In January 2017, HUD awarded the City $141.2 million in Community Development Block Grant National Disaster Resilience grant funding for disaster resilience. HUD designed the grant to give states flexibility in planning program activities and help state and local communities recover from past disasters, while also improving their infrastructure to withstand future extreme events through strategic community investments.  The City initially…

We initiated our audit in accordance with our strategic goal to provide the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with services and products to address vulnerabilities, to provide opportunities for improvements, and to recognize positive outcomes.  The audit objective was to determine whether the HUD Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) monitored and ensured that its Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013,…

As part of our annual risk and internal planning process, we audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Block Grant Assistance’s (OBGA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery program.  Our analysis noted that Congress had historically provided disaster funding through supplemental appropriations, yet OBGA had not created a formal codified program.  Instead, it had issued multiple…

While performing audit work to determine whether the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Community Planning and Development (HUD CPD) monitored and ensured that grantees complied with the 24-month statutory expenditure requirement contained in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013, we noted issues with (1) the recording of grants in the Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) and (2) the grantees’ recording of…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) oversight of disaster grantee procurement processes.  We conducted the audit after prior audits identified procurement issues.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD provided sufficient guidance and oversight to ensure that disaster grantees followed proficient procurement processes when purchasing products and services. HUD did not provide sufficient…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) process for making changes to its programs, policies, and operations.  We initiated the audit because of concerns we had with HUD’s disaster recovery delivery sequence and duplication of benefits policies during a previous external audit (Audit Report 2016-DE-1003). Our objective was to…

This report is for informational purposes only and does not represent an OIG perspective or position. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was designed to bring an orderly and systematic means of Federal disaster assistance for State and local governments to carry out their responsibilities to aid citizens.  Although, State and local governments may carry out their responsibilities in an orderly and…

We audited the St. Tammany Parish grants department’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery program, as part of our annual audit plan to review the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 funds.  Our objective was to determine whether the Parish administered its disaster recovery program in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Development (HUD) requirements and in line with its…

The Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) manages $15.2 billion in disaster recovery funding appropriated by Congress in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (Sandy Supplemental). CPD distributed the funds to 34 grantees as Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). CPD uses a risk analysis process to rank grantees that pose the greatest risk to the integrity of its programs. According to CPD, the…

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) controls over its certifications of State disaster recovery grantee procurement processes.  We initiated the audit after prior audits identified issues with the procurement certification completed for the State of New Jersey.  Our objective was to determine whether HUD certifications of State disaster grantee procurement processes were accurate and supported. HUD…

As part of a Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) cross-cutting initiative involving eight Offices of Inspector General (OIG), we reviewed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013, and eight agencies that received $46.5 billion for expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy and other disasters.  Our review objective was to compile and report on the eight Federal agencies’ total funding,…

We audited the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development’s disaster assistance programs, administered by the State’s subrecipient, St. John the Baptist Parish, as part of our annual audit plan to review disaster assistance programs under the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act.  Our objective was to determine whether the Parish, as the State’s subrecipient, met the requirements of its agreement with the State and followed U.S…

We audited the City of New Orleans’ Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance funds awarded to the City as a result of damages caused by Hurricane Isaac.  Our objective was to determine whether the City maintained adequate procurement controls and financial management systems and administered its CDBG-DR funds in accordance with Federal guidelines, HUD regulations, and other requirements. We found that the…

We audited the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP)-Ike as part of our ongoing commitment to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement oversight of Disaster Recovery funds to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. HUD used local public housing agencies (housing agencies) to administer DHAP-Ike rental assistance and provide case management services to families affected by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Our audit…

We audited the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development’s (State), Orleans Parish Long Term Community Recovery Program (Program), administered by the State’s subrecipient, the City of New Orleans (City). Our objective was to determine whether the City, as the State’s subrecipient, met the requirements of its cooperative endeavor agreement (agreement) with the State during its administration of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority’…

We performed a review of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development’s (State), Louisiana Tourism Marketing Program (Program), administered by the State’s subrecipient, the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (DCRT). We initiated the review as part of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Gulf Coast Region’s audit plan and examination of activities related to Gulf Coast hurricane disaster relief efforts. Our objective was…

We performed an audit of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development (State), Recovery Workforce Training Program (Program) administered by the State’s subrecipient, Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC). We initiated the audit 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 audit…

We audited the Louisiana Land Trust (LLT), a $29 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery subrecipient of the State of Louisiana, Office of Community Development (State). We initiated the audit 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 audit objective was to…

Due to a citizen's complaint, we audited the State of Louisiana's (State) Road Home homeowner assistance program managed by the State's contractor, ICF Emergency Management Services, LLC. The complaint raised a potential issue with Road Home employees improperly obtaining grants. During our audit on employee eligibility for additional compensation grants, we identified possible program eligibility issues through a review of the…

Due to a citizen's complaint, we audited the State of Louisiana's (State) Road Home homeowner assistance program managed by the State's contractor, ICF Emergency Management Services, LLC. The complaint raised a potential issue with Road Home employees improperly obtaining grants. During our audit on employee eligibility for additional compensation grants, we identified possible program eligibility issues through a review of the…