Recovery.gov - Track the Money

The purpose of this funding is to increase the number of children participating in Early Head Start (with up to ten percent of these funds to be used for training and technical assistance and up to three percent for monitoring the operations of these additional programs). Conference report language that accompanied the Recovery Act bill stated: The conferees expect the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to work with Head Start grantees in order to manage these resources in order to sustain fiscal year 2009 awards through fiscal year 2010.

All Recovery Act programs will be assessed for risk and to ensure that appropriate internal controls are in place throughout the entire funding cycle. These assessments will be done consistent with the statutory requirements of the Federal Manager’s Financial Integrity Act and the Improper Payments Information Act, as well as OMB’s circular A-123 “Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control.”

ACF will follow its existing internal control structure in implementing this Early Head Start expansion. The expenditure of these funds will be carefully monitored by Office of Head Start (OHS) regional staff and by ACF Office of Administration (OA) grants specialists with strong oversight from the national office. On-going Risk Management Meetings conducted with each grantee will focus on the use of these funds and the frequency will be increased to quarterly with all grantees receiving these funds. All Early Head Start programs are subject to regular monitoring visits where their records, including fiscal records will be carefully reviewed to assure an appropriate use of these funds. New Early Head Start programs will be visited after completion of their first year of program operations. The fiscal monitoring tools will be revised to ensure that the use of these funds is thoroughly and separately examined. All new Early Head Start grantees will be monitored at the end of their first year of operation. In addition, all Head Start grantees must submit an annual audit to OHS.

Transparency:
ACF will be open and transparent in all of its grant awards and contracts that involve spending of Recovery Act funding consistent with statutory and OMB guidance. ACF will ensure that recipient reporting required by Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and OMB guidance is made available to the public on Recovery.gov by October 10, 2009. ACF will inform recipients of their reporting obligation through standard terms and conditions, grant announcements, contract solicitations, and other program guidance. ACF will provide technical assistance to grantees and contractors and fully utilize Project Officers to ensure compliance with reporting requirements.

OHS will post on its website (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/) quarterly information about the spending of Recovery Act funds, including such information as the number of successful EHS expansion applicants, how many new children are being served, how many new staff have been hired, and how many new EHS centers have been opened (see Table 1 output measures). Annual performance results are available in the annual ACF Budget Justification and Online Performance Appendix (available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/olab/budget/index.html).

Accountability:
Head Start is legislatively required to perform reviews of each Head Start program every three years and to review all newly funded programs after its first years of operation. Erroneous Payment reviews are conducted to determine whether documentation demonstrated that a Head Start child was income eligible. In the case of errors, Head Start grantees are required to develop corrective action plans. ACF has also issued a memorandum reminding all grantees of documentation requirements, developed a standard signed statement template form, increased oversight of documentation activities being performed by ACF Regional Offices, and increased grantee emphasis for on-going monitoring through training and development of a monitoring protocol to review management systems. Head Start Regional program managers are charged with assuring all programs in their regions are providing appropriate services to enrolled children and families and using their grants funds as required by statute and regulation. Grantees that are not must correct their problems or face de-funding.

To ensure that managers are held to high standards of accountability in achieving program goals under the Recovery Act, ACF will build on and strengthen existing processes. Senior ACF and Office of Head Start officials will meet regularly with senior Department officials to ensure that projects are meeting their program goals, assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring transparency, and incorporating corrective actions. The personnel performance appraisal system will also incorporate Recovery Act program stewardship responsibilities for program and business function managers. Both senior and program managers are held accountable for assuring quality grantee performance through their Performance Management Appraisal Program (PMAP) plans. PMAP plans define clear expectations for managerial performance related to ACF-wide goals, the HHS Strategic Plan, and other key performance measures.

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