Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Passed Through: Mississippi Department of Education
Federal Program: Child Nutrition Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559
Compliance Requirement: Eligibility
Repeat Finding: No
Significant Deficiency over Internal Control
Criteria: According to the definition of documentation included at 7 CFR 245.2a complete income based application must provide: Names of all household members, Amount, source, and frequency of current income for each household member, signature of an adult household member, (an electronic signature is acceptable for web-based applications), and the last four digits of the Social Security Number of the household’s primary wage earner or another adult household member or an indication that no adult household member has a Social Security Number.
Condition: During test work it was noted that 12 applications tested did not include the last four digits of the social security number. Five of the twelve applications were paper applications. The remaining seven applications were web-based applications. It was determined that the web-based applications do not require the last 4-digits of the Social Security Number to be processed.
Cause: The missing information was not caught by application reviewers during the review process
Effect: Eligibility status could be improperly determined without all required information required.
Questioned Costs: None
Recommendation: The District should work to ensure that all of the documentation requirements are met before processing eligibility applications. The District should also work with the software company to ensure that the web-based applications require the entering of the last 4-digits of an adult member of the households Social Security Number, if applicable.
Response: The District will increase training to appropriate personnel and ensure all documentation is fully reviewed to make sure requirements are met before processing eligibility applications.