Results of Limited Scope Review at District of Columbia Public Schools

We reviewed the financial conditions at the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Head Start Program, as requested by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start, for use in its overall assessment of Head Start grantees that have applied for additional funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).

Based on our assessment, we believe that the DCPS Head Start program currently does not have the capacity to manage and account for Federal funds and is not capable of operating a Head Start program in accordance with Federal regulations. Our review identified weaknesses relating to the DCPS Head Start program's financial management system and program governance.

We recommended that ACF, in determining whether DCPS should be awarded additional Head Start and Recovery Act grant funding, consider the information presented in this report in assessing DCPS's ability to account for and manage Federal funds and operate a Head Start program. In written comments on our draft report, DCPS described the actions that it has taken to correct the weaknesses identified in this review and stated that it has been working with ACF over the past 6 months to develop a plan of action that will strengthen the DCPS Head Start program.