Federal Reports

Our objectives were to determine whether the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (1) claimed allowable, allocable, and reasonable costs, (2) complied with grant terms and conditions, administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements, and (3) met performance requirements of the grants.

Heartland Human Care Services, Inc. (Heartland), generally met applicable safety standards for the care and release of children in its custody. Heartland met State licensure requirements and requirements for inspections, performed adequate oversight, and followed guidance when reviewing background investigations for employees who care for the children. However, we observed one classroom where the staff-to-child supervision ratio was significantly less than required, and we observed one classroom and hallway that lacked required monitoring equipment. We also found that some Heartland case files were missing documentation assuring that required records were provided upon the child's release to a family member or other sponsor.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Indian Health Service (IHS), did not always resolve audit recommendations in a timely manner during Federal fiscal years (FYs) 2015 and 2016. Specifically, IHS resolved 138 of the 651 recommendations that were outstanding during FYs 2015 and 2016. However, it did not resolve 123 of the 138 recommendations (89.1 percent) within the required 6-month resolution period. In addition, as of September 30, 2016, IHS had not resolved 513 audit recommendations that were past due for resolution. These 513 past-due recommendations were procedural in nature and typically involved policies and procedures and internal controls; none of them involved dollar amounts such as recommended disallowances.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for inspecting all international mail arriving at U.S. airports, with limited exceptions. A major challenge for CBP is preventing imports of opioids and other illegal items mailed from overseas through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). We conducted this audit to determine whether CBP's air mail inspection processes at JFK airport are effective and have adequate information technology (IT) security controls. CBP has ineffective processes and IT security controls to support air mail inspection operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), the largest of nine USPS facilities that receive and handle incoming international mail. Despite legislative requirements to systematically target and widely prevent illegal imports, CBP inspects only a limited number of the hundreds of thousands of pieces of incoming air mail each day, largely due to difficulty inventorying and locating targeted mail, as well as having inadequate guidance, equipment, and resources. These air mail inspection deficiencies hinder CBP's efforts to prevent prohibited items (particularly opioids) from entering the United States.

Heartland Human Care Services, Inc. (Heartland), generally met applicable safety standards for the care and release of children in its custody. Heartland met State licensure requirements and requirements for inspections, performed adequate oversight, and followed guidance when reviewing background investigations for employees who care for the children. However, we observed one classroom where the staff-to-child supervision ratio was significantly less than required, and we observed one classroom and hallway that lacked required monitoring equipment. We also found that some Heartland case files were missing documentation assuring that required records were provided upon the child's release to a family member or other sponsor.

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.