Finding 484830 (2023-001)

- Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-08-22

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Flushing failed to submit required reports on time and provided inaccurate financial data, leading to noncompliance with federal reporting requirements.
  • Impacted Requirements: Final report, semi-annual progress report, and annual Federal Financial Report (FFR) were submitted late or inaccurately.
  • Recommended Follow-up: Improve controls for monitoring grant reporting, confirm requirements with HHS, and conduct thorough reviews before submission.

Finding Text

Section III – Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs 2023-001: Compliance with Reporting Requirements (Repeat Finding) Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) Assistance Listing Program Title: Congressional Directives Federal Award Project Title: Community Project Funding/ Congressionally Directed Spending ‐ Construction Assistance Listing Number: 93.493 Federal Award Identification Number: CE146567 Criteria In accordance with 2 CFR 200.328 and the notice of award (“NoA”), there are financial and other reporting requirements that the entity must complete and submit to HHS. The NoA has the following financial and other reporting requirements that were subject to testing: 1. Within 90 days of project completion, a final report is required to be submitted. The project was completed on July 28, 2023 and the final report was required to be submitted by October 26, 2023; 2. A semi-annual progress report is required to be submitted every May and December until the project is completed. The first semi-annual progress report was due December 14, 2023 and; 3. The recipient must submit an annual Federal Financial Report (“FFR”), due October 30, 2023 for the annual period August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023. Condition The conditions of the noncompliance identified are as follows: 4. The final report, due by October 26, 2023, was not submitted to HHS until August 13, 2024. 2. As the final report was not yet completed, the December semi-annual report was required to be submitted. The semi-annual report was submitted December 21, 2023, which was past the stated deadline of December 14, 2023. 3. The FFR submitted on October 24, 2023 for the period ended July 31, 2023 included $0 of federal expenditures when $749,892 of federal expenditures were incurred through the period ended July 31, 2023 based on our review of the underlying expenditure detail. Questioned Costs None Cause Management did not have an adequate understanding of the reporting requirements of the award and the control was not designed to ensure that reports were completed and submitted to the agency in a timely manner. Effect The late submission of the final report and the December 2023 semi-annual report and the submission of inaccurate financial data in the annual FFR causes Flushing to be out of compliance with specific grant reporting requirements. Recommendation We recommend Flushing enhance its control around the monitoring of grant reporting requirements, including evaluating report due dates, confirming reporting requirements with the granting agency as appropriate, and performing reviews prior to submission to ensure all reports are being completed accurately and submitted in a timely manner. Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan is included at the end of this report.

Corrective Action Plan

Management agrees with the three findings and recommendations for corrective action to ensure that these instances do not occur again. 1. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the final project report was not submitted timely, as directed in the Notice of Award, as the “Not Completed Task” list in the HRSA Electronic Handbook portal indicates the Final Report is due October 29, 2025, which is 90 days after the grant’s budget period. The true due date was October 26, 2023, which was 90 days after Project Completion, which was when the New York State Department of Health approved the renovated space for occupancy following a site visit on July 28, 2023. The final project report due October 26, 2023 was submitted on August 13, 2024. 2. The December semi-annual report due December 14, 2023 was submitted one week late, on December 21, 2023. 3. The FFR submitted on October 24, 2023 was submitted with inaccurate data. The FFR due October 29, 2024 was submitted on August 6, 2024 and included the $749,892 that was omitted from the prior FFR to ensure that all funds were accounted for in the FFR reported to HRSA via the Payment Management System. Flushing will also implement the following controls and procedures to prevent any future untimely report submissions or submissions with inaccurate or omitted financial data: 4. The grants contract manager, along with the director of planning, will review all programmatic grant reporting requirements in all Notice of Awards, amendments and agency portals to ensure completeness of reports due and their respective deadlines. All programmatic reports going forward will be reviewed by the grants contract manager along with the director of planning and will be submitted on a timely basis going forward. The grants contract manager in conjunction with the director of planning will monitor the HRSA website on a monthly basis to ensure no deadlines are missed regarding the required reports for the grant in question. 2. Going forward, the expenses related to cost-reimbursement grants will be accrued/accounted for on an accrual basis prior to the submission of the FFR, even though we may not be able to drawdown the funds at that time. These controls and procedures will be implemented by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2024. Management responsible for corrective action plan: James Farrell, Assistant Director, Development (jfarrel1@jhmc.org) Viola Lingat, Senior Accountant (vlingat@jhmc.org) Ira Freiman, Grants Accountant (ifreiman@jhmc.org) Manzar Sassani, Vice President of Finance (msassani@jhmc.org)

Categories

Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.696 Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion Grants $957,797
93.493 Congressional Directives $749,892
93.243 Medication-Assisted Treatment Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction $548,518
93.137 Community-Driven Approaches to Address Factors Contributing to Structural Racism $221,541
93.889 National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program $95,000
93.958 Workforce Grant Community Mental Health Services Block Grant $40,000