Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Victim Assistance Funds Subawarded by the Rhode Island Public Safety Administration Office to the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, Pawtucket, Rhode Island

• NCJ Number: 309381
• Date Published: September 2023
• Length: 37 pages

Annotation

This paper reports on the Justice Department’s audit of how the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety Grant Administration administered subaward grants in support of victim assistance programs; it describes the Office of the Inspector General’s audit approach, objectives, results, conclusions, and recommendations; and includes four appendix documents.

Abstract

This audit report describes the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG’s) evaluation of how the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety Grant Administration (PSGAO) administered grant subaward funds to crime victim assistance programs in the state of Rhode Island. Specifically, the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center (BVAC) had the goal of providing law enforcement advocacy and transitional housing services to domestic violence and sexual assault victims of crime. The document discusses the OIG’s audit approach, which involved an assessment of how BVAC used Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds to aid crime victims and assess whether it accounted for those funds in compliance with select award requirements, terms, and conditions. The report presents audit reports, conclusions, and recommendations. The audit results include: program performance and accomplishments, including implementation and services; and financial management, including fiscal policies and procedures, and subaward expenditures and matching costs. The appendix documents include: Objective, Scope, and Methodology; a schedule of dollar-related findings; BVAC response to the draft Audit Report; Rhode Island PSGAO response to the draft Audit Report; the Office of Justice Programs’ response to the draft Audit Report; and the OIG analysis and summary of actions needed to close the Audit Report.