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Series: Audits of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Grants to Recipients for COVID-19 Screening Testing at Schools

Announced on  | Last Modified on  | Series Number: SRS-A-25-016
Status
Active
Agency
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

OBJECTIVE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) program provides strategic investments aimed at reducing infectious disease-related illnesses and death through its cooperative agreement with health departments throughout the United States. Financial resources and technical assistance are provided each year to 64 jurisdictions to support activities related to surveillance, detection, response, and prevention of infectious diseases. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, enacted March 11, 2021 (P.L. No. 117-2), provides additional relief to address COVID-19's continued impact on the economy, public health, State and local governments, individuals, and businesses. The CDC, through the ELC program, provided $10 billion in ARP funding to States to support COVID-19 screening testing for teachers, staff, and students to assist schools in reopening safely for in-person instruction. The $10 billion, under the ELC reopening school awards, was awarded to the current 64 ELC jurisdictions according to a population-based formula. Our first audit will determine whether the CDC provided effective oversight to the ELC recipients in implementing the screening testing programs. Our second phase of audits will determine whether select ELC recipients had controls in place to monitor schools in implementing COVID-19 screening testing programs. In addition, we will determine whether select ELC recipients and schools used the ARP funding in accordance with Federal requirements and the applicable grant terms.

There are 2 projects in this series.

Project titles will remain unpublished until projects are complete and reports are posted.

ACTIVE PROJECTS IN THIS SERIES (1)

Project A-05-24-00003 • Announced on Oct 6, 2023

COMPLETED PROJECTS IN THIS SERIES (1)

Kentucky

Project A-05-23-00018 • Completed on July 16, 2025

TIMELINE

  • July 10, 2023
    Series Number SRS-A-25-016 Assigned
  • July 10, 2023
    Project Announced

    Kentucky - A-05-23-00018

  • October 6, 2023
    Project Announced

    Project A-05-24-00003

  • July 16, 2025
    Project Complete - A-05-23-00018

    Kentucky has been marked as complete. This audit resulted in 2 recommendations.

  • Today
    1 Audit In-Progress
  • Est FY2026
    Estimated Fiscal Year for Series Completion

1 REPORT PUBLISHED

Kentucky Did Not Meet All of the Requirements for the COVID-19 Screening Testing Program at K-12 Schools (A-05-23-00018)

Kentucky did not effectively monitor the implementation of the COVID-19 testing program; however, for the expenditures we reviewed, Kentucky generally maintained documentation to support COVID-19 testing services provided in K-12 school settings. Specifically:

  • We identified 7 of the 19 vendors that did not provide documentation to support at least 1 of the requirements for providing COVID-19 testing services for students and staff in K-12 schools.
  • Of our stratified random sample of 292 contracted employees, we determined that 75 contracted employees did not have background checks completed prior to performing COVID-19 testing.
  • Kentucky maintained adequate documentation to support approximately $49.2 million in expenditures for COVID-19 testing services.

25-A-05-082.01 to CDC - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 01/15/2026
We recommend that the Kentucky Department for Public Health develop or update ELC procedures for compliance with Federal and contract requirements, including managing the contract proposal review process; oversight of contracts to ensure compliance with monitoring background check documentation; and maintaining documentation to support expenditures.

25-A-05-082.02 to CDC - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 01/15/2026
We recommend that the Kentucky Department for Public Health work with CDC to determine the allowability of $4,569,390 in expenditures for COVID-19 testing services and refund to the Federal Government any unallowable amount.

View in Recommendation Tracker
Work Plan Type
Office of Audit Services
HHS Agencies
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Issue Areas
COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Financial Stewardship Laboratories Medical Supplies and Equipment
Target Groups
Children and Families
Financial Groups
Grants