Risk Assessment of the Department’s Grant Closeout Process

Our objective was to perform the required risk assessment to determine whether an audit or review of the Department’s grant closeout process was warranted. We assessed the risk of the Department’s grant closeout process as moderate and determined that an audit or review is warranted. Specifically, we identified risks with the reliability of grant data and related GONE Act reporting, as well as the Department’sgrant closeout policies and procedures, including a policy allowing older grants to be closed in compliance without required reports being provided by the grantee. In addition, we also found that both the volume of expired grants and amount of undisbursed grant funds has significantly increased between the date of initial GONE Act reporting (September 30, 2017) and January 30, 2020, indicating that grant closeout is less of a focus now that GONE Act reporting is over.