Finding Text
2024-001 Participant Tracking
Assistance Listing Number: 64.055
Name of Program and Cluster: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Agency: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
E - Eligibility
Significant Deficiency
Condition The Organization does not have sufficient internal controls over participants in the system.
Criteria Services are to be provided to eligible individuals and their families through outreach, provision or coordination of suicide prevention services, and connection to VA and community resources. Eligible individuals include veterans and their family members and they must be at risk of suicide.
Cause The Organization had difficulty providing a listing of eligible and active participants by contract or fiscal year. Additionally, as noted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) audit of the program issued in March 2025, program agreements were not on file for participants and the Organization did not have a policy element requiring Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) assessment completed with a staff member. The VA audit also identified that there is no policy for releasing program participants.
Effect The Organization was not able to produce a complete listing of all active participants for the period under audit. Although no eligibility compliance failures were noted during testing, there is no confirmation that the complete population for the period under audit was tested.
Recommendation RBT recommends that the Organization track participants outside of the online portal including date enrolled and discharge date, to ensure that all participants who receive services within a contract year or fiscal year are eligible, uploaded to the portal and deactivated in a timely manner when discharged. The portal should be periodically cross referenced to the independent list maintained. RBT also recommends policies are updated and required assessment and release forms are maintained on file.
Response See Corrective Action Plan