An Audit Report on Selected Assistance Programs at the Department of Housing and Community Affairs
June 2003
Report Number 03-041
Overall Conclusion
The Department of Housing and Community Affairs (Department) has significant weaknesses in its Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) that allow subgrantees to provide unallowable weatherization services to people who do not qualify for participation in this program. (In conjunction with a federal investigation, the State Auditor's Office Special Investigations Unit is investigating one of the WAP subgrantees we audited and will report the results of that investigation separately.) The other four programs we audited have some, but not all, of the same weaknesses we identified in the WAP; those weaknesses also could allow unqualified people to receive services.
The Department also is not adequately addressing the current unmet need for housing as it relates to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Program, and it has not fully corrected several Section 8 noncompliance issues identified in federal and external reviews conducted in 2000.
The Department has not made cost-effective decisions regarding its WAP energy audit software. Other weaknesses in information technology at the Department and its subgrantees limit the Department's ability to rely on the data in its information systems.
The Department generally disburses funds according to the objectives of the
five programs we audited. However, it reports that it did not spend $830,000
(nearly 9 percent) of its Section 8 budget during program year 2002. The Department
generally spends all available funds for the other four programs we audited.
Almost all of the $95 million in funding disbursed annually through the five
programs we audited comes from the federal government.
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