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United States Government Accountability Office Office of the Inspector General's System Review Report of the Corporation for National and Community Service Office of the Inspector General 2018

For the second year in a row, an independent audit of CNCS’s National Service Trust Fund Fiscal Year 2018 financial statements resulted in a disclaimer of opinion, the worst possible outcome for a financial statement audit. CNCS did not cure the three material weaknesses and one significant deficiency identified in the FY 2017 audit. This year, the auditors reported another new material weakness. In layman’s terms, the financial statements were unauditable and likely subject to pervasive material errors.

For the second year in a row, an independent audit of CNCS’s consolidated Fiscal Year 2018 financial statements resulted in a disclaimer of opinion, the worst possible outcome for a financial statement audit. CNCS did not cure the four material weaknesses and one significant deficiency identified in the FY 2017 audit. This year, the auditors reported six additional material weaknesses and another significant deficiency. In layman’s terms, the financial statements were unauditable and likely subject to pervasive material errors.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Inspector General (CNCS-OIG) issued a Management Alert to express our concerns over the following proposed regulatory changes to the Senior Corps Program, which do not appear to have undergone adequate risk assessment prior to the proposed rule-making: (1) Reducing the minimum number of volunteer service hours per week from 15 to 5; and (2) Eliminating the Direct Benefit Ratio or 80/20 Rule, which requires that at least 80 percent of the Federal grant award be expended for volunteer benefits. CNCS-OIG’s analysis suggests that the

The Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Inspector General (CNCS-OIG) conducted an evaluation of the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program to assess its effectiveness. CNCS-OIG’s evaluation focused on member activity, project sustainability, and member attrition. CNCS-OIG found: •Documentation maintained during the execution of a project does not contain sufficient details to validate member activities are consistent with program purposes or are the same as the planned activities.

The agreed-upon procedures (AUP) review of AmeriCorps grant funds to SerVermont, Vermont’s State Service Commission and two subrecipients identified questioned Federal costs totaling $122,551, questioned matching costs of $38,746, questioned Education Awards of $40,342 and compliance findings. The majority of the questioned costs were caused by deficiencies with National Service Criminal History Checks.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Inspector General (CNCS-OIG) conducted a review to determine whether the $2.6 million NCCC member recruitment contract is structured to meet the crucial goal of annually filling the 1,200 Traditional NCCC and 1,000 FEMA Corps vacancies with members likely to successfully complete their terms of service. CNCS-OIG found that: 1. The NCCC recruitment contract places up to $2.6 million at risk; 2.