Finding 1159822 (2022-006)

Finding No.: 2022-006 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Labor AL Program: 17.225 Unemployment Insurance Federal Award No.: UI-34839-20-55-A-70 Area: Eligibility Questioned Costs: $154,427 Criteria: 1. In accordance with Title II, Subtitle A, Section 2102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a claimant must be unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to one of the COVID-19 related reasons identified in the Attachment I to Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 16-20, Change 5. Additionally, the claimant must self-certify availability to work. Condition: During the audit, the following matters were noted: 1. For 3 (or 16%) of the 19 initial applications tested, case file documentation is not sufficient to support claimant’s eligibility to receive benefits. The claimant answered “No” to the "Able and Available to Work" question and did not answer the COVID-19 reasons section. No. Check date Check no. Weeks paid Benefit Amount 1 05/23/2022 90369 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 25,092 2 05/30/2022 92067 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 23,462 3 05/30/2022 92066 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 23,398 Subtotal: $71,952 2. For 5 (or 6%) of 80 case files tested, amounting to $81,081 case file documentation is not sufficient to support claimant’s eligibility to receive benefits. The claimants certified “not” able and available to work and no COVID-19 related reasons identified as a basis of unemployment status in their initial applications. No. Check date Check no. Weeks paid Benefit Amount 1 05/30/2022 92060 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 21,948 2 05/10/2022 89253 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 25,092 3 05/16/2022 89793 1/2/2021 – 9/4/2021 24,980 4 10/22/2021 67474 7/4/2021 – 9/4/2021 6,273 5 10/11/2021 66685 5/1/2021 – 9/4/2021 2,788 Subtotal: $81,081 3. For 1 (or 1%) of 80 case files tested, case file documentation is incomplete as the claimant did not submit weekly claim forms for two weeks ending 08/28/2021 and 09/04/2021, which are included in the weeks paid column in the table below. No. Check date Check no. Weeks paid Benefit Amount 1 10/11/2021 66685 5/1/2021 – 9/4/2021 1,394 Grand total: $154,427 Cause: The Republic did not effectively monitor compliance with applicable eligibility requirements. Effect: The Republic is in noncompliance with applicable eligibility requirements. Reportable questioned cost is $154,427. Identification as a Repeat Finding: Finding 2021-004 Recommendation: The Republic should strengthen monitoring and administrative controls over recordkeeping and processing to substantiate compliance with applicable eligibility requirements. Qualified personnel should be assigned to support proper review of eligibility determination, period of eligibility, level of assistance, and other PUA eligibility requirements. Views of Responsible Officials: The Republic’s Corrective Action Plan does not indicate disagreement and provides planned corrective action.