FAC Explorer

Finding 998413 (2022-002)

Material Weakness
Requirement
P
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-06-23
Audit: 312326
Organization: Surry County (NC)
Auditor: Gould Killian CPA Group P A

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Lack of documented second-party reviews for LIHEAP programs raises concerns about compliance with Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.303.
  • Impacted Requirements: Effective internal controls are not established, risking errors in eligibility determinations due to high application volume and low staffing.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a formal, documented review process to ensure adequate oversight and compliance with eligibility verification.

Finding Text

Criteria: Uniform Guidance 2 CFR ? 200.303 requires the non-Federal entity to ?establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award.? Reasonable assurance includes the County documenting a key control was implemented.Condition: The main internal control over the LIHEAP programs are supervisory review of income verification and eligibility determination and documentation. There was no documentation of second party reviews for the LIHEAP programs. In addition, the staffing levels for this program is low related to the number of clients being served.Questioned Costs: No questioned costs.Context: The LIEAP Programs typically consist of a high volume of applications in a short period of time (approximately 3 months) with a required application turnaround period (2 to 10 business days for each application). Since the program is performed under Adult Services, these County staff were not familiar with NCFAST. Applications within the LIHEAP programs require the use of NCFAST for online verification, documentation, application entry, and eligibility determination. Due to these factors, supervisory review is critical. There are time pressures on the supervisory level due to high volume and short time period and limited staffing level. Although the Adult Services Supervisor currently performs random second party reviews of workers? eligibility determinations, it was not documented. Surry County processed 2,365 applications during fiscal year end June 30, 2022. We tested 40 applications and determined that there were 3 applications that were approved without proper income verification and 3 applications with technical errors that did not affect eligibility. This indicates concerns that there could be pervasive errors in determining eligibility.Cause: The County does not have a formal documented review process for this program. Review documentation was not retained.Effect: We were unable to verify whether the second party review process was functioning as designed.Identification of repeat finding: This is not a repeat finding.Recommendation: We recommend the implementation of a formal and documented review process to include an appropriate number of reviews given the volume of applications processed for given time period as appropriate.Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The County agrees with this finding and is taking coordinated effort and action. Refer to corrective action plan on subsequent page 16.

Categories

Eligibility Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $4.29M
93.778 Medical Assistance Program $1.85M
93.563 Child Support Enforcement $535,546
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $365,217
10.557 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $347,912
93.667 Social Services Block Grant $336,386
14.239 Home Investment Partnerships Program $320,894
16.838 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program $193,219
93.268 Immunization Cooperative Agreements $124,047
93.044 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iii, Part B_grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers $122,191
93.596 Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds of the Child Care and Development Fund $106,312
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $66,908
93.994 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States $59,087
93.659 Adoption Assistance $55,315
97.042 Emergency Management Performance Grants $50,353
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $48,164
93.217 Family Planning_services $45,405
93.658 Foster Care_title IV-E $44,216
20.106 Airport Improvement Program $43,723
93.767 Children's Health Insurance Program $43,518
90.404 2018 Hava Election Security Grants $41,232
16.922 Equitable Sharing Program $39,904
93.556 Promoting Safe and Stable Families $38,537
93.045 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iii, Part C_nutrition Services $37,349
93.069 Public Health Emergency Preparedness $35,478
93.991 Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant $30,608
93.053 Nutrition Services Incentive Program $24,681
93.645 Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program $23,634
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $22,844
93.052 National Family Caregiver Support, Title Iii, Part E $14,842
93.898 Cancer Prevention and Control Programs for State, Territorial and Tribal Organizations $11,050
97.067 Homeland Security Grant Program $9,829
93.674 John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood $9,166
93.568 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance $8,724
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $8,053
93.324 State Health Insurance Assistance Program $6,216
93.436 Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (wisewoman) $1,920
93.977 Preventive Health Services_sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Grants $100
93.116 Project Grants and Cooperative Agreements for Tuberculosis Control Programs $50
93.566 Refugee and Entrant Assistance_state Administered Programs $31