FINDING 2025-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Eligibility Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 2023-2024, 2024-2025 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Audit Finding: Material Weakness Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2023-003. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to the eligibility determination of a child receiving meals. Eligibility Any child enrolled in a participating school who meets the applicable program's definition of "child," may receive meals under the applicable program. In the case of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, children belonging to households meeting nationwide income eligibility requirements may receive meals at no charge or at reduced price. Children who have been determined ineligible for free or reduced-price school meals pay the full price, set by the School Food Authority, for their meals. Children attending SFSP meal service sites receive their meals at no charge. As a general rule, a child's eligibility for free or reduced-price meals under a Child Nutrition Cluster program may be established by the submission of an annual application or statement which furnishes such information as family income and family size. Local educational agencies, institutions, and sponsors then determine eligibility by comparing the data reported by the child's household to published income eligibility guidelines. Additionally, a child may be direct certified. For a direct certification, annual eligibility determinations are based on the child's household receiving benefits under SNAP, FDPIR, the Head Start Program (ALN 93.600), or, under most circumstances, the TANF program (ALN 93.558). A household may furnish documentation of its participation in one of these programs; or the school, institution, or sponsor may obtain the information directly from the state or local agency that administers these programs. Certain foster, runaway, homeless, and migrant children are categorically eligible for free school lunches and breakfasts. Direct certified households do not need to complete an application. The system parameters, including income guidelines, were entered by the software vendor without a documented review or oversight process by the School Corporation to ensure the parameters entered were accurate. In addition, the food service management provider was responsible for processing online application eligibility in the School Corporation's software system. The Food Service Director was responsible for randomly reviewing the eligibility status of online and paper applications; however, documentation of which applications were reviewed was not maintained. Therefore, we could not determine if there was an oversight, review, or approval process to ensure that eligibility determinations were correct. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 LINTON-STOCKTON SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Finally, the Food Service Director was responsible for generating and inputting the Direct Certification Reports into the School Corporation's software system. There was no evidence of an oversight, review, or approval process to ensure that the Direct Certification Reports were generated and input into the system. The lack of internal controls was a systemic issue 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). . . ." Cause The system of internal controls over the review of the income eligibility guidelines saved in the system, the manual determinations of eligibility, and the direct certification uploads were not properly implemented. Documentation was not maintained that the review process occurred. Effect Without the proper design or implementation of the components of a system of internal control, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation design and implement a proper system of internal control, including policies and procedures that would provide segregation of duties, to ensure appropriate reviews, approvals, and oversight are taking place. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.