Finding 584888 (2023-001)

Criteria As a condition of receiving Federal awards, non-Federal entities agree to comply with laws, regulations and the provisions of grant agreements and contracts, and to maintain internal control to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with these requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services established “reporting” compliance requirement applicable to the Head Start Cluster which stipulates that recipients submit special reporting related to real property subject to the terms and conditions of the contract. Condition During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023, the District did not have effective internal controls over compliance with the reporting requirement described above. The District was delinquent in its submission to the granting agency of its annual form SF-429 for Head Start. Cause The District did not have adequately designed controls in place to ensure compliance with the reporting requirement. Effect or Potential Effect The lack of effective controls creates an environment in which errors could go undetected. Context The District failed to submit the annual SF-429 report for the reporting period ending November 30, 2022 in a timely manner and the report is delinquent. Repeat Finding Repeat finding of 2022-004 Recommendation We recommend that the District review its internal controls over compliance to ensure controls are suitably designed and are in place to prevent, or detect and correct, noncompliance with applicable compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Plan See corrective action plan.