Finding Text
Finding Number: 2025-002 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Cluster/Program(s): Special Education Cluster Assistance Listing Number(s): 84.027-84.173 Compliance Requirement: Procurement, Suspension and Debarment Type of Finding: Compliance Finding and Significant Deficiency Criteria: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. In addition, under the requirements of fiscal management, grant recipients are required to design and implement internal controls to ensure compliance with grant requirements and their own policies and procedures. Condition: The Town contracted with several companies for special education services under a grant-funded project and did not document that the contractor was not suspended or debarred prior to contracting. Cause: According to the Town’s procurement policy, the Town is prohibited from contracting with another party that is suspended or debarred. Therefore, the Town should have obtained proof that the company in question was not suspended or debarred. Effect: The Town runs the risk of performing projects with parties who have been suspended or debarred, which could result in the loss of federal funding. Known Questioned Costs: None identified Likely Questioned Costs: None identified Recommendations: We recommend that the Town implement procedures to annually check active vendors and contractors and document that they are not suspended, debarred, or in some way prohibited from working on Town projects, especially those working on federally funded projects.