Finding 1152899 (2023-005)

Finding 2023-005 AL No.: 93.667 Program Title: Social Services Block Grant Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass-Through Agencies: Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Award Number/Year 561, 3561, 3681 / 2023 Criteria: The Uniform Guidance requires that local entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with laws, regulations and program compliance requirements. The Uniform Guidance further requires auditors to obtain an understanding of the local entity's internal control over federal programs. To minimize the risks of errors, internal controls should be in place for all program compliance requirements, including the approval and submission of reports by appropriate individuals. Condition/Context: There were 13 reports for submission for UCS and 26 reports for the County. Nine reports were selected for testing. There was no documentation of a review control by someone independent of the preparer for all 9 reports tested. In additions, the final County GEARS report was not submitted. Our sample was not statistically valid. Cause: The County did not have procedures in place requiring an independent person to review the reports before submission. Questioned Costs: None noted. Effect: Due to a lack of controls it was noted that the County did not capture the full value of their contract because they missed the final GEARS report deadline which resulted in a possible loss of approximately $42,000 in funding. Other reports without review could contain errors. Recommendation: We recommend that the County implement procedures for management to review reports required to be completed under the grant prior to submission. Management's Response: The finance department staff will work with departmental management and fiscal staff to review current documented and/or undocumented procedures, adopting and/or updating written procedures as necessary to ensure: • All assembled reports (typically prepared by fiscal staff) are reviewed for completeness and accuracy by independent personnel (typically a department head.) • Reports be submitted on a timely basis. • Reconciliation of data on each submitted reports to the financial statements. • Reconciliation of grant period-to-date cumulative data totals to the financial statements. Additionally, the county finance team will assemble and maintain a centralized file for all county grants, requiring grant administrators (fiscal staff or department heads) to report completion dates for mandated report filings. The county finance team will also maintain a centralized data file for all county grant filings and grant documents.