FAC Explorer

Finding 998414 (2022-001)

-
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-06-23
Audit: 312326
Organization: Surry County (NC)
Auditor: Gould Killian CPA Group P A

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Three applicants received LIEAP benefits without proper income verification documentation, raising concerns about eligibility determinations.
  • Impacted Requirements: NC Department of Health and Human Services mandates retention of eligibility documentation, which was not followed due to miscommunication and lack of experience with NCFAST.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Provide training on income verification and documentation retention policies, and implement processes to ensure compliance moving forward.

Finding Text

Criteria: The NC Department of Health and Human Services requires information used to determine eligibility (citizenship and income) be retained in some form.Condition: For three applications selected, there was no form of income verification documented. These three applicants received LIEAP benefit payments and LIEAP ARPA benefits with no income verification documentation even though the applicant?s file indicated online verification was performed. The caseworker did not run online verification (OVS) in NCFAST. In addition, there was conflicting applicant income information when compared to other program income determination for the applicants that received other benefits. Physical documentation for FY2022 applications was recently disposed of by the County (unable to verify income). Since documentation was not available, we were unable to determine whether or not the eligibility determination was correct. Questioned costs were estimated based upon the error of these three cases compared with our total LIEAP cases tested.Questioned Costs: $149,000. The applicants received a total of $1,942.74 (each received a total of $647.58, consisting of $300 for LIEAP and $347.58 for LIEAP ARPA automatic payment), which made up 11.8% of total LIEAP payments tested.Context: Surry County recipients were awarded $1,640,668 (paid to vendors) across three programs(LIEAP, CIP, and LIHWAP) of which $1,348,137 was for LIEAP (includes ARPA). We selected atotal of 40 applications over the three programs with these applications awarded $20,418 out of the$1,640,668 in total awards. 29 applications of the 40 were for LIEAP recipients who were awarded$17,489 and found 3 out of the 29 applications received assistance of $1,942.74 without having theappropriate income verification.Cause: There was higher volume of applicants due to funding increases. Documentation was notretained due to miscommunication between former employees regarding the requirement ofretaining documentation. In addition, those involved in the program?s eligibility determinationhad limited experience with NCFAST since these employees did not work with similar programswhere income verification was needed, other than the LIEAP program. Plus, a majority ofexpenditures occurs over a short time period, generally December through March depending onfunding availability for this program.Effect: Improper eligibility determinations may have occurred.Identification of Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding.Recommendation: We recommend additional training on income verification procedures and Countydocumentation retention policies for the program. Processes should be implemented to ensuredocumentation is retained in some form.Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The County agrees with this findingand is taking coordinated effort and action.

Categories

Questioned Costs Eligibility Program Income

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