Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Victim Assistance Funds Subawarded by the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services to the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center in Largo, Maryland

• NCJ Number: 309323
• Date Published: February 2024
• Length: 30 pages

Annotation

This report presents results of an audit of the Office of Justice Programs Victim Assistance Funds Subawarded by the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services to the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center in Largo, Maryland.

Abstract

This U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General audit—which reviewed how University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center (UM PGHC) used Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds to assist crime victims and assess its compliance with award requirements, terms, and conditions—concluded that UM PGHC generally provided services to crime victims but could improve its subaward oversight and management. The audit found that UM PGHC lacked written policies and procedures specific to VOCA-funded activities to ensure an effective and efficient grant operation and that UM PGHC should improve the accuracy of its progress reporting. UM PGHC also should better safeguard victim confidentiality and tracking activity when using ridesharing services. The audit concluded that UM PGHC has policies and procedures related to financial management and employee time reporting, but the authors questioned unsupported personnel and fringe benefit costs and found that both the Maryland Governor’s Office and UM PGHC failed to fully comply with single audit report-related requirements. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provided funds to the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services (Maryland Governor’s Office) to make subawards to support victim assistance programs in the state of Maryland. The Maryland Governor’s Office provided a subaward of $510,477 in crime victim assistance funds to UM PGHC in FY 2022. The purpose of UM PGHC’s subaward was to provide services to crime victims and to sustain direct services supporting children and adults victimized by domestic and sexual violence, stalking, child pornography, and human trafficking. The report contains three recommendations to OJP to assist the Maryland Governor’s Office and UM PGHC in improving their award management and administration.