Finding 573725 (2024-001)

Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture Assistance Listing Number: 10.569 Federal Program Name: Emergency Food Assistance Program (Food Commodities) Cluster Name: Food Distribution Cluster Pass-through Entity: Washington State Department of Agriculture Pass-through Award Numbers: K4738 and K5698 Type of Finding: Material weakness in internal control over compliance and material noncompliance. Criteria: Federal regulations and the OMB Compliance Supplement require that grantees verify eligibility for individuals before providing food distributions and maintain records documenting such eligibility. Condition: Alternatives to Hunger dba Bellingham Food Bank (the Organization) did not require intake forms be completed by recipients of food commodities at certain distribution centers to determine and document eligibility throughout the entire year. No other verification was performed to determine whether individuals were eligible before receiving food commodities. Cause and Context: The Organization did not finish implementing its new eligibility verification process until mid-2024 and, as such, was not in compliance with these requirements for the full year. Effect: Food commodities may have been distributed to individuals who were not eligible to receive them. Questioned costs: There are no questioned costs associated with this finding as there were no direct payments provided by the Organization to recipients of food commodities from the program. Repeat finding: This is a repeat finding of finding 2023-001 from the prior year audit. Recommendation: The Organization should consistently obtain client intake data and retain such records to ensure compliance with eligibility requirements. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the finding.