Based on our grant agreement with Head Start, Easter Seals DC MD VA is required to provide a 20% contribution of total project costs for each annual budget period, unless a waiver has been requested and approved; any combination of actual cash expended, or in-kind contributions, may be used to meet the matching requirement. As noted in the audit report, our organization did not meet the 20% non-federal match requirement for the latest program year. Our inability to meet the 20% threshold in fiscal year 2022 was, in part, due to a lack of volunteering activity associated with limited operations/required closures of our Head Start locations throughout the COVID pandemic. The mandatory annual waivers associated with our organization?s 20% non-federal share matching contribution requirement for the first four years (ended July 31, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022) of our Prince George?s County Head Start Program grant agreement were submitted by the end of the organization?s Fiscal Year 2022. Likewise, the annual waver for the first year (ended June 2022) for our Washington, DC Head Start Program grant agreement was also submitted by the end of Fiscal Year 2022. The outstanding waiver requests are currently under review by representatives of The Administration of Families and Children, the agency that oversees the Office of Head Start program. While we have maintained a constant dialogue with the Office of Head Start over the last several months, which administers grant funding and oversight, we have yet to receive a formal approval for any of the individual submissions. We are hopeful that response to all five waiver requests submitted will be obtained no later than the end of the current grant year for our Prince George?s County Program (July 31, 2023).