Federal Reports

What We Looked AtWe performed a quality control review (QCR) on the single audit that Hoffman, Philipp, & Knutson, PLLC (HPK) performed for Lake of the Woods County's (County) fiscal year that ended December 31, 2016. During this period, the County expended approximately $2.1 million from a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant program. HPK determined that DOT's major program was the Highway Planning and Construction program.Our QCR objectives were to determine whether (1) the audit work complied with the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended, the Office of Management and Budget's Uniform Guidance, and the extent to which we could rely on the auditors' work on DOT's major program; and (2) the County's reporting package complied with the reporting requirements of the Uniform Guidance.What We FoundHPK's audit work complied with the requirements of the Single Audit Act, the Uniform Guidance, and DOT's major program. We found nothing to indicate that HPK's opinion on DOT's major program was inappropriate or unreliable. However, we identified deficiencies in the HPK's audit work that should be corrected in future audits. In addition, we identified deficiencies in the County's reporting package that required correction and resubmission.

We reviewed the New York State agency’s controls for operating under SFSPrequirements and sponsor and site compliance with those requirements.

OIG performed agreed-upon procedures for assessing information reported byUSDA’s National Finance Center.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has inadequate controls for verifying that foreign nationals seeking lawful permanent residence status meet health-related standards for admissibility. First, USCIS is not properly vetting the physicians it designates as civil surgeons. We determined that USCIS designated physicians with a history of patient abuse or a criminal record as civil surgeons. This is occurring because USCIS does not have adequate policies to ensure only suitable physicians are designated as civil surgeons. Second, when reviewing these foreign nationals’ required medical forms, ISOs are accepting incomplete and inaccurate forms because they are not adequately trained and because USCIS is not enforcing its existing policies. USCIS may be placing foreign nationals at risk of abuse by some civil surgeons. USCIS could also be exposing the U.S. population to contagious or dangerous health conditions from foreign nationals erroneously granted lawful permanent resident status