Oversight of the Colorado Emergency Management Performance Grant Program Needs Improvement

We conducted this audit to determine whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) were sufficiently monitoring the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) program to ensure that funds were used in accordance with grant program guidelines and other applicable state and Federal laws. DHSEM needs to improve its grants management and internal controls over its financial systems. In addition, it needs to improve its maintenance of supporting documentation for all EMPG transactions, and monitoring of subgrantees. Without adequate grants management, financial controls, and retention of detailed supporting documentation for transactions and EMPG expenditures were not always recorded timely; inaccurate amounts were recorded; grants were improperly closed out; and financial reports submitted to FEMA were inaccurate.