Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Veterans Department Federal Program Name: Veterans Transportation Program Assistance Listing Number: 64.035 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 702-2023-HRTG-001: 9/15/2023-9/14/2024 702-2024-HRTG-001: 9/15/2024-9/14/2025 Type of finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirement: Per the grant agreement, "New Mexico Dept of Veterans Services will utilize the Grants for Transportation of Veterans in Highly Rural Areas to transport Veterans from the New Mexico counties of Catron, Cibola, Colfax, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Mora, Quay, San Miguel, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance, and Union to VA facilities and approved non-VA Care.". 38 C.F.R. § 17.700-17.730 further specifies that the grant is "to assist veterans in highly rural areas through innovative transportation services to travel to VA medical centers, and to otherwise assist in providing transportation services in connection with the provision of VA medical care to these veterans." This indicates that the service is specifically for Veterans that have medical appointments. Condition: 60 of the 60 beneficiaries tested did not have sufficient documentation to indicate the Department verified their appointments before providing transportation services. Management’s Progress for Repeat Finding: This is a repeated and modified finding. While the Department has improved its efforts, there are still opportunities for improvement to reasonably ensure compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements as well as compliance with Department policy. Questioned costs: N/A Context: This was identified during eligibility testing. Cause: The Program did not have sufficient documentation that the Department verified the beneficiaries’ appointment status before providing transportation services. Effect: Noncompliance with grant requirements and federal regulation, and possibly provided services to non-eligible persons. Repeat Finding: Yes Recommendation: We recommend that the Department assists the Program by implementing a system, along with appropriate policies, procedures and internal controls, to securely and accurately document the required information to verify the Veteran status and appointments of the Program's beneficiaries. View of responsible officials: The Department has identified the resource gaps affecting grant compliance. We have met with the grantor to present our findings and requested additional capabilities to validate Veteran status using existing program databases to successfully manage the program. Additional language in the grant scope will be provided by the grantor to ensure compliance moving forward. Corrective actions will be completed by June 30, 2025. We appreciate the opportunity to address the finding and are committed to maintaining the highest standards of compliance and performance.