Single Audits Are Not What They Used to Be: Certified Public Accountant

Single Audits Pre-COVID-19 The Single Audit Act requires that audits be performed annually, except for certain entities that have been grandfathered in for biennial audits, on behalf of all federal agencies by independent accounting firms or by individual states' internal auditors. Most of these awards were granted in 2021;however, this program was not included in the 2021 OMB Supplement. [...]auditors had to determine which compliance requirements needed to be tested using Part 7 and Part 3 of the supplement. Typically, the audit threshold for a single or program-specific audit of federal awards is based on expenditures. Because for-profit entities are not required to adhere to the audit requirements in 2 CFR Part 200, the SBA has the flexibility to define audit requirements and thresholds specific to the SVOG program. [...]the SBA has defined the audit threshold for a for-profit entity that has received an SVOG award based on the GAAP principle of revenue recognition, specifically applied to recognition of an SVOG award.

Title VI of the Older Americans Act: Past, Present, and Future

Title VI grants may never have happened were it not for a group of activists dedicated to advancing equity for Indian Country elders. In 1978, Congress created a Title VI under Amendments to the OAA, establishing grants funded by setting aside Title III funds explicitly for American Indian tribes. This article brings readers up to date on what has happened since with Title VI grants and the changed demographics of older adults who rely upon them.

Raising Revenue for Good Social Public Policy

COVID-19 and its resultant economic decline have underscored inequities faced by women and people of color. In the United States, policymakers pursued different paths when attempting to recover: Some, like state lawmakers in Georgia, chose to cut funding for programs and services. Other policymakers invested dollars where the need is greatest. Moral investments that put the needs of people first, by creating jobs that pay living wages and help people afford necessities, and equitable policies that ensure everyone pays their fair share of taxes are needed to create a system where everyone can recover and thrive.

Systematic Outcomes Measurement Can Lead to Performance Excellence

Category 7 of the Baldrige criteria puts performance results into five areas: (1) product and process;(2) customer-focused;(3) workforce-focused;(4) leadership and governance;and (5) financial, market, and strategy (National Institute of Standards and Technology, n.d.). [...]it’s all about the results. According to Rosenkranz and colleagues, “The most critical value of diversity in healthcare is improving patient outcomes” (2021, p. 1058). To identify counterproductive tasks, healthcare leaders should again take a team-based approach—for example, information technology staff working alongside clinicians to identify ways to streamline the electronic health record entry.

CPAs' Role in Food Relief Organizations after COVID-19: Certified Public Accountant

According to the National Council of Nonprofits, the sector employs approximately 12.3 million people and spends more than $826 billion on salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes annually [National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), 2021. "Economic Impact," February 2, 2021, https://bit.ly/3wjgVnT]. [...]these nonprofits create many opportunities to fuel the United States' economic engine: nonprofits consume a wide range of goods and services, ranging from immediate needs (e.g., food, utilities, office supplies, rent) to larger expenses (e.g., computer and medical equipment). According to the Independent Sector survey (2020), only 23% of food pantries were operational during the height of the pandemic and they struggled to survive, leading to profound adverse financial and social implications. NBC News, April 8, 2020, https://nbcnews.to/3tpaspU). Since 2020, food pantries have had to adjust to this new environment with new strategies and activities, focusing on urgent needs and direct emergency assistance.

A First Look at the Addenda to the 2021 OMB Compliance Supplement: Certified Public Accountant

Helpful Guidance for Auditors and Not-for-Profit Organizations The guidance and requirements that auditors must follow to perform single audits, including program specific audits, are included in the U.S. Office of Management and Budgets (OMB) annual Compliance Supplement. The Compliance Supplement has helpful information to assist recipients of federal grants with the regulations and requirements of the federal program. Loans obtained under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and refunds resulting from the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) are not subject to a single audit.

New Funding Options under American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 offers pandemic-related relief similar to relief offered as a result of the Great Recession. After a request by the American Academy of Actuaries for clarification the Treasury did provide some answers to some of the issues. This article summarizes these developments.

Federal Policymakers Should Urgently and Greatly Expand Naloxone Access

Since March 2020, the US federal government has invested tremendous public health effort in COVID-19 responses by expediting the availability of vaccines and have therapeutics. Reduced access to addiction treatment and services combined with fentanyl infiltrating drug supplies resulted in an estimated 100000 fatal overdoses in 2020 alone.1 Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention iCDC;has released official health advisories2 and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has supported widespread implementation of expanded distribution and use of naloxone in high-risk populations, there is not enou ugh naloxone in the hands of those who need it most. The opioid overdose crisis continues to ravage communities;thus, we call for federal policymakers within the US Department of Health and Human Services or the FDA to facilitate OTC approval of at least one formulation of naloxone, with or without manufacturer request or approval. State legislatures that implemented coprescribing mandates have seen substantial increases in naloxone prescribing, engagement of a larger and more diverse set of prescribers, expanded geographic reach, and reductions in opioid-related harm.18-20 In 2018, a panel of experts at the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee narrowly voted against a coprescribing mandate, citing concerns for potential risks of drug shortages, diverting naloxone from community programs, rise in health care costs, institutional racism benefiting insured patients, and threats to provider autonomy in identifying patient risk.21 Instead, this committee recommended changing opioid prescription labels to encourage coprescription, which was released as an FDA mandate in July 2020 to opioid drug manufacturers.22 Although it remains unclear if these label changes were widely implemented, they serve as a mere nudge for providers to have discussions with their patients about the importance of naloxone, whereas mandatory coprescribing will facilitate increased distribution ofthis lifesaving medication.

Three Crisis Management Imperatives Recalibration, Recovery & Resiliency

Going forward, they must consider ways to modify their health and safety workplace models and policies, issue guidance for post-reentry personnel policies, and create a work environment that openly addresses topics such as telework and evacuation pay.2 To recalibrate effectively, it is important to understand the supporting elements of a sound crisis management strategy, detailed in Figure 2: * Trust the data. * Establish a forward-looking strategy. * Reduce damaging effects of the crisis. * Promote a culture of planning and preparedness. * Set the tone at the top. HHS leaders faced accusations of favoring wealthier hospital systems. Since the fund was designed to move money out the door quickly, the allocation scheme was based on hospitals' historic revenues, which potentially favored institutions that served patients who paid more.3 Subsequent legislation adjusted policies for this fund, and HHS made a concerted effort to transfer funds to more vulnerable communities for a broader public health recovery. Key factors in assessing recovery plans include monitoring economic rescue measures, safeguarding prosperity, promoting equity, and committing to programs that contribute to a fulfilling citizen experience.7 Many organizations could help monitor and coordinate actions at the state and local levels, such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Craig Maxwell, CGFM, is a senior associate in the risk practice at Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC, with I j over two years' A professional experience that includes CFO support services, strategic planning, grants management implementation, and enterprise risk management support to a number of federal, state, local, and non-profit clients.

The Great American Pandemic Recovery: Tackling Systems of Inequality that Impede Full Latino Inclusion in the COVID-19 Response

The Depression-era Social Security system and the Fair Labor Standards Act offered retirement security and basic worker protections - like the minimum wage - to predominantly white office, industrial, and craft workers but excluded farm laborers, domestic workers, and other jobs largely held by Blacks and Latinos.3 When the Interstate Highway System, government-subsidized mortgages, and mortgage interest deduction fueled a massive increase in suburban homeownership after World War II, formal and informal housing discrimination relegated most Latino and Black families to poor-quality housing in segregated neighborhoods with few economic opportunities and under-resourced schools.4 The Great Society era of the 1960s led to the creation of critical support programs, including housing assistance, job training, Medicaid, and the Food Stamp program (SNAP's predecessor), but so-called "alien exclusions" soon followed, which bar most immigrants and their lawfully present spouses and children-predominantly Hispanic-from vital economic, health, and nutritional supports.5 The pandemic has exposed the unequal social and economic foundations on which communities of color must build their lives, in part due to decades of explicitly discriminatory policy decisions. COVID-19 and the Latino Community COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, and a national emergency by the United States on March 13, 2020.7 One year later, more than 29 million confirmed cases and 528,000 deaths were attributed to the disease in the United States.8 The nation's largest Latino civil rights organization, UnidosUS, was early in bringing attention to the disparate impact on Latino communities through original analysis, engagement with lawmakers, and more than 20 virtual community events that placed the disparate effects of the pandemic within the context of broader structural inequities.9 To be clear, the hundreds of thousands of COVID-related deaths are tragic, regardless of race or ethnicity. While no consistent evidence links school openings to surges in COVID-19 in general, children who live in poverty - 41 percent of whom are Latino - disproportionately attend schools with substandard facilities that undermine virus mitigation strategies and place students and staff at higher risk.14 These children are also more likely to live with an essential worker family member or in multigenerational housing, which also increases risk of exposure.15 Even as youth mortality rates re-main low compared to older patients, the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on an entire generation of Americans should spark significant concern among policymakers;research suggests the disease can lead to major organ damage, psychiatric disorders, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome.16 With such a disproportionate number of young Latinos falling ill, it is not unreasonable to assume that Latinos will also share an outsized burden of the disease's long-term health effects. Recent policy decisions-in response to COVID-19 and changes to the tax code - have expressly excluded many families living in mixed-immigration status households from accessing economic impact payments (stimulus checks) or antipoverty programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).23 An estimated 5.5 million US citizens and green card holders did not receive stimulus checks under the CARES Act because they live in households where one member files taxes without a Social Security Number.24 Although income-eligible US citizens and green card holders were eventually included in the two most-recent pandemic relief packages, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, these changes only came after intense advocacy by organizations like UnidosUS and more than a year of millions of families struggling without support.