Finding Text
Finding No.: 2023-001 Internal Control Over Grant Expenditures
Federal Program Name: FEMA Feeding Mission
CFDA Numbers: 97.036
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Human Services
Information on Federal Program: The objective of the FEMA Feeding Mission is to
allow for reimbursement of expenditures prior to or during a state of emergency such as
the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mission is a special services program in addition to the
normal TEFAP operations utilizing the existing staff and relationships to coordinate a
more efficient response to the emergency requirements.
Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Organization is responsible for establishing and
maintaining internal controls over grant expenditures to prevent error and fraud.
Condition: The Organization lacked sufficient internal control over grant expenditures.
During testing of grant expenditures, it was noted that 9 out of 9 reimbursements tested were
modified by the State Agency overseeing the grant. Feeding Illinois did not properly calculate
the number of expenditures for reimbursement.
Questioned Costs: N/A
Context: The control in place over grant expenditures did not operate effectively
Effect: The Organization submitted grant expenditures both in excess of and less than
amounts reimbursed.
Cause: The Organization supplied a spreadsheet to the recipient food banks to gather data used
for reimbursement for the grant. The spreadsheet was modified by the recipient food banks
which caused errors in the spreadsheet upon return to the Organization. The errors were not
found prior to submission to the State. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: N/A
Recommendation: We recommend that the Organization perform a more detailed review of the
information submitted to verify the accuracy prior to submission for reimbursement.
Views of Responsible Officials: This specific emergency Program – FEMA Feeding Mission –
was a one-time, pandemic-related, disaster-relief project that necessitated thousands of lines of
information being entered and reviewed before submission. We acknowledge that during this
process, due to the volume and urgency, some embedded formulas miscalculated totals that were
inadvertently undetected by Feeding Illinois.