Finding Text
2023-001 Preferential Treatment of Applications
Criteria: Eligible applicants must be selected on a higher priority level based on home energy costs and needs in relation to income and household size. (42 USC 8624(b)(5)).
Condition/Context: During our testing we found that the Organization provided certain applicants with preferential treatment and did not follow the requirements of 42 USC 8624(b)(5).
Cause: Program staff were engaging in preferential treatment, which was unknown to others in the Organization.
Recommendation: We recommend that the Organization implements policies and procedures to increase monitoring of this program in an effort to ensure preferential treatment for such applicants is prevented.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Please see the last page of this report for managements response to this finding.