April 1, 2004–September 30, 2004
Office of the Inspector General
The Office of Justice Programs
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The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) manages the Department's multi-faceted grant program. Since its inception in 1984, OJP has awarded more than 80,000 grants totaling more than $39 billion for a wide variety of programs to prevent and control crime. OJP has 686 employees and is led by the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for Justice Programs, with a senior management team comprised of the Deputy AAG and five bureau heads. The five bureaus are: 1) the Bureau of Justice Assistance; 2) the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); 3) the Bureau of Justice Statistics; 4) the National Institute of Justice; and 5) the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). The two program offices include the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education and the Community Capacity Development Office.
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Audit of OJP's Technical Assistance and Training Program
The technical assistance and training program is the product of many OJP bureaus and program offices and includes a wide range of funding sources, types of services, and products. For example, OJJDP provides training, technical assistance, and information on trends, new approaches, and innovative techniques to juvenile courts and court personnel; law enforcement; detention and corrections; youth service providers; and child advocacy organizations. Grantees include universities, non-profit organizations, states, and municipalities.
We audited 21 of the 158 technical assistance and training grants awarded by OJP between FYs 1995 and 2002. These 21 grants totaled $77.7 million, or 25 percent of the $312.5 million in total technical assistance and training grant dollars awarded. Our objectives were to determine if OJP implemented internal control measures to ensure accurate financial reporting by grantees and to assess OJP's monitoring and evaluation of grant objectives.
Our audits disclosed several weaknesses in OJP's monitoring efforts. We found that grantees were reimbursed for unallowable and unsupported costs, financial status reports and progress reports were submitted untimely, and closeout requirements were not observed. Our audits also determined that key elements for monitoring grant activity in OJP's automated system for managing grants were missing. OJP's Grants Management System (GMS) was initiated in December 1998 as a pilot program to streamline the solicitation, application, and awarding of grants. When functioning at full capacity, GMS should provide "one-stop," full life-cycle support for all OJP grant management efforts. While OJP has mandated that its various components implement GMS, we found that certain GMS modules were not fully operational during the audit period.
Another contributing factor to the weaknesses we found during this audit was the lack of a structured method for tracking program monitoring activities. In addition, OJP was not collecting sufficient data to measure the performance of technical assistance and training grants. Further, OJP does not play a role in developing grantees' performance or outcome measures for program evaluation purposes, nor does it have specific requirements that grantees must adhere to in developing performance measures. As a result, for the 21 grants that we audited, it was not possible to assess the impact of the technical assistance and training program and determine whether the grants were achieving their intended purposes.
In total, we identified approximately $5.2 million in questioned costs and funds that could be put to better use. Our report contained three recommendations to improve OJP's technical assistance and training program. OJP agreed with the recommendations to: 1) ensure that grant managers receive annual training on OJP's requirements governing the submission of timely and accurate reports, allowable cost, grant monitoring, and grant closeout procedures; 2) ensure that its automated system for managing grants is brought up to full functioning capacity as soon as possible and grant managers are trained to utilize this system; and 3) develop performance or outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of technical assistance and training grants.
Grant Audits
We continue to audit grants awarded by OJP and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Examples of findings from these audits during this reporting period include the following:
- The City of Waterbury, Connecticut, was awarded more than $4.4 million in COPS grants to hire 49 additional police officers and redeploy 31 police officers from administrative duties to community policing. We determined that the grantee charged unallowable costs to the grants, could not fully account for grant expenditures, began its procurement process before the award start date, and could not demonstrate the required level of redeployment of officer positions into community policing for the required periods. As a result, we identified in excess of $2.5 million in questioned costs.
- The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council in Montana was awarded more than $2.6 million in COPS grants to hire 17 additional full-time police officers and provide equipment and training for the officers. We determined that the grantee violated the non-supplanting requirement, charged unallowable and unsupported costs to grant funds, had not implemented the community policing activities outlined in the grant applications, had no retention plans, and will not retain the 17 grant funded officers for the required period. As a result, we identified in excess of $1.1 million in questioned costs and recommended that $597,465 be put to better use.
- The University of Central Florida in Orlando was awarded more than $7.8 million in OJP grant funds to continue the operations of the National Center for Forensic Science project established at the University. We determined that the grantee incorrectly reported total outlays and indirect cost amounts and charged unallowable and unsupported costs to grant funds. As a result, we identified $909,534 in questioned costs.
- The Midwest Regional Children's Advocacy Center Project in St. Paul, Minnesota, was awarded more than $1.2 million in grant funds by OJJDP. The grants were awarded to provide technical assistance and training to improve services available in the Midwest Region to victims of child physical and sexual abuse and neglect. We determined that the grantee transferred funds between budget cost categories in excess of authorized levels, had not credited a portion of the program income to the grant - resulting in excessive draw downs and overstated expenses, and did not document the time spent on grant activities by grant funded employees. As a result, we identified $351,484 in questioned costs.
The following is an example of a case involving COPS that the OIG investigated during this reporting period:
- A former COPS grant administrator was indicted in the Southern District of Ohio on theft charges. An investigation by the OIG's Fraud Detection Office determined that the grant administrator stole money from a COPS grant awarded to the Village of Smithfield, Ohio. The grant was supposed to be used to hire one full-time and two part-time police officers in the village. Instead, the grant administrator used some of the grant money to pay for trips to the racetrack, clothing, and monthly fees at a resort. Judicial proceedings continue.
No Suspect Casework DNA Backlog Reduction Grant Program
Through the National Institute of Justice, OJP provides funding to states for the identification, collection, and analysis of DNA samples from evidence collected in cases where no suspect has been developed or in which the original suspect has been eliminated. Our audit is focusing on funding provided in the first year of the program (FY 2001) to evaluate the: 1) administration and oversight of the program by OJP, 2) oversight of contract laboratories by states receiving grants, 3) allowability of costs charged to grants, and 4) achievement of program goals.
Grants to Native American and Alaskan Native Tribal Governments
From FYs 2000 to 2003, OJP awarded over $200 million in tribal specific grant programs. From FYs 1999 to 2003, COPS awarded more than $165 million in tribal specific grant programs. The OIG is auditing the overall strategy of COPS and OJP for awarding grants to tribal governments; COPS' and OJP's monitoring of tribal grantees; and whether costs charged by grantees are allowable and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and terms and conditions of the grants.
OVC's Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program
OVC was created in 1984 to assist crime victims with recovery from physical, emotional, and psychological injury. The OIG is reviewing OVC to determine whether: 1) timely assistance was provided to jurisdictions in order to address victim needs in the aftermath of an act of terrorism or mass violence, 2) the eligibility of applicants was properly ascertained, and 3) the purposes for funding grants were allowable.