Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime Cooperative Agreement Awarded to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office Santa Rosa, California

• NCJ Number: 309387
• Date Published: July 2023
• Length: 32 pages

Annotation

This report presents the results of an audit of the Office of Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime Cooperative Agreement Awarded to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office Santa Rosa, California.

Abstract

This audit of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) award to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office (SCDAO) in Santa Rosa, California, found that the SCDAO achieved or demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving the award’s stated goals and objectives. However, the audit identified inadequacies related to award financial management, special conditions compliance, expenditures involving gift card purchases, indirect costs, and award financial and performance reports. The audit also identified questioned costs. The objectives of this audit were to determine whether costs claimed under the award were allowable, supported, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and terms and conditions of the award; and to determine whether the grantee demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving program goals and objectives. SCDAO has achieved or demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving the award’s stated goals and objectives but overstated its accomplishments in progress reports for 2 of the 6 measurements reviewed. Auditors identified issues in the SCDAO’s financial management policies and procedures for award management and found that the SCDAO did not adhere to its own policies when it purchased gift cards for its clients. The SCDAO also acknowledged that it inadvertently overstated expenditures due to the inclusion of duplicate expenditures on one of the four Federal Financial Reports (FFR) reviewed. The auditors could not confirm whether SCDAO’s financial point of contact at the time the award was accepted had taken required training due to lack of record retention. The auditors identified unsupported expenditures for the purchase of gift cards and unallowable indirect costs. The cooperative agreement totaled $850,000 for the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Transforming Family Justice Center Services: Creating New Pathways of Hope and Healing for Polyvictims award. The award aimed to assist in improving how victim service providers respond to survivors of polyvictimization.