Two years after federal monitors found numerous problems with how grant money was tracked and spent by state housing officials, a new audit echoes many of those same problems.
The 25-page report published Sept. 29 by the state’s Office of Internal Audit and Program Integrity found that the Rhode Island Executive Office of Housing (EOH) failed to record nearly $2.8 million in federal funds and left more than $200,000 in grant money undrawn after the grants expired. Auditors attributed the problems to a lack of clear procedures for tracking grants and monitoring the organizations that received the money.
“The absence of formalized procedures and standardized templates has resulted in a lack of clarity and uniformity in grant management practices, contributing to inconsistent implementation and incomplete compliance with federal and state requirements,” Andrew Manca, the state’s chief of internal audits, wrote in the report…