Finding 12382 (2022-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-08-01

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: A payment of $1,353 was made directly to a crime victim, violating grant rules.
  • Impacted Requirements: Payments must not be made directly to victims as per the grant agreement.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Enhance review controls to ensure compliance with grant payment guidelines.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-001 Information on the Federal Program: Assistance Listing Number 16.575?Crime Victim Assistance, United States Department of Justice. Pass-Through Entity: Colorado Department of Public Safety. Award Number: 2020-VA-21-506-02. Compliance Requirements: Allowable Costs Type of Finding Non-compliance and significant deficiency. Criteria: As outlined in the grant agreement, payments of financial assistance for victims cannot be made directly to victims. Condition: We identified one payment made directly to a crime victim. Context: Out of our sample of 5 financial assistance for victims disbursements made, 1 was made directly to the crime victim. Cause: There was confusion in the coding of the check to the grant noted above. Effect or Potential Effect: Unallowable costs of $1,353 were reimbursed under the grant. Questioned Costs: $1,353. Recommendation: The Organization should improve review controls to ensure all payments made to assist victims are appropriately in line with grant requirements. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan. Management agrees with this finding and immediate steps were taken to address the finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Audit Finding Reference: 2022-001 Planned Corrective Action: We agree with the auditor?s finding and have taken immediate steps to address the finding. Immediately upon detection the check and the associated de minimis charge of 10% were immediately refunded to the grant via check 9418 dated May 31, 2023. Additionally on May 26, 2023, which is when the issue was identified, we held a meeting with the supervisor in charge of the programmatic staff that assembles documentation charged to the grant. The supervisor communicated that this was an oversight that has never occurred before and will not occur again in the future. The lapse related to a staff error in coding that was not detected in the initial review of the transaction. The supervisor will also reemphasize the grant requirements in training of all staff and implement an additional review and approval before all documentation is sent to accounting/finance for their review and entry into the Accounting System. Specifically, the control will add an additional review that checks that pertain to the VOCA grant cannot be written directly to the victim. We also made additional updates to our finance procedures and Finance Procedure Manual to further emphasize and increase the scrutiny of the reviews in place. Name of Contact Person: Joan Hunter, MBA, Finance Director Anticipated completion date: The Corrective action plan above was implemented on May 26, 2023 was completed on May 31, 2023 when the check was mailed to Colorado Department of Public Safety. A General Ledger correction was also made with the writing of this check.

Categories

Questioned Costs Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Subrecipient Monitoring

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 588824 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance $850,015
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $111,981
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $97,822
16.524 Legal Assistance for Victims $31,591