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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09181984 - 1.87 s, rro: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS f . Contra FROM: Ida Daniel Berk, Director, Community Services Department Costa DATE: September 18, 1984 . 4i) County SUBJECT: Report from Director, Community Services Department, Responding to CY 1983 Audit Report for Head Start Grant Numbers H-0375-18 and 9C55/05 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION REQUEST: APPROVE report from Director, Community Services Department, in response to September 11 , 1984, Board referral regarding August 23, 1984, Regional Inspector General for Audit, Department of Health And Human Services letter transmittal audit report of certain Head Start CY 1983 Grants, and FORWARD said response to Department of Health And Human Services. BACKGROUND: • On August 28, 1984, the Board received a letter dated August 23, 1984, from the Regional Inspector General for Audit, Department of Health and Human Services , requesting Grantee response based on the audit report on the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Head Start Grant numbers H-0375-18 and 9C55/05 as administered by the Community Services Department for the contract period of January 1 , 1983, through December 31 , 1983. Said letter was placed and noted in the correspondence portion of the September 11 , 1984, Board agenda and was referred to the Community Services Department for preparation of a reply. Department staff have complied with this request as noted by the attached audit response. As a result of this response, it is expected that no questioned cost of the $1 ,726,555 of the grant funds expended in CY 1983 will be assessed. Upon acceptance of an approval by the Board of the attached response document, it will then be forwarded to the Regional office so as to meet the submittal deadline of September 21 , 1984, as indicated in the August 23, 1984, correspondence. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATU RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S) ACTION OF BOARD ON eF em er 13 iVZ54APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT III ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED September 18 , 1984 Auditor-Controller Phil Batchelor Clerk of the Doaru of Community cervices Supervisors and County Administrator D Health and Human Services Dept . 00190 M382/7-e9 BY 1 DEPUTY CommunityServices Department Contra Community Services (671-4540) P Head Start (671.4540) Housing ! Energy (671-4544) 24? Bisso Lane, Suite 120 Costa Concord, California 94520 (4 15) 671-4544 County Ida Daniel Berk Executive Director September 12, 1984 Director, Office of Fiscal Operations Office of Human Development Services HHS Region IX 50 United Nations Plaza San Francisco, Ca. 94102 This letter is in response to your correspondence dated August 23, 1984, to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors requesting clarification on three items noted in the audit report of FY 83 Head Start Grant numbers H-0375-18, and 9C55/05 as prepared and submitted by the firm of Izabal and Bernaciak, Certified Public Accountants. The county's response will coincide in order of their notation in your 8-23-84 correspondence to the Board of Supervisors . REPORT RECOMMENDATION: The County implement a plan that will more appropriately match cash receipts to needs by increasing the frequency and decreasing the amount of draws . QUESTIONED COSTS: None COUNTY RESPONSE: The County is amenable to the auditors recommendation, and has already implemented a process whereby drawdowns will be submitted on a bi-weekly basis , and the amount requested will match the funds required to operate the program for the aforementioned time period. REPORT RECOMMENDATION: The County develope a system to account for the number of low-income enrollees by subgrantee on a regular basis and maintain the documentation. QUESTIONED COSTS: 'None COUNTY RESPONSE: To begin with, the county, as a part of its contract minotoring process, has estabished a system to account for the number of low- income enrollees by subgrantee on a routine basis. This system has been in effect for the last fifteen years of program operation including 1983, the program year in question. Head Start regulations require that at least 90% of the children enrolled in the county's Head Start are from low-income families as derived from Federal Poverty Guidelines . To ensure that this requirement is met 0019 . Affirmative Action % Equal Opportunity Employer Page two J n by the county, a random sample of approximately ten percent of the total Head Start client population on an annual basis is taken and reviewed by Head Start administrative staff. This task was performed in CY 1983. The problem arose, however, in that the particular report noting the CY 1983 analysis could not be located during the course of the audit, hence the finding. The County acknowledges the necessity in this instance of maintaining better records , and is in the process of restructuring the present system to ensure that maintenance of all program documentation is assured. REPORT RECOMMENDATION: The County retroactively substantiate for review by the auditors that at least 90% of Head Start children were from low- income families , or that the county negotiate a settlement with the Health and Human Services Administrator as to the amount it cost claimed to be allowed. QUESTIONED COSTS: To be determined. COUNTY RESPONSE: The county has complied with this request, the data and results of which are available for review by both your agency and CPA firm who made the finding. The CPA firm has been notified by the county that the requested data is available for review. As noted earlier in this correspondence, an eligibility review of Head Start children was performed by staff for fiscal year 1983, with the 90% requirement being successfully met. The results of which were not at the time available for the auditors review. In the past week, staff once again conducted the same review, which indicated that 90.81 of the files examined met Federal poverty guidelines. Consequently, the county is in compliance with Health and Human Services Program requirements, therefore, none of the $1 ,726,555.00 in federal costs claimed in 1983 should be in question. Thus concludes our response. If there is any additional information and/or clarification regarding this matter, please contact Albert Prince or Myron Mock of my staff at (415) 671-4544. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Since ely Ida Daniel Berk, Executive Director Contra Costa County Community Services Department IDB/sv cc: Board of Supervisors County Administrator Auditor - Controller Izabal and Bernaciak 00192