Finding Text
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Financial Assistance Listing #93.600 Head Start Cluster Early Head Start Child Care Partnership Applicable Federal Award Number and Year – 07HP000640-01-00 and 07HP000640-02-00 9/1/2024 – 8/31/2025 and 9/1/2025 – 8/31/2026 Reporting Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance Criteria: CFR 200.303(a) establishes that the auditee must establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the Organization is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations and terms and conditions of the federal award. Condition: The Organization was unable to provide adequate documentation of expenditures incurred to support the drawdown of federal awards claimed for reimbursement on an interim basis throughout the reporting period. Cause: The Organization did not properly reconcile its reimbursement claims to underlying supporting documentation for expenditures incurred. However, the total amount of drawdowns requested did not exceed the total federal expenditures incurred during the reporting period. Effect: Amounts claimed for reimbursement by the Organization throughout the year were not properly supported by its internal records. Questioned Costs: None reported. Context: Monthly drawdown requests from all months within the reporting period were tested and reviewed for adequate supporting documentation. Of the 12 monthly drawdown requests tested, supporting documentation for 8 of the 12 months tested did not match the amount of the drawdown request. Repeat Finding From Prior Years: No Recommendation: We recommend that management continue to evaluate its processes and controls over compliance to ensure that drawdown requests for reimbursement of federal expenditures incurred throughout the reporting period are properly supported and reconciled to appropriate documentation from its accounting records. Views of Responsible Officials: Management is aware of the deficiency in internal control over compliance.