Summary
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has asked GAO to review the administration of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program. As part of this review, we are examining the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) efforts to monitor states' use of CSBG funds. Specifically, we have been reviewing efforts undertaken by HHS's Office of Community Services (OCS), which has primary responsibility for administering the CSBG program.
Specifically, we found that OCS staff that conduct monitoring visits told us they lacked the full range of necessary skills to perform these visits, and procedures are not in place to ensure that monitoring teams collectively have requisite skills. Specifically, CSBG staff told us they lacked the expertise needed to assess the financial operations of state CSBG programs--a key component of the CSBG monitoring process. OCS did not issue mandatory reports on monitoring results to any of the six states it visited during fiscal years 2003 and 2004. OCS officials informed us that they intend to issue reports for fiscal year 2005 visits. However, 6 months after completing these visits, OCS has yet to issue a final report to any state. Although OCS monitoring procedures direct staff to write reports after visits and send draft reports on their findings to state agencies for review and comment before final issuance, the procedures do not include instructions with regard to specific time frames for completing these steps. OCS cannot locate key documents pertaining to its monitoring visits of states conducted in 2003 and 2004. Although OCS officials stated that program files should include documentation of its monitoring visits, we found that OCS's file management policies do not include directions on retaining these monitoring documents. Additionally, officials told us that staff responsible for carrying out monitoring activities had retired and their files could not be located. OCS's most recent CSBG report to Congress, which covers fiscal years 2000 to 2003, did not include information on the results of its state evaluations, as required by statute. In its previous report to Congress, which covered fiscal year 1999, OCS provided information on these results and acknowledged that it is statutorily obligated to do so. Additionally, OCS has not been timely in issuing these reports and has not submitted them annually to Congress, as required. For example, OCS issued a consolidated report for fiscal years 2000 to 2003 in December 2005. Officials in OCS and the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget said that the report was issued just recently because of time lags in receiving data from states and the length of the agency's internal review process.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Cornelia M. Ashby
Government Accountability Office: Education, Workforce, and Income Security
(202) 512-6778
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to ensure that OCS has the internal controls to fulfill its CSBG monitoring responsibilities, HHS's Assistant Secretary for Children and Families should instruct the director of OCS to establish formal written policies and procedures for ensuring that teams conducting monitoring visits include staff with requisite skills.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families
Status: In process
Comments: As of October 2007, HHS officials told us that they hired three federal staff and two contract auditors with expertise in financial management to monitor state programs and provide training and technical assistance to improve state financial oversight of local agencies receiving CSBG funds. HHS also has revised the CSBG state monitoring tool to include sections on fiscal controls and state financial monitoring of local agencies. Additionally, agency officials reported that they established the Division of State Assistance/Monitoring Task Force in August 2006 that is tasked with developing uniform procedures and guidelines for conducting CSBG on-site monitoring activities, among other duties.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that OCS has the internal controls to fulfill its CSBG monitoring responsibilities, HHS's Assistant Secretary for Children and Families should instruct the director of OCS to establish formal written policies and procedures for ensuring the timely completion of monitoring reports to states.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families
Status: In process
Comments: In their July 2007 report on CSBG training, technical assistance, and capacity building, agency officials reported that they developed procedures to ensure the timeliness and quality of state monitoring reports. The report mentions that the procedures are designed to ensure that within 60 days after monitoring visits are completed HHS staff draft state monitoring reports and federal staff and affected states review state monitoring reports. Also, the procedures are designed to ensure that final reports are completed within 120 days after monitoring visits.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that OCS has the internal controls to fulfill its CSBG monitoring responsibilities, HHS's Assistant Secretary for Children and Families should instruct the director of OCS to establish formal written policies and procedures for maintaining and retaining documentation of monitoring visits.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families
Status: In process
Comments: In October 2007, agency officials reported that they established the Division of State Assistance/Monitoring Task Force in August 2006 that is tasked with developing uniform procedures and guidelines for conducting CSBG on-site monitoring activities, among other duties.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that OCS has the internal controls to fulfill its CSBG monitoring responsibilities, HHS's Assistant Secretary for Children and Families should instruct the director of OCS to establish formal written policies and procedures for ensuring the timely issuance of annual reports to Congress.
Agency Affected: Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families
Status: In process
Comments: In their agency response letter, agency officials stated that they are currently working on the annual CSBG report to Congress and expect that it will be provided in a timely manner. Since then, officials have not provided additional information about their progress in establishing policies and procedures to ensure the timely issuance of annual reports to Congress.
