Finding 1239029 (2025-006)

Reference Number: 2025-006 Prior Year Finding: No Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Program: SNAP Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 10.561 Pass-Through Entity: New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Pass-Through Entity Identifying Number and Period: 18000 (1/1/2025-12/31/2025), Various Compliance Requirement: Suspension and Debarment Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Compliance: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR 180.220. All non-procurement transactions entered into by a pass-through entity (i.e., subawards to subrecipients), irrespective of award amount, are considered covered transactions, unless they are exempt as provided in 2 CFR 180.215. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at SAM.gov, (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity, as provided in 2 CFR section 180.300. Control: Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), the recipient and subrecipient must establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control-Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The County was unable to provide documentation that it had verified contractors were not suspended or debarred before entering into a covered transaction with the entities. Context: The suspension and debarment status for two of two contractors selected for testing was not documented. Auditors verified that the contractors were not suspended or debarred at the time of audit. Questioned costs: None noted. There are no questioned costs related to this finding since the vendors were not federally suspended or debarred. Cause: The County did not have effective controls to ensure suspension and debarment checks were performed and documented before contracts were issued. Effect: Without documentation that suspension and debarment checks were completed before contracts were issued, the County cannot demonstrate compliance with federal requirements and it could enter into a transaction with an ineligible entity. Recommendation: We recommend the County implement procedures and controls to ensure suspension and debarment checks are completed before entering into covered transactions and that documentation is retained and is available for audit. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with the finding and will perform corrective actions noted on the corresponding Corrective Action Plan.