We conducted a review of the State of Mississippi (State), a $5.5 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery grantee. We initiated the review as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of relief efforts provided by the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our objectives were to determine whether the State ensured that (1) public housing authorities (authorities) provided quarterly progress reports (reports) in compliance with their subrecipient agreements (agreements) and (2) the agreements for its authorities complied with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) minimum requirements.

Although the State generally ensured that the agreements complied with HUD’s minimum requirements, it did not always ensure that authorities complied with their agreements. Of 22 reports reviewed, none complied with the agreement. In addition, the State did not always ensure that the reports were complete and submitted by the established due dates.

We recommend that HUD’s General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development require the State to (1) develop and implement written policies and procedures for the review and verification of information in the reports; (2) ensure that subrecipients fully comply with their agreements by including all information required in the reports; and (3) implement a system or process for tracking the submission of the reports to ensure compliance with the agreements.