Lydia E. York Delaware State Auditor
Higher Ground Outreach, Inc.
Performance Audit – August 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024
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Report Summary
Background
The Office of Auditor of Accounts (AOA) presents a performance audit of Higher Ground Outreach, Inc., an organization that received a grant from the Delaware Opioid Abatement & Remediation Grant Program. This program is managed by the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission (POSDC), a committee of the Behavioral Health Consortium (16 Del. C. § 5195).
The grant awards are for evidence-based efforts that treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids. Services provided include treatment interventions, recovery support, and prevention. The grant program has awarded millions of dollars towards these efforts so far.
AOA’s performance audit engagements of opioid settlement grant recipients evaluated compliance with grant agreements entered into with the POSDC. These performance audits were conducted in accordance with the standards applicable to performance audits contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.
Auditors sampled and tested expenditures of grant funds and evaluated reported results to determine organizational compliance with the expected performance measures, scope of work, and budget presented in the individual grant agreements.
The audit was performed according to AOA’s authority as set forth in 29 Del. C. §2906.
Key Information and Findings
There were findings identified as a result of this performance audit of Higher Ground Outreach, Inc.
- Finding 1: Supporting Documentation for Measuring Grant Deliverables was not Available to Review – Higher Ground was unable to verify services provided and reported under its grant due to a lack of supporting documentation.
- Finding 2: Grant Expenditures did not have Demonstratable Direct Correlation with the Grant Budget – Higher Ground did not have a sufficient internal control structure to produce a budget or financial statement to monitor grant expenditures according to its proposed grant budget.
