Finding Text
Federal agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Award Project Title: Better Family Life’s Relationship, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life Project Assistance Listing Number: 93.086 Assistance Listing Program Title: Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible Fatherhood Grants Award Period: September 30, 2023 – September 29, 2024 Award Period: September 30, 2024 – September 29, 2025 Federal agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Award Project Title: Better Family Life’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Education Assistance Listing Number: 93.297 Assistance Listing Program Title: Adolescent Health Programs Award Period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: CFR section 200.303 requires non-Federal entities receiving Federal awards to establish and maintain internal control over the Federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the Federal expenditures are in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal awards. Required reports should be reviewed and approved by appropriate personnel for completeness and accuracy, including comparing source documentation and any reconciliations between source data to final reporting. Additionally, appropriate personnel should review and approve the application of the indirect cost rate prior to each drawdown request. Condition: During audit testing of internal controls over compliance, it was discovered review and approval procedures were not being consistently performed related to Federal reporting and drawdown requests for payment of indirect costs (allowable costs).Cause: Due to staff turnover and timing constraints, review and approval procedures related to Federal reporting and drawdown requests for indirect costs (allowable costs) were not being consistently performed. Effect: The control failure could result in inaccurate Federal reporting and questioned costs related to payment of indirect costs. Questioned costs: No questioned costs were identified.Context: During audit testing of the Organization’s internal controls over reporting and indirect cost rate (allowable costs), it was discovered there was inconsistent review and approval of Federal reporting and inconsistent review and approval of drawdown requests for indirect costs. The audit team did not identify any questioned costs and concluded that the control failure was not indicative of fraud or illegal activities. Due to the lack of control, the audit team concluded the control failure was a significant deficiency in internal control over compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that management establish and enforce review and approval procedures related to all Federal reporting and indirect cost rate drawdown requests. View of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.