Finding 38693 (2022-003)

Criteria or specific requirements: Recipients of federal awards are required to establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-federal entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award (2 CFR 200.303). Condition: During our testing over the County?s quality control process for TANF payments to program participants, we noted one instance where errors identified in the quality control review process were not addressed on a timely basis. Questioned costs: None Contest: for 1 of 40 quality control case reviews selected, the County did not take corrective action for certain errors relating to data recorded for participant identification and pregnancy status in a timely manner. For the exception noted, the case review was performed in May 2022 but corrective action for these errors was not taken until March 2023. We noted that the errors that were not corrected timely did not impact the eligibility determination for the case. Cause: The County did not have a process to ensure that errors identified in the quality control process were corrected in a timely manner. Effect: if errors detected during the quality control review process are not updated timely, it increases the risk that the County pay TANF benefits to an ineligible recipient or incorrectly withhold TANF benefits to an eligible recipient. Repeat Finding: Not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommended the County implement a process to ensure that errors identified in the quality control process are addressed in a timely manner. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.