Results of Limited Scope Review at Heartland Opportunities for Partnership and Empowerment Community Services, Inc.

We reviewed the financial conditions at Heartland Opportunities for Partnership and Empowerment Community Services, Inc. (Heartland), 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, generally, Heartland had the capacity to manage and account for Federal funds and is capable of operating a Head Start program in accordance with Federal regulations. However we identified weaknesses relating to documentation of indirect costs and fixed asset records.

We recommended that ACF, in determining whether Heartland should be awarded additional Head Start and Recovery Act grant funding, consider the information presented in this report in assessing Heartland's ability to account for and manage Federal funds and operate a Head Start program. In written comments on our draft report, Heartland described the action that it had taken to correct the weaknesses identified in this review and stated that these actions were verified during a follow-up review by ACF.