Finding Text
Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs
Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance
Program Name: Career and Technical Education Act, Title I, Part C
Federal Financial Assistance Listing Numbers: 84.048A
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education (ED)
Pass-Through Entity: California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office
Program Name: Foster Care Title IV-E
Federal Financial Assistance Listing Numbers: 93.658
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Pass-Through Entity: City and County of San Francisco
Criteria or Specific Requirements
The Uniform Guidance states that personnel costs for federal programs should represent only “reasonable amounts for activities contributing and directly related to work under an agreement”. Charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed (2 CFR 200.430).
Condition
Time and effort reporting, or another similar internal control activity to retroactively verify employee time spent on the program, was not performed consistently or in a timely manner for the year ending June 30, 2023.
Questioned Costs
There were no questioned costs associated with the condition identified.
Context
The federal programs referenced above had a total of $1,521,228 in expenditures for the year ended June 30, 2023, of which $832,331 was associated with salaries and benefits.
Effect
Without effective internal controls in place over personnel costs, the District risks noncompliance for program costs that could be material.
Cause
The District’s review of personnel charges to identify the employee costs that should and should not be charged to federal programs was not performed consistently, or in a timely manner.
Repeat Finding (Yes or No)
No
Recommendation
The District should monitor personnel costs for federal program in accordance with their policies and procedures. The District should review personnel costs on a regular basis to ensure that costs charged are supported by allowable activities directly related to the program. Additionally, adequate supporting documentation should be retained for personnel charges for federal grants.