Finding Text
Identification of the federal program:
Federal Agencies: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Pass-Through Entities: Ohio Department of Health
Assistance Listing No: 93.354, Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response
Award Periods: 2023
Criteria or specific requirement (including statutory, regulatory or other citation):
Section 200.303 of the Uniform Guidance states the following regarding internal control:
“The non-Federal entity must:
a) 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).”
Condition:
There was a lack of sufficient internal controls documentation evidencing management’s review and approval of the amounts submitted on the monthly financial and quarterly performance reports required by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
Cause:
Internal controls over the review of the reports were not documented sufficiently to evidence there were no errors in the reporting of the data.
Effect or potential effect:
Reports submitted to ODH may contain errors and not be supported by the books and records of Akron Children’s.
Questioned costs:
None
Context:
Akron Children’s submitted twelve monthly financial reports and four quarterly reports to the ODH in 2023. Management did not retain sufficient evidence supporting the review and approval of the financial reports prior to submission to ODH.
Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable:
The finding is a repeat finding from the prior year, 2022-003.
Recommendation:
When executing the established controls over the review and approval of the reports, management should document and retain evidence of the control procedures performed for all reports submitted.
Views of responsible officials:
Akron Children’s implemented a review checklist and sign-off process to document controls for the review of the monthly financial reports submitted to the granting agency in 2023. This checklist and sign-off process will be extended to all federal grants with periodic performance reporting in 2024.