Finding Text
FINDING REFERENCE NUMBER 2023-060
FEDERAL PROGRAMS (ALN – 93.558) TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
AWARD NUMBERS 2021G996117; 2022G996117; 2023996117 (Federal Award Years: 2021 through 2023)
ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATION FOR SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAMILY (ADSEF, BY ITS SPANISH ACRONYM)
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT SPECIAL TESTS & PROVISIONS – PENALTY FOR REFUSAL TO WORK / LACK OF CHILD CARE FOR SINGLE CUSTODIAL PARENT OF CHILD UNDER AGE SIX / PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH WORK VERIFICATION PLAN
TYPE OF FINDING MATERIAL NONCOMPLIANCE AND MATERIAL WEAKNESS
CRITERIA 2 CFR 200.334, Record retention requirements, establishes that: the recipient and subrecipient must retain all Federal award records for three years from the date of submission of their final financial report. For awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, the recipient and subrecipient must retain records for three years from the date of submission of their quarterly or annual financial report, respectively. Records to be retained include but are not limited to financial records, supporting documentation, and statistical records. Further, in §200.337, Access to records, requires in (a) Records of recipients and subrecipients. The Federal agency or pass-through entity, Inspectors General, the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their authorized representatives must have the right of access to any records of the recipient or subrecipient pertinent to the Federal award to perform audits, execute site visits, or for any other official use. This right also includes timely and reasonable access to the recipient's or subrecipient's personnel for the purpose of interviewing and discussion related to such documents or the Federal award in general.
STATEMENT OF CONDITION As part of our audit procedures for special tests and provisions, we selected twenty-five (25) participants from a population of 475 who had been penalized for failing to meet the work requirement or complying with the work verification plan. Of the sample of participants, only ten (10) files were submitted to us for evaluation.
Related to the Lack of Child Care requirement for single Custodial Parent of Child Under Age Six, from a population of seven (7) participants identified with this requirement, we requested three (3) files for evaluation, however, we were only given one (1) file. This is a scope limitation.
QUESTIONED COSTS No questioned costs identified.
PERSPECTIVE INFORMATION This is a systemic deficiency. ADSEF was unable to demonstrate compliance with this compliance requirement.
STATEMENT OF CAUSE ADSEF does not have an adequate process to identify participants' files within a reasonable timeframe for auditing.
POSSIBLE ASSERTED EFFECT We were unable to obtain evidence of compliance with these Special Tests and Provisions because the information in the files was not available for review.
IDENTIFICATION OF
REPEAT FINDING No reported as prior audit finding.
RECOMMENDATIONS We recommend that management establish an appropriate mechanism to identify participants' files within a reasonable time.