Reports: Audit

The Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) requires agencies to annually review and identify programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments, estimate the improper payment rates in agency programs, and report on their actions to reduce and recover those payments. For FY 2025, AmeriCorps met seven of ten PIIA compliance requirements.

The audit of AmeriCorps’ Grant Closeout Process found that AmeriCorps’ grant closeout policies and procedures generally complied with the provisions of 2 C.F.R. § 200.344 with the following issues identified: 1) AmeriCorps did not have adequate policies and procedures for processing grant funds returned post-closeout; 2) AmeriCorps did not have sufficient internal controls to ensure timely grant closeout; and 3) AmeriCorps’ recording of grant data into USAspending.gov was inconsistent and inaccurate.

Pursuant to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA), an independent external auditor, on behalf of OIG conducted an annual independent audit of AmeriCorps’ information security program and practices. The fiscal year (FY) 2025 FISMA audit concluded that AmeriCorps’ information security program remains ineffective, assessed as of July 31, 2025.

The National Service Trust holds the funds set aside to pay the education awards of national service members who successfully complete their service terms. Responsibility for the education awards that have been earned or will be earned in the near future is the largest liability on AmeriCorps’ financial statements at $278 million. 

Independent auditors have declined to issue an opinion on AmeriCorps’ financial statements for the ninth year. They issued a disclaimer of opinion reporting 11 material weaknesses and two significant deficiencies and added three new recommendations. The auditors, however, verified that AmeriCorps took appropriate actions to close 5 of the 77 prior year recommendations. As a result of this audit, there are now 75 open recommendations.

The Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) requires agencies to annually review and identify programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments, estimate the improper payment rates in agency programs, and report on their actions to reduce and recover those payments. For FY 2024, AmeriCorps met eight of ten PIIA compliance requirements.

Pursuant to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA), an independent external auditor, on behalf of OIG conducted an annual independent audit of AmeriCorps’ information security program and practices. The fiscal year (FY) 2024 FISMA audit concluded that AmeriCorps’ information security program remains ineffective, assessed as of July 31, 2024.

Independent auditors have declined to issue an opinion on AmeriCorps’ financial statements for the eighth year. They issued a disclaimer of opinion reporting 11 material weaknesses and two significant deficiencies and added three new recommendations. The auditors, however, verified that AmeriCorps took appropriate actions to close 20 of the 95 prior year recommendations. As a result of this audit, there are now 78 open recommendations.

The National Service Trust holds the funds set aside to pay the education awards of national service members who successfully complete their service terms. Responsibility for the education awards that have been earned or will be earned in the near future is the largest liability on AmeriCorps’ financial statements at $287 million.

The Payment Integrity Information Act (PIIA) requires agencies to annually review and identify programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments, estimate the improper payment rates in agency programs, and report on their actions to reduce and recover those payments. We found that AmeriCorps implemented corrective actions that improved its compliance with PIIA reporting requirements relative to past years. For FY 2023, AmeriCorps met eight of ten PIIA compliance requirements. We made three findings relating to the two remaining requirements.