Finding Text
Finding Reference 2024-004
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Pass-through
Agency: Puerto Rico Department of Family
Program: Child Care and Development Block Grant (Assistance Listing No. 93.575)
Compliance
Requirement: Reporting (L)
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls (SD), Instance of Noncompliance
(NC)
Statement of
Condition During our audit procedures, we found that the Program did not submit all the annual closing reports or were submitted late to the pass-through entity, as required by the contract agreement.
Criteria 45 CFR Part 98.67 (c) Fiscal control and accounting procedures shall be sufficient to permit: (1) Preparation of reports required by the Secretary under this subpart and under subpart H; and (2) The tracing of funds to a level of expenditure adequate to establish that such funds have not been used in violation of the provisions of this part.
Also, the contract agreement states in Clause eleven (11) that the Municipality is responsible for the presentation of the trial balance and annual partial closing report fifteen (15) calendar days after the end of the contract. Ninety (90) days after, the Municipality should liquidate all obligations and present to the pass-through entity the final annual closing report (CC-006).
Cause of Condition The Program does not have effective internal controls to ensure that the required documentation and reports are submitted to the pass-through agency in the requested time frame. The personnel in charge of the fiscal area have been changed again. The current program accountant has been correcting prior year programs situations, as requested by the pass-through entity. Therefore, the preparation of annual closing reports has not been achieved.
Effect of Condition The Program is not in compliance with 45 CFR Part 98.67- Fiscal Requirements (c) (1) (2).
Recommendation We recommend training for the authorized personnel who administer the program, to better understand the reporting requirements and develop complete and accurate reports. The Municipality should establish a monitoring system to ensure compliance with requirements established by the pass-through agency. This will ensure better control of the program.
Questioned Cost None.
Prior Year Finding This finding is similar to prior year finding 2023-003.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: We concur with the finding.
Objective of the plan: The objective of this Corrective Action Plan is to address the observations identified in the audit and establish preventive measures to avoid future recurrences.
Corrective Actions:
1. Schedule restructuring:
• Create a detailed calendar with clear dates to define intermediate delivery deadlines to avoid delays (collection of information, analysis, writing, review, and submission)
2. Implementation of alerts and reminders:
• Set up automatic alerts and email reminders for key dates (for example, 3 days before each deadline)
3. Review and Quality Control:
• Establish an internal review of reports before final submission to ensure that the information reported is accurate and complete. The revision includes compliance with the requirements established by the agency.
Compliance Monitoring:
• Biweekly meetings: The team will have biweekly meetings to have updates regarding the progress and achievement of the deadlines.
• Email notifications: Emails will be sent to document the timely submission of reports and when needed, waivers will be requested explaining situations that may have delayed the process to prepare accurate and complete reports on time.
Evaluation:
• Monthly evaluations will be performed to measure the compliance of the submission of the reports on the timeframe established by the agency.
• Adjustments to the processes according to the response of the team.
Implementation Date: March 2025
Responsible persons:
• Person responsible for the implementation:
Mrs. Erika J. Acevedo, Program’s Accountant
• Person responsible for the supervision:
Mrs. Yolanda Maldonado, Federal Program’s Director