Finding Text
Finding 2025-006 Eligibility: Internal Control U.S. Department of Health and Human Services No. 93.558 – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Grant Period Year Ended June 30, 2025 Criteria: Applications and eligibility determinations should be reviewed and approved in accordance with program policies to ensure participants meet eligibility requirements before receiving assistance. Condition and Context: Twenty of ninety-six eligibility files tested contained only one staff signature to document participant eligibility. No grant manager or supervisory approval was documented as approval for eligibility prior to participants being admitted to the program. Cause: Established eligibility review procedures were not consistently followed due to inadequate monitoring of the approval process. Effect: Insufficient review increases the risk that assistance could be provided to ineligible participants or that eligibility errors may not be detected timely. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization develop written policies establishing a review process for the program for eligibility and document each review process. Management Response: Policies are being implemented to ensure there is a review process, see corrective action plan. Repeat Finding: This finding is a repeat of prior-year Finding 2024-005. Although management's corrective action plan is scheduled to be fully implemented in the year ended June 30, 2026, improvements were made during the year ended June 30, 2025 to strengthen the eligibility review process. Audit testing noted a reduction in exceptions; however, documentation of required management review was still not consistently maintained for all participant applications. As a result, the eligibility control was not operating effectively throughout the audit period.