Finding 966529 (2023-001)

Head Start Cluster Head Start, ALN 93.600 Department of Health and Human Services Program Year 2022-2023 Criteria or specific requirement - Reporting - The requirements for reporting are contained in Section 200.328 which states unless otherwise approved by OMB, the Federal awarding agency must solicit only the OMB-approved governmentwide data elements for collection of financial information (at time of publication the Federal Financial Report or such future), OMB-approved, governmentwide data elements available from the OMB-designated standards lead. This information must be collected with the frequency required by the terms and conditions of the federal award. Condition - UAMS did not submit the annual Federal Financial Report (FFR) timely. Questioned costs - $0 Context - Out of the population of seven reports required to be submitted for the Head Start program during FY2023, 2 were selected for testing. Our sampling method was not, and was not intended to be, statistically valid. There were 5 attributes tested for each report selected for testing. Effect - UAMS did not submit the annual Federal Financial Report (FFR) timely. Cause - UAMS' processes did not ensure reports were submitted timely. Repeat finding - Yes, 2022-007 Recommendation - We recommend that management design and implement internal controls that will ensure that all required reports are submitted timely. View of Responsible Officials - In order to address the exceptions identified in the audit, UAMS has implemented new processes where the staff member assigned to the Head Start program meets weekly with the Head Start Finance Manager and Director to discuss expenses allocated to the grants, assign tasks to be completed each week, and discuss reporting needs and deadlines. This finding recurred due to UAMS not implementing the new process until after January 2023. The new implemented processes have proven to assist in proper oversight and accurate financial management of the grants and allowed UAMS to meet the last reporting deadline in November 2023.