Finding 965897 (2021-002)

Material Weakness
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2021
Accepted
2024-03-29

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Organization failed to submit nine required financial and performance reports on time, violating grant reporting requirements.
  • Impacted Requirements: Monthly and quarterly reports must be submitted within 30 days, and annual reports within 90 days after the grant year ends.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Review and strengthen internal controls to ensure timely submissions; seek extensions from the awarding agency if delays are anticipated.

Finding Text

Late Submission of Required Financial, Programmatic, and Performance Reports Audit Results: Information on Federal Programs: Assistance Listing #: 16.582 Crime Victim Assistance/Discretionary Grants and 93.591 Family Violence Prevention and Services/State Domestic Violence Coalitions Grant Award Numbers: VOCA-2018-003, 2001MDSDVC, 2101MDSDVC21, 2001MDSDC3 Federal Agency: United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Health and Human Services. Pass-through Entity (VOCA-2018-003): State of Maryland - Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention. Criteria: All of the grants under these programs require that financial, programmatic, and performance reports be submitted on a monthly, quarterly basis and/or annual basis. Monthly and quarterly financial and performance reports are due within thirty calendar days from the end of each quarter. Annual financial and performance reports are due within 90 calendar days from the end of each grant year. Condition: The Organization did not comply with the reporting requirements in accordance with grant requirements. We tested the entire population, which was twenty eight in total required to be submitted. During our testing, we noted nine reports that were submitted after the deadline. We consider this to be an instance of non-compliance and a material weakness in internal control over compliance for the reporting requirement. Questioned costs: None Context: Federal agencies rely on these reports to ensure that recipients are meeting their expectations. Therefore delays in reporting can result in delays of the receipt of funding. Effect: As a result of the late submission, the Organization is not in compliance with the reporting requirements of the Uniform Guidance. Cause: This resulted from human error and turnover at the accounting and management level. Recommendation: We recommend reviewing the controls in place to ensure that all future reports are submitted on time and in accordance with grant requirements. If the Organization expects that there will be a delay in the submission of the reports, they should obtain permission to extend the submission date from the awarding agency. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: MNADV continued to experience significant transitions during FY21. FY21 was the first full fiscal year for the new Executive Director and a new finance manager was hired at the beginning of FY21. These senior leadership transitions were marked by a learning curve for both the Executive Director and Finance Manager who had to learn the reporting processes and online systems for each of the different grants which included federal, state and private reporting systems. Also of note was a lack of completed audits for FY19 and FY20, which meant that substantial work had to be completed to ensure that what was reported for each grant was indeed accurate. All of these factors contributed to reports being late and none of these factors are still at play. The current Executive Director and Finance Manager are now familiar with all reporting systems. All login and secondary authentication methods have been properly set up and are functioning as desired. Internal processes for collecting grant data and reporting out this data have been established.

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring Material Weakness Reporting Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 389451 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 389452 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 389453 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 389454 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 389455 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 389456 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 965893 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 965894 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 965895 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 965896 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 965898 2021-003
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance $289,195
93.591 Family Violence Prevention and Services/state Domestic Violence Coalitions $278,984
16.582 Crime Victim Assistance/discretionary Grants $123,535
16.526 Ovw Technical Assistance Initiative $97,338
16.588 Violence Against Women Formula Grants $89,541
16.034 Covid-19 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program $87,724
93.591 Covid-19 Family Violence Prevention and Services/state Domestic Violence Coalitions $61,870
16.556 State Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions $50,479
16.817 Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program $22,673