Finding 396132 (2021-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2021
Accepted
2024-05-07

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Eleven grants lacked documentation verifying low income status, which is essential for eligibility.
  • Impacted Requirements: Assistance costs may be disallowed due to non-compliance with income verification criteria.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement stronger controls to ensure all necessary documentation is maintained before payment authorization.

Finding Text

2021-001. Condition: Documentation of verification of low income status could not be located for eleven selected grants. Criteria: Eligibility for the program required family income below the poverty level. Cause: Proper controls were not in place to maintain proper documentation in client files before payment was authorized. Effect: The cost of the assistance may be disallowed. Context: A sample of 40 grants total $132,263 was selected for audit from a population of 1,267 grants totaling $4,115,244. The test found eleven grants that were not in compliance with questioned costs totaling $34,900. Our sample was a statistically valid sample.

Corrective Action Plan

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Catholic Charities of Yolo-Solano, Inc. concurs that our internal control system, in some instances, did not fully connect our program documentation of eligibility criteria and necessary documentation to our accounting department’s documentation. Further, we concur that our external bookkeeper did not have proper review controls in place, nor were our systems properly designed to identify this lack of internal controls over expenditures. Catholic Charities of Yolo-Solano, Inc. have already initiated several corrective actions. • Catholic Charities of Yolo-Solano, Inc. engaged an external accounting firm that specializes in nonprofit accounting, internal controls and grant compliance to assist us in ensuring that each awarded grant includes the necessary eligibility details and supporting documentation. This firm utilizes a team-based approach, ensuring all monthly accounting is reviewed by the assigned Chief Financial Officer assigned to manage and oversee the accounting as well as design and implement strong internal controls.

Categories

Questioned Costs Eligibility

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 396133 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 396134 2021-003
    Material Weakness
  • 972574 2021-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 972575 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 972576 2021-003
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.019 Coronavirus Relief Fund $4.44M
21.023 Emergency Rental Assistance Program $2.95M
97.024 Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program $110,000
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $67,319
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $17,721
97.088 Disaster Assistance Projects $3,274