Finding 1205045 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-30

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: FFHC failed to submit the required Universal Report and one Federal Financial Report on time for Health Center Program and ACA grants.
  • Impacted Requirements: This noncompliance violates federal reporting requirements outlined in Uniform Guidance.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: FFHC should strengthen internal controls to ensure timely submission of all federal reports and prevent future delays.

Finding Text

Finding 2025-001 Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Reporting Assistance Listing Numbers 93.224 Health Center Program 93.527 Affordable Care Act (ACA) for New and Expanded Services Under the Health Center Program Federal Agency U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Passthrough Agency N/A Award Number/Year 2025 Criteria FFHC is responsible for preparing and submitting its annual Universal Report and Federal Financial Reports in a timely manner. Condition For AL No. 93.224, Health Center Program and AL 93.527, Affordable Care Act (ACA) for New and Expanded Services Under the Health Center Program, we noted that the required Universal Report was not submitted by the applicable deadline. Additionally, we noted that one (1) of the three (3) required annual Federal Financial Reports for the grants within these programs were not submitted by applicable deadlines. Cause The instances of noncompliance noted occurred due to human error as staff members were learning new procedures designed as corrective actions for this finding as identified in the audit during the previous year. Effect FFHC was not in compliance with the Reporting compliance requirements for its federally funded programs as prescribed by Uniform Guidance. Questioned Costs None reported. Repeat Finding Yes. See Findings 2024-002 and 2023-002. Recommendation We recommend that FFHC enforce its current specific internal control procedures to ensure compliance with applicable federal reporting requirements and ensure that all reports be filed timely in accordance with the federal reporting requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions See corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

FEDERAL AWARD FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS Finding 2025-001 Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Reporting Compliance Requirements Assistance Listing Numbers 93.224 Health Center Program 93.527 Affordable Care Act (ACA) for New and Expanded Services Under the Health Center Program Federal Agency U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Passthrough Agency N/A Award Number/Year 2025 Criteria FFHC is responsible for preparing and submitting its annual Universal Report and Federal Financial Reports in a timely manner. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions Friend Family Health Center Inc. and Affiliates (Organization) will implement the following corrective actions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 to remediate the finding and address the cause of the finding. The Organization will implement the following corrective actions for fiscal year 2026 to remediate the finding and address the cause of the finding. The Organization has hired staff with higher technical accounting skills than the previous staff. The following staff have been hired full-time or will be hired soon: Payroll and Benefits Specialist, Finance Manager, Senior Staff Accountant, Accounts Payables and Receivables Specialist, and a Purchasing Specialist. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will be responsible for the implementation of the corrective action plan and will oversee all related finance activities. • To ensure compliance with timely submission of financial reports (FFR), Friend Health will implement a structured timeline that aligns with all regulatory deadlines and includes internal checkpoints to monitor progress. • The Organization has implemented a new Grants (Project) tracking module to better help with grants and contracts reporting and compliance. This module will track all deadline dates for all of the grants, including deadlines for submitting FFR’s. All grant-related year-end audit procedures have been transitioned to the Finance Manager who has experience with financial audits and compliance and reporting for City, State, and Federal grants. •The Organization will ensure that any personnel involved in financial reporting have the technical expertise to help with the preparation, review, and analysis of the Federal Financial Reports. The target date for full implementation of these corrective actions is June 30, 2026. The responsible party for the planned resources will be Wendy Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (312) 682-6110. Our address is 800 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615.

Categories

Reporting Material Weakness

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1205041 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1205042 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1205043 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1205044 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1205046 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.516 AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) PUBLIC HEALTH TRAINING CENTERS PROGRAM $1.15M
93.224 CONSOLIDATED HEALTH CENTERS (COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS, MIGRANT HEALTH CENTERS, HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS, AND PUBLIC HOUSING PRIMARY CARE) $600,000
93.323 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND LABORATORY CAPACITY FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES (ELC) $375,000
93.527 AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) GRANTS FOR NEW AND EXPANDED SERVICES UNDER THE HEALTH CENTER PROGRAM $278,000