Finding Text
2025-006—Material Weakness, Suspension and Debarment U.S. Department of Agriculture Passed through the State of Connecticut Department of Education Child Nutrition Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 10.553 Program Name: School Breakfast Program Assistance Listing Number: 10.555 Program Name: National School Lunch Program U.S. Department of Treasury Passed through the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Assistance Listing Number: 21.027 Program Name: COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds U.S. Department of Education Passed through the State of Connecticut Department of Education Special Education Cluster (IDEA) Assistance Listing Number: 84.027 Program Name: Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing Number: 84.173 Program Name: Special Education Preschool Grants U.S. Department of Transportation Passed through the State Department of Transportation Assistance Listing Number: 20.205 Program Name: Highway Planning and Construction Criteria: 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) requires compliance with provisions of procurement, suspension, and debarment. Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the nonfederal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. Condition: Procurement activities related to federal awards were performed by multiple departments and were not handled through a centralized procurement function. Management was unable to provide documentation demonstrating that vendors subject to suspension and debarment requirements were consistently reviewed against SAM.gov or that vendor certifications were obtained during the audit period. Cause: Procurement responsibilities were decentralized across departments, and management had not assigned responsibility, or implemented oversight procedures to ensure suspension and debarment requirements were addressed consistently for all federally funded procurements. Effect: Documentation of the requirement for suspension and debarment was not maintained. Contracts could be made with entities on the suspended and debarred list. Questioned costs: None. 2025-006—Material Weakness, Suspension and Debarment (Continued) Context: See condition above. There was no documentation for 14 selections tested. Identification as a repeat finding if applicable: 2024-005 Recommendation: We recommend the Town implement specific controls to ensure procurement files include suspension and debarment verification, where required. View of responsible officials: We agree with the finding. See corrective action plan.