We conducted a capacity review of the Navajo Housing Authority’s (Authority) operations. The objective of the review was to evaluate the Authority’s capacity to administer its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds and identify related potential internal control weaknesses that could impact its ability to properly administer the funds. We did not find evidence indicating that the Authority lacked the basic capacity to administer its Recovery Act funding. However, we did identify some concerns that could impact its ability to meet the Recovery Act obligation and expenditure timeframes and ensure that its funds are expended in accordance with program requirements.

We recommended that the Administrator, Southwest Office of Native American Programs (1) provide additional monitoring and technical assistance related to the Authority’s implementation of the Recovery Act project, as needed, to ensure that the Authority has the appropriate capacity to properly administer its Recovery Act funds and (2) require the Authority to review it written policies and procedures and adapt them to address construction contractor procurement and monitoring.