Finding Text
Finding No. 2023-002 – Eligibility
Agency and Award: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
ALN Number:
93.575, Child Care and Development Block Grant Program (Child Care and Development Fund Cluster)
Agency and Award: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
CSFA Number:
80.005, Children and Families in Need of Services Program
Significant Deficiency/Other Matter Compliance
Criteria: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 200.303(a) states the non-federal entity must 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. These internal controls should be in compliance with 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).
The State of Florida’s Department of Financial Services’ State Projects Compliance Supplement Part Five: Internal Controls Section D. Eligibility states that recipients should develop Control Objectives to provide reasonable assurance that only eligible individuals and organizations receive assistance under state projects, that subawards are made only to eligible subrecipients, and that amounts provided to or on behalf of eligibles were calculated in accordance with project requirements.
Condition: During our testing of participant eligibility, we noted that supervisory personnel did not properly review and approve their eligibility documentation prior to the participant entering the program for ten of 80 participants selected for eligibility testing.
Cause: Policies and procedures were not appropriately adhered to in these instances to ensure a supervisor properly approved eligibility documents prior to participants entering the program.
Effect or Potential Effect: Potential effect is that an ineligible participant is allowed to participate in the program.
Questions Costs: There are no questioned costs as the auditor was able to verify the participants eligibility to participate in the program based on the documentation provided.
Context: We tested a sample of 80 participants and found ten exceptions.
Recommendation: We recommend that the Organization review its controls over eligibility to ensure that eligibility documents for all participants are reviewed by supervisory personnel prior to the participant entering the program.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding. See Corrective Action Plan.