Finding Text
Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Federal Program: 93.137 Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Grant Program
Identification Number: 1 CPIMP211296-01-00
Requirement: Reporting
Type of Finding: Material weakness in internal control over major program; Noncompliance
Criteria: Supporting documentation must be maintained for all reports required to be filed for federal programs. Amounts reported on financial reports should be supported by the accounting records that support the audited financial statements and the schedule of expenditures of federal awards.
Condition: Supporting documentation for key line items on the quarterly progress reports and monthly reports required to be filed in the first six months of the project was not maintained. Amounts reported as cash receipts did not match the underlying support and cash disbursements included accrued amounts.
Cause: Review and approval of grant reporting did not take place at the level needed to support accurate federal reporting. Also, the minority health program experienced a high volume of employee turnover.
Effect: Misinformation presented to the federal government may lead to federal inquiries of those charged with governance.
Context: The reports selected for testing (two quarterly financial and performance progress reports and three monthly special reports) did not have documentation maintained that supported the program data stated in the reports. As noted in the directions for the quarterly FFR, cash receipts and cash disbursements are only actual cash received. The amounts reported by the City included expenditures which were in accounts payable and Brown Plus could not trace the cash receipts to the general ledger detail.
Recommendation: Program management should maintain any and all support utilized in the preparation of federal reports. Documentation of the methods utilized to extract activity from the general ledger for financial reporting should also be maintained. Minority health staff preparing reports should carefully review reporting instructions to ensure the correct amounts are reported.
Views of Responsible Official(s) and Planned Corrective Actions: See corrective action plan.