Federal Reports

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements

Amtrak (the company) contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP to audit its consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal year then ended, September 30, 2020, and to provide a report on internal control over financial reporting and compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts and grant agreements, and other matters, which they issued on December 17, 2020.1 Because the company receives federal financial assistance, it must obtain an audit performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. The contract also required Ernst & Young to perform a Single Audit of the company’s federal financial assistance for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020, in accordance with the audit requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). The objective of the Single Audit was to test internal control over compliance with major federal program award requirements and determine whether the company complied with the laws, regulations, and provisions of contracts or grant agreements that may have a direct and material effect on its major federal programs. As required by the Inspector General Act of 1978, we monitored the audit activities of Ernst & Young to help ensure audit quality and compliance with auditing standards. Our review disclosed no instances in which Ernst & Young did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards and Uniform Guidance requirements.

The objective of our audit was to determine whether Federal Student Aid (FSA) designed and implemented processes that provided reasonable assurance that it reallocated unexpended award year 2016–2017 campus-based student financial assistance program funds in accordance with the Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria Education Relief Act of 2017.First, FSA did not design and implement processes that provided reasonable assurance that it identified all schools participating in the campus-based student financial assistance programs that were affected by or enrolled students affected by a qualifying disaster before reallocating unexpended award year 2016–2017 FSEOG and FWS funds. Second, FSA did not design and implement processes that provided reasonable assurance that it would give preference to schools located in affected areas when reallocating FWS funds.

As part of its oversight activities, OIG is conducting a series of audits of recipients of multiple HHS grants. We selected Gateway Community Action Partnership (Gateway) for this audit because it received multiple HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF) grants, including Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act grants totaling $19.7 million, and grants to operate childcare programs at more than 50 locations.Our objective was to determine whether Gateway claimed and accounted for HHS grant funds in accordance with Federal requirements.