarment, procurements under federal awards are to be made in compliance with applicable federal regulations and other procurement requirements specific to an award of sub award. In addition, ensure that covered transactions should be only with entities that are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Cause: The Organization has not documented procedures which reflect applicable state and local laws and regulations to conform to the applicable federal statutes and procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Effect: The Organization could obtain goods and services outside of the procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Recommendation: The Organization should create written policies for procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other requirements under the award. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization will review and update its existing policies to include procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the awards. The Organization expects to have this implemented by March 1, 2023.
2020-106 Use of Budgeted Versus Actual Costs for Reimbursements (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenses. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. In addition, based on grant compliance requirements related to allowable costs, direct costs are those costs that can be specifically identified with a particular actual cost. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenditures made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. Adequate documentation was not maintained and no indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing the calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, if applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its grant drawdown procedures to included only actual cost and for the request to be reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer prior to submission. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-107 Lack of ACH Payment Review and Approval (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: Payments are not reviewed prior to ACH payments. The Organization has no documented policies and procedures for handling the processing and review of ACH payments. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to activities allowed and allowable costs, costs charged to federal programs under the HCP award must comply with the cost principles at 45 CRF part 75, subpart E, and any other requirements or restrictions on the use of federal funds. Based on compliance requirements related to period of performance, federal awards are charged for (a) allowable costs incurred during the period of performance: or (b) costs incurred prior to the date the federal award was made that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. Cause: The payment for expenses under the program were not reviewed prior to payment for allowability of costs and whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Effect: The Organization could report costs that were not allowable or not incurred during the period of performance which could result in losing funding. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop policies and procedures related to processing and reviewing ACH payments under federal award programs for allowability of costs and determination of whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing ACH payments prior to payment. We will update our policy to include a process for ACH reviews prior to payment. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-108 Lack of Controls over Costs Submitted for Reimbursement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization included an invoice for reimbursement under the program for which a vendor credit memo for the full amount of the invoice had been received due to miscoding of the credit memo to the correct COVID-19 class on the general ledger. In addition, the Organization did not include an applicable invoice for COVID-19 expenses for reimbursement due to the same miscoding of the COVID-19 class to the general ledger. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Under compliance requirements for allowable costs 2 CFR section 200.405(a)(1) costs should be incurred specifically for the federal award, and 2 CFR section 200.406(a) to the extent credits accruing or received by the nonfederal entity relate to allowable costs, they must be credited to the federal award program either as a cost reduction or cash refund as appropriate. Cause: The Organization did not apply the credit memo or the invoice to the correct general ledger classification resulting in the credit memo and invoice being incorrectly included or not included in the reimbursement request. Effect: The Organization is not applying for reimbursement with the correct supporting documentation which could lead to a loss of grant funding. Recommendation: The Organization should review the posting of any credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted to the correct account/classification so that only allowable costs which were incurred during the period of performance are included on any reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing the posting of credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted correctly. We will update our policy to include a process for review of credit memos prior to posting. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.
2020-102 Lack of Cash Management Documentation (prior two years 2019-104 and 2018-007) (initially reported 2016) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenditures. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to cash management for grants and cooperative agreements to nonfederal entities that are paid on a reimbursement basis, supporting documentation should include the actual costs for which reimbursement was requested and were paid prior to the date of the reimbursement request. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenses made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. No indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing a calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, as applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organizations policy and procedures related to support documentation retention has been evaluated and updated. Supporting documentation for all drawdown requests are retained by grant. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-104 Lack of Documentation Related to Reporting and Lack of Controls Related to Filing Reports (prior two years 2019-106 and 2018-009) (initially reported 2018) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Reporting Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization did not maintain proper documentation in support of reporting requirements and there was no review of the reports prior to submission to the grantor, other than the review done by the preparer. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also under compliance requirements for reporting 2 CFR 200.328 states that information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award for effective monitoring of the federal awards. Cause: The Organization has considered a third-party review after initial submission a sufficient internal control for the UDS report, and did not consider it necessary on the SF-425 due to the limited information required. Effect: The Organization could submit incorrect information. Recommendation: Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the reporting. The documentation should clearly document who prepared the information, who reviewed the information, and that the reviewer considered whether the information was complete and accurate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its reporting policy and implemented the changes. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-105 Lack of Required Policies Associated with Procurement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization does not have written policies in regards to procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the award. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also, based on grant compliance requirements related to procurement and suspension and debarment, procurements under federal awards are to be made in compliance with applicable federal regulations and other procurement requirements specific to an award of sub award. In addition, ensure that covered transactions should be only with entities that are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Cause: The Organization has not documented procedures which reflect applicable state and local laws and regulations to conform to the applicable federal statutes and procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Effect: The Organization could obtain goods and services outside of the procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Recommendation: The Organization should create written policies for procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other requirements under the award. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization will review and update its existing policies to include procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the awards. The Organization expects to have this implemented by March 1, 2023.
2020-106 Use of Budgeted Versus Actual Costs for Reimbursements (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenses. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. In addition, based on grant compliance requirements related to allowable costs, direct costs are those costs that can be specifically identified with a particular actual cost. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenditures made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. Adequate documentation was not maintained and no indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing the calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, if applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its grant drawdown procedures to included only actual cost and for the request to be reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer prior to submission. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-107 Lack of ACH Payment Review and Approval (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: Payments are not reviewed prior to ACH payments. The Organization has no documented policies and procedures for handling the processing and review of ACH payments. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to activities allowed and allowable costs, costs charged to federal programs under the HCP award must comply with the cost principles at 45 CRF part 75, subpart E, and any other requirements or restrictions on the use of federal funds. Based on compliance requirements related to period of performance, federal awards are charged for (a) allowable costs incurred during the period of performance: or (b) costs incurred prior to the date the federal award was made that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. Cause: The payment for expenses under the program were not reviewed prior to payment for allowability of costs and whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Effect: The Organization could report costs that were not allowable or not incurred during the period of performance which could result in losing funding. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop policies and procedures related to processing and reviewing ACH payments under federal award programs for allowability of costs and determination of whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing ACH payments prior to payment. We will update our policy to include a process for ACH reviews prior to payment. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-108 Lack of Controls over Costs Submitted for Reimbursement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization included an invoice for reimbursement under the program for which a vendor credit memo for the full amount of the invoice had been received due to miscoding of the credit memo to the correct COVID-19 class on the general ledger. In addition, the Organization did not include an applicable invoice for COVID-19 expenses for reimbursement due to the same miscoding of the COVID-19 class to the general ledger. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Under compliance requirements for allowable costs 2 CFR section 200.405(a)(1) costs should be incurred specifically for the federal award, and 2 CFR section 200.406(a) to the extent credits accruing or received by the nonfederal entity relate to allowable costs, they must be credited to the federal award program either as a cost reduction or cash refund as appropriate. Cause: The Organization did not apply the credit memo or the invoice to the correct general ledger classification resulting in the credit memo and invoice being incorrectly included or not included in the reimbursement request. Effect: The Organization is not applying for reimbursement with the correct supporting documentation which could lead to a loss of grant funding. Recommendation: The Organization should review the posting of any credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted to the correct account/classification so that only allowable costs which were incurred during the period of performance are included on any reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing the posting of credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted correctly. We will update our policy to include a process for review of credit memos prior to posting. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.
2020-102 Lack of Cash Management Documentation (prior two years 2019-104 and 2018-007) (initially reported 2016) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenditures. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to cash management for grants and cooperative agreements to nonfederal entities that are paid on a reimbursement basis, supporting documentation should include the actual costs for which reimbursement was requested and were paid prior to the date of the reimbursement request. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenses made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. No indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing a calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, as applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organizations policy and procedures related to support documentation retention has been evaluated and updated. Supporting documentation for all drawdown requests are retained by grant. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-104 Lack of Documentation Related to Reporting and Lack of Controls Related to Filing Reports (prior two years 2019-106 and 2018-009) (initially reported 2018) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Reporting Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization did not maintain proper documentation in support of reporting requirements and there was no review of the reports prior to submission to the grantor, other than the review done by the preparer. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also under compliance requirements for reporting 2 CFR 200.328 states that information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award for effective monitoring of the federal awards. Cause: The Organization has considered a third-party review after initial submission a sufficient internal control for the UDS report, and did not consider it necessary on the SF-425 due to the limited information required. Effect: The Organization could submit incorrect information. Recommendation: Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the reporting. The documentation should clearly document who prepared the information, who reviewed the information, and that the reviewer considered whether the information was complete and accurate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its reporting policy and implemented the changes. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-105 Lack of Required Policies Associated with Procurement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization does not have written policies in regards to procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the award. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also, based on grant compliance requirements related to procurement and suspension and debarment, procurements under federal awards are to be made in compliance with applicable federal regulations and other procurement requirements specific to an award of sub award. In addition, ensure that covered transactions should be only with entities that are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Cause: The Organization has not documented procedures which reflect applicable state and local laws and regulations to conform to the applicable federal statutes and procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Effect: The Organization could obtain goods and services outside of the procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Recommendation: The Organization should create written policies for procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other requirements under the award. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization will review and update its existing policies to include procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the awards. The Organization expects to have this implemented by March 1, 2023.
2020-106 Use of Budgeted Versus Actual Costs for Reimbursements (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenses. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. In addition, based on grant compliance requirements related to allowable costs, direct costs are those costs that can be specifically identified with a particular actual cost. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenditures made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. Adequate documentation was not maintained and no indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing the calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, if applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its grant drawdown procedures to included only actual cost and for the request to be reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer prior to submission. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-107 Lack of ACH Payment Review and Approval (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: Payments are not reviewed prior to ACH payments. The Organization has no documented policies and procedures for handling the processing and review of ACH payments. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to activities allowed and allowable costs, costs charged to federal programs under the HCP award must comply with the cost principles at 45 CRF part 75, subpart E, and any other requirements or restrictions on the use of federal funds. Based on compliance requirements related to period of performance, federal awards are charged for (a) allowable costs incurred during the period of performance: or (b) costs incurred prior to the date the federal award was made that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. Cause: The payment for expenses under the program were not reviewed prior to payment for allowability of costs and whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Effect: The Organization could report costs that were not allowable or not incurred during the period of performance which could result in losing funding. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop policies and procedures related to processing and reviewing ACH payments under federal award programs for allowability of costs and determination of whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing ACH payments prior to payment. We will update our policy to include a process for ACH reviews prior to payment. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-108 Lack of Controls over Costs Submitted for Reimbursement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization included an invoice for reimbursement under the program for which a vendor credit memo for the full amount of the invoice had been received due to miscoding of the credit memo to the correct COVID-19 class on the general ledger. In addition, the Organization did not include an applicable invoice for COVID-19 expenses for reimbursement due to the same miscoding of the COVID-19 class to the general ledger. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Under compliance requirements for allowable costs 2 CFR section 200.405(a)(1) costs should be incurred specifically for the federal award, and 2 CFR section 200.406(a) to the extent credits accruing or received by the nonfederal entity relate to allowable costs, they must be credited to the federal award program either as a cost reduction or cash refund as appropriate. Cause: The Organization did not apply the credit memo or the invoice to the correct general ledger classification resulting in the credit memo and invoice being incorrectly included or not included in the reimbursement request. Effect: The Organization is not applying for reimbursement with the correct supporting documentation which could lead to a loss of grant funding. Recommendation: The Organization should review the posting of any credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted to the correct account/classification so that only allowable costs which were incurred during the period of performance are included on any reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing the posting of credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted correctly. We will update our policy to include a process for review of credit memos prior to posting. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.
2020-102 Lack of Cash Management Documentation (prior two years 2019-104 and 2018-007) (initially reported 2016) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenditures. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to cash management for grants and cooperative agreements to nonfederal entities that are paid on a reimbursement basis, supporting documentation should include the actual costs for which reimbursement was requested and were paid prior to the date of the reimbursement request. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenses made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. No indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing a calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, as applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organizations policy and procedures related to support documentation retention has been evaluated and updated. Supporting documentation for all drawdown requests are retained by grant. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-104 Lack of Documentation Related to Reporting and Lack of Controls Related to Filing Reports (prior two years 2019-106 and 2018-009) (initially reported 2018) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Reporting Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization did not maintain proper documentation in support of reporting requirements and there was no review of the reports prior to submission to the grantor, other than the review done by the preparer. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also under compliance requirements for reporting 2 CFR 200.328 states that information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award for effective monitoring of the federal awards. Cause: The Organization has considered a third-party review after initial submission a sufficient internal control for the UDS report, and did not consider it necessary on the SF-425 due to the limited information required. Effect: The Organization could submit incorrect information. Recommendation: Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the reporting. The documentation should clearly document who prepared the information, who reviewed the information, and that the reviewer considered whether the information was complete and accurate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its reporting policy and implemented the changes. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-105 Lack of Required Policies Associated with Procurement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization does not have written policies in regards to procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the award. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also, based on grant compliance requirements related to procurement and suspension and debarment, procurements under federal awards are to be made in compliance with applicable federal regulations and other procurement requirements specific to an award of sub award. In addition, ensure that covered transactions should be only with entities that are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Cause: The Organization has not documented procedures which reflect applicable state and local laws and regulations to conform to the applicable federal statutes and procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Effect: The Organization could obtain goods and services outside of the procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Recommendation: The Organization should create written policies for procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other requirements under the award. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization will review and update its existing policies to include procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the awards. The Organization expects to have this implemented by March 1, 2023.
2020-106 Use of Budgeted Versus Actual Costs for Reimbursements (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenses. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. In addition, based on grant compliance requirements related to allowable costs, direct costs are those costs that can be specifically identified with a particular actual cost. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenditures made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. Adequate documentation was not maintained and no indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing the calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, if applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its grant drawdown procedures to included only actual cost and for the request to be reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer prior to submission. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-107 Lack of ACH Payment Review and Approval (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: Payments are not reviewed prior to ACH payments. The Organization has no documented policies and procedures for handling the processing and review of ACH payments. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to activities allowed and allowable costs, costs charged to federal programs under the HCP award must comply with the cost principles at 45 CRF part 75, subpart E, and any other requirements or restrictions on the use of federal funds. Based on compliance requirements related to period of performance, federal awards are charged for (a) allowable costs incurred during the period of performance: or (b) costs incurred prior to the date the federal award was made that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. Cause: The payment for expenses under the program were not reviewed prior to payment for allowability of costs and whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Effect: The Organization could report costs that were not allowable or not incurred during the period of performance which could result in losing funding. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop policies and procedures related to processing and reviewing ACH payments under federal award programs for allowability of costs and determination of whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing ACH payments prior to payment. We will update our policy to include a process for ACH reviews prior to payment. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-108 Lack of Controls over Costs Submitted for Reimbursement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization included an invoice for reimbursement under the program for which a vendor credit memo for the full amount of the invoice had been received due to miscoding of the credit memo to the correct COVID-19 class on the general ledger. In addition, the Organization did not include an applicable invoice for COVID-19 expenses for reimbursement due to the same miscoding of the COVID-19 class to the general ledger. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Under compliance requirements for allowable costs 2 CFR section 200.405(a)(1) costs should be incurred specifically for the federal award, and 2 CFR section 200.406(a) to the extent credits accruing or received by the nonfederal entity relate to allowable costs, they must be credited to the federal award program either as a cost reduction or cash refund as appropriate. Cause: The Organization did not apply the credit memo or the invoice to the correct general ledger classification resulting in the credit memo and invoice being incorrectly included or not included in the reimbursement request. Effect: The Organization is not applying for reimbursement with the correct supporting documentation which could lead to a loss of grant funding. Recommendation: The Organization should review the posting of any credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted to the correct account/classification so that only allowable costs which were incurred during the period of performance are included on any reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing the posting of credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted correctly. We will update our policy to include a process for review of credit memos prior to posting. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.
2020-102 Lack of Cash Management Documentation (prior two years 2019-104 and 2018-007) (initially reported 2016) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenditures. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to cash management for grants and cooperative agreements to nonfederal entities that are paid on a reimbursement basis, supporting documentation should include the actual costs for which reimbursement was requested and were paid prior to the date of the reimbursement request. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenses made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. No indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing a calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, as applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organizations policy and procedures related to support documentation retention has been evaluated and updated. Supporting documentation for all drawdown requests are retained by grant. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-104 Lack of Documentation Related to Reporting and Lack of Controls Related to Filing Reports (prior two years 2019-106 and 2018-009) (initially reported 2018) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Reporting Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization did not maintain proper documentation in support of reporting requirements and there was no review of the reports prior to submission to the grantor, other than the review done by the preparer. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also under compliance requirements for reporting 2 CFR 200.328 states that information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award for effective monitoring of the federal awards. Cause: The Organization has considered a third-party review after initial submission a sufficient internal control for the UDS report, and did not consider it necessary on the SF-425 due to the limited information required. Effect: The Organization could submit incorrect information. Recommendation: Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the reporting. The documentation should clearly document who prepared the information, who reviewed the information, and that the reviewer considered whether the information was complete and accurate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its reporting policy and implemented the changes. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-105 Lack of Required Policies Associated with Procurement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization does not have written policies in regards to procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the award. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Also, based on grant compliance requirements related to procurement and suspension and debarment, procurements under federal awards are to be made in compliance with applicable federal regulations and other procurement requirements specific to an award of sub award. In addition, ensure that covered transactions should be only with entities that are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded. Cause: The Organization has not documented procedures which reflect applicable state and local laws and regulations to conform to the applicable federal statutes and procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Effect: The Organization could obtain goods and services outside of the procurement requirements identified in 2 CFR part 200. Recommendation: The Organization should create written policies for procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other requirements under the award. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization will review and update its existing policies to include procurement to ensure federal awards are being spent in accordance with federal and other specific requirements under the awards. The Organization expects to have this implemented by March 1, 2023.
2020-106 Use of Budgeted Versus Actual Costs for Reimbursements (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization made drawdowns after month-end based on budgeted period expenses. Insufficient documentation was kept to clearly document that the amount requested was reviewed for accuracy. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. In addition, based on grant compliance requirements related to allowable costs, direct costs are those costs that can be specifically identified with a particular actual cost. Cause: Reimbursement was requested based on the budgeted payroll expenditures made for a particular period, adjusted to exclude certain employees that are not related to the grant or are highly paid employees to be conservative in the calculation. Adequate documentation was not maintained and no indication of a review process involved beyond the CFO preparing the calculation to request reimbursement and making the request from the grantor. Effect: The Organization could request funds that may not have adequate supporting documentation. These errors could lead to the Organization losing funding under this program. Recommendation: Documentation should be based on actual and not budgeted payroll and it should be prepared and reviewed by someone other than the preparer. Also, it should directly link the amount requested to the related expenses to clearly document those funds are being used in a timely manner, that more was not requested than was expended, specifically what expenses are being considered expended through these funds, and that funds were requested and applied to the correct period. Update policies and procedures as needed to reflect changes, if applicable. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization has reviewed and updated its grant drawdown procedures to included only actual cost and for the request to be reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer prior to submission. The corrective action for this finding has been approved and implemented by the Organization.
2020-107 Lack of ACH Payment Review and Approval (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: Payments are not reviewed prior to ACH payments. The Organization has no documented policies and procedures for handling the processing and review of ACH payments. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Based on grant compliance requirements related to activities allowed and allowable costs, costs charged to federal programs under the HCP award must comply with the cost principles at 45 CRF part 75, subpart E, and any other requirements or restrictions on the use of federal funds. Based on compliance requirements related to period of performance, federal awards are charged for (a) allowable costs incurred during the period of performance: or (b) costs incurred prior to the date the federal award was made that were authorized by the federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. Cause: The payment for expenses under the program were not reviewed prior to payment for allowability of costs and whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Effect: The Organization could report costs that were not allowable or not incurred during the period of performance which could result in losing funding. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop policies and procedures related to processing and reviewing ACH payments under federal award programs for allowability of costs and determination of whether the costs were incurred during the period of performance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing ACH payments prior to payment. We will update our policy to include a process for ACH reviews prior to payment. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-108 Lack of Controls over Costs Submitted for Reimbursement (initially reported 2020) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed, Allowable Costs and Period of Performance Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization included an invoice for reimbursement under the program for which a vendor credit memo for the full amount of the invoice had been received due to miscoding of the credit memo to the correct COVID-19 class on the general ledger. In addition, the Organization did not include an applicable invoice for COVID-19 expenses for reimbursement due to the same miscoding of the COVID-19 class to the general ledger. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Under compliance requirements for allowable costs 2 CFR section 200.405(a)(1) costs should be incurred specifically for the federal award, and 2 CFR section 200.406(a) to the extent credits accruing or received by the nonfederal entity relate to allowable costs, they must be credited to the federal award program either as a cost reduction or cash refund as appropriate. Cause: The Organization did not apply the credit memo or the invoice to the correct general ledger classification resulting in the credit memo and invoice being incorrectly included or not included in the reimbursement request. Effect: The Organization is not applying for reimbursement with the correct supporting documentation which could lead to a loss of grant funding. Recommendation: The Organization should review the posting of any credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted to the correct account/classification so that only allowable costs which were incurred during the period of performance are included on any reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. Management understands the importance of reviewing the posting of credit memos or applicable invoices to ensure they are posted correctly. We will update our policy to include a process for review of credit memos prior to posting. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation.
2020-101 Lack of Internal Controls over the Application of the Sliding Fee Scale (prior two years 2019-103 and 2018-006) (initially reported 2014) Assistance Listing Number: 93.224 Name of Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA Program Title: Health Center Program (Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Sliding Fee Discounts Pass-through Entity: N/A Federal Grant/Contract Number and Grant Year: 6H80CS06452-15 (2020), COVID-19 1H8CCS35035-01 (2020), COVID-19 1H8DCS36007-01 (2020) and COVID-19 1H8ECS39010-01 (2020) Finding Type: Material Weakness in Internal Control Known Questioned Costs: $0 Condition: The Organization lacks consistently applied processes and procedures related to the application of the sliding fee scale. The Organization also lacks a clear review process related to the sliding fee scale to identify errors quickly to allow for corrections to be made in a timely manner. Of twenty-seven encounters reviewed, we identified the following deficiencies and noncompliance with applicable requirements associated with application of the sliding fee scale. - Six of the twenty-seven encounters sampled were related to a program the Organization has in place with the local school district in which they provide services to students. The agreement specifically does not allow the Organization to obtain information related to household size and income as needed to appropriately place the family on the sliding fee scale. The agreement also indicates no amounts can be collected from the students, except when that student has insurance which allows the Organization to bill the insurance company for a portion of the fees. - One of the twenty-seven encounters sampled was related to the disaster recovery bus program that did not charge the patients for services. - Seven of the twenty-seven encounters sampled had the wrong sliding fee scale applied based on information obtained about the patient’s family size and income. Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that nonfederal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the nonfederal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule, so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted based on the patient's ability to pay ( 42 U.S.C 254b(k)(3)(G)(i)). The patient's ability to pay is based on the official poverty guidelines, as revised annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (42 U.S.C 9902(2)). Cause: Failure to apply the sliding fee correctly, as noted in seven of the encounters above, was due to improper staff training or failure to properly monitor the process. Failure to obtain the required documentation associated with the six encounters above is due to the requirements of the agreement with the local school district, and one is due to procedures applied to the disaster recovery bus program that does not follow the written procedures of the Organization for use of the sliding fee scale. Effect: The Organization could be incorrectly billing for services and maintaining customer account balances at incorrect amounts. Recommendation: Staff should be consistently trained in how patients should complete the intake forms, including the sliding fee scale application, and require patients complete the form appropriately, including refusal to provide information, if applicable. Staff should also be consistently trained on what documentation is considered sufficient to support income identified as well as verify the application is consistent with the documentation and, when needed, clearly document the reasons for inconsistency. Staff should make every effort to obtain documentation of patient income in accordance with internal policies and procedures. Patients should be billed the usual and customer billing rates for all services until all documentation is received or policies are adjusted to allow for self-determination by patients in certain situations. A process should be put in place to track patients in order to attempt further collection of the necessary data that would allow for adjustment of the bill after the fact when necessary. These exceptions should be tracked each month with the monthly review by the regional operations managers. The reviews by the regional operations managers should be documented and retained including the results and corrective action of the follow-up on deficiencies noted. The Organization should discuss with HRSA what could be done to either adjust policies and procedures used during the school visits to be compliant or obtain a waiver from HRSA to indicate their knowledge and approval of the school visits and disaster bus program visits not being compliant with the application of the sliding fee scale requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Organization has hired a new Chief Financial Officer as well as additional supporting staff within the finance department. The Organization’s policies for the sliding fee scale were recently updated during fiscal year 2022, by management, based on findings during the monitoring by HRSA performed in 2022, but management will consider discussing potential improvements to their policy with the grantor to potentially update it to allow for certain exceptions. The Organization will also consider discussing the agreement with the local school district in more detail with the grantor to either structure their policies to allow for these visits to have different requirements or to see if the grantor would be willing to provide a waiver with regards to theses visits not being technically in compliance with other regular clinic visits. The planned corrective action for this finding is currently in the process of development, approval, and implementation. The Organization expects to have the corrective action implemented by March 1, 2023. The Organization will continue to engage the consulting services of the professional certified accounting firm to assist in this process through completion.