Support $422,600 in program income that was not used before additional grant fund drawdowns or repay from non-Federal funds any amount that cannot be supported

Strengthen controls over program oversight to ensure that grantees comply with their agreements and program requirements, including tier two environmental reviews, contract procurements, and homeowner and project eligibility, to ensure that (1) all income, including rental income, is considered; ( Read More

Strengthen controls over monitoring to ensure that onsite monitoring and monitoring letters are completed in a timely manner and sufficient supporting documentation is required and reviewed by those responsible for grant oversight.

Develop and implement policies and procedures to assess the validity of all program complaints to ensure that they are addressed and resolved in a timely manner.

Provide additional guidance to its grantees regarding its policy stating that the repair or replacement of paved surfaces should be minimal in cost and incidental to the rehabilitation of the dwelling, including whether grantees are required to consult with the State before starting the work.

Provide support for the reimbursement to its housing program of $107,036 from non-Federal funds if justification cannot be provided to support that the overhead and profit amounts paid to the contractors were reasonable.

Perform a review of the remaining 453 contracts and any additional contracts issued under the old invitations to bid to ensure that overhead and profit amounts charged by contractors were reasonable. The State should either provide justification or support for the reimbursements to its housing Read More

Update policies and procedures to ensure that a cost reasonableness assessment is performed on all cost elements, including the overhead and profit percentages charged by contractors for future contracts.

Develop and implement procedures to ensure the execution of newly developed policies that require contractors that work on multiple programs to provide adequate support to distinguish the proper amount of time and cost spent on each program. The State should also be required to provide procedures Read More

Train staff to ensure that expenditures, including payments made to contractors, are classified to the proper project activity in the DRGR system and provide support for training conducted.

Provide technical assistance to the State and the staff to ensure that they understand the requirements for conducting a monitoring review in accordance with regulations.

Instruct the State to update and implement the CDBG-DR standard operating procedures, which clearly outline what activities, including the frequency, will be reviewed by its monitoring and internal audit function.

Instruct the State to conduct monitoring reviews of its CDBG-DR HIM activities and subrecipients that satisfy monitoring requirements.

Work with the State to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that monitoring is conducted remotely in the event that it cannot be conducted onsite.

Instruct the State to update and implement policies and procedures to ensure that the results of the CDBG-DR internal audits are shared by the State’s Commissioner with CDBG-DR program staff to allow for the resolution of any findings and required corrective actions.

Monitor the State’s CDBG-DR program to ensure that performance expectations are achieved.

We recommend that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs require the State to support that seven applicants met the ownership and occupancy requirements or repay $396,905 to its program from non-Federal funds.

We recommend that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs require the State to support that it complied with the elevation requirements for two applicants or repay $118,244 to its program from non-Federal funds.

We recommend that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs require the State to implement additional controls and revise policies and procedures to ensure that adequate documentation is maintained in its files to support (1) recapture decisions, (2) eligibility related to ownership or Read More

We recommend that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs require the State to implement additional controls and revise policies and procedures to ensure that the website is maintained and updated in compliance with requirements.