Review of Connecticut's Monitoring of the Community Services Block Grant Program

Based on our review of the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Office of Strategic Planning (the State agency), we determined that the State agency did not establish adequate internal controls for assessing and monitoring Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds provided to Community Action Agencies (CAA) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Specifically, the State agency did not conduct full onsite reviews at each CAA within a 3-year period or ensure that risk assessments performed by CAAs were accurate before they were submitted to the Administration for Children and Families.

We recommended that the State agency develop and implement adequate written policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the CSBG Act and conduct full onsite reviews at its CAAs in a timely manner. The State agency concurred with our findings and recommendations.