Finding Text
FINDING 2022-001 Information on the federal program: Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Internal Controls Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, After School Snacks, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Finding: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the reporting compliance requirement. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls to ensure accurate information was presented in order to be in compliance with the reporting requirements. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system placed the School Corporation at risk of noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements. A lack of effective reviews could have also allowed noncompliance with the compliance requirements and allowed the misuse and mismanagement of federal funds and assets by the review process not ensuring there was accurate reporting of the activities of the programs. Questioned Costs: There were $39 of known questioned costs identified. The known questioned costs were calculated taking the number of meals (breakfast, lunch, and snack) overclaimed or underclaimed times the IDOE reimbursement rates for breakfast, lunch and snack for the month tested. The net overclaimed reimbursement amount for the four months tested was $39. Context: We noted that for four claims in a sample of four, the meal counts were over/under claimed for the month. We noted that in October 2020, the School Corporation had underclaimed lunches by 212 meals and overclaimed breakfast by 42 meals. In April 2021, the School Corporation had overclaimed breakfast by 397 meals. In October 2021, the School Corporation had underclaimed lunches by 48 meals and snacks by 36 meals. In April 2022, the School Corporation had overclaimed lunches by two meals, snacks by 45 meals, and underclaimed breakfast by 2 meals. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No. Recommendation: We recommend that the School Corporation establish an effective review control to verify the sponsor claim reimbursement summaries are correct. This review should be performed by someone other than the individual submitting the claims and we recommend this review be formally documented. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.