We audited the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ (State) Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program because the State was the largest recipient of CDBG funds in New England.  HUD awarded the State more than $88 million in CDBG funding for program years 2015, 2016, and 2017.  In addition, we had not audited any of the State’s community planning and development programs in the last 10 years.  Our audit objective was…

We audited Hamilton County’s subrecipient agreement with People Working Cooperatively, Inc. (corporation), for a Community Development Block Grant-funded housing repair services program based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Columbus Office of Community Planning and Development concerning information the Office received regarding the program, which it did not have the resources to review.  The…

We audited the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) assistance grant provided to the City of Springfield, MA, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts resulting from damages caused by presidentially declared disasters.  The audit objective was to determine whether the City properly followed Federal procurement requirements and whether…

We audited the City of Toledo’s Community Development Block Grant funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2013 annual audit plan.  We selected the City’s Block Grant based upon recent media attention regarding the City’s programs, a request by the Honorable Marcy Kaptur, and a referral from the Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigation.  Our objective was…

We audited the City of Worcester’s administration of its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  We selected the City for review based on a request from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Boston, MA, Office of Community Planning and Development.  The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the City established adequate controls to ensure that the CDBG activities were eligible and supported…

We reviewed the administration expenses charged to the City of Brockton’s Community Development Block Grant in response to a complaint alleging that the City was charging the Community Development Block Grant program for City expenses. The objectives of our review were to determine whether the City (1) properly accounted for and reported its planning and administrative expenses for its Community Development Block Grant and (2) prepared accurate…

We reviewed The Community Builders, a nonprofit development and asset management firm that received a $78.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress established the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 to grant funds to States, local governments, nonprofits, and a consortium of nonprofit entities for the purpose of stabilizing communities…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited The Other Place, Inc.’s (The Other Place) use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009’s (Act) Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (program) funds. The Other Place was selected for audit based upon a citizen’s complaint to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that was forwarded to our office. The…

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) risk assessment process. We initiated the review as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2010 annual audit plan. Our objective was to determine whether CPD had established and properly implemented a risk assessment process that used appropriate measures to determine risk and identify grantees for monitoring. We found…

In accordance with our goal to review funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General conducted a capacity review of the City of East Cleveland’s (City) operations. We also selected the City based upon the results of our audit of the City’s Community Development Block Grant (Block Grant) and HOME Investment…

We conducted a capacity review of the operations of the City of Brockton’s (City) grantee, Building a Better Brockton, Inc. (recipient), which has responsibility for administering the City’s NSP. Our objective was to determine whether the City and/or its recipient had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) and the American Recovery and…

We performed an audit of the City of Boston’s (City) Department of Neighborhood Development (Department). We selected the City based upon the results of our previous audit of the City’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the significance of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds awarded. Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity to effectively and efficiently administer its NSP under the provisions…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General audited the City of Cincinnati's (City) Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2009 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon the results of our three previous audits of the City's HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME). Our objective was to determine whether the City had the capacity…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited the City of Dayton's (City) Community Development Block Grant program (program). The audit was part of the activities in our fiscal year 2008 annual audit plan. We selected the City based upon our increased emphasis on HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development's programs and a citizen's complaint. Our objectives were…