The objective of our audit was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) implemented processes to provide reasonable assurance that it awarded School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) Grant Program grants in accordance with grant requirements and Department policy and monitored grantee performance. Our audit covered OESE’s processes for awarding grants during the fiscal year 2022 SBMH Grant Program competition and for monitoring the performance of the seven grantees included in the fiscal years 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
We found that OESE generally implemented processes that provided reasonable assurance that it awarded SBMH Grant Program grants in accordance with grant requirements and Department policy. It completed processes for peer review in accordance with Department policy; however, OESE did not screen grant applications to ensure that they met all application requirements before entering them into the peer review process. Additionally, OESE assessed applicant risk before awarding grants; however, it did not retain all risk assessment records that Department policy requires. In addition, we found that OESE did not always implement post-award activities as designed. Specifically, OESE did not design, finalize, and implement SBMH Grant Program monitoring plans. Additionally, its reviews of grantees’ annual performance reports (APR) were limited to ensuring that the APRs included information in each section. Finally, while OESE designed risk mitigation strategies for fiscal year 2020 grantees with elevated risk, it did not keep records showing that it implemented the strategies as designed
We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education require OESE to review the work of program officers to ensure that for future SBMH grant competitions they (a) screen all grant applications for all application requirements before entering them into the peer review process, (b) ensure that review of requirements checklists are completed before making new SBMH Grant Program awards, and (c) consistently follow existing records retention policies for official grant files. We also recommend that the Assistant Secretary verify that OESE has developed, finalized, and implemented a detailed monitoring plan that includes steps for reviewing grantees’ progress towards meeting the goals in their approved applications and procedures for reviewing grantees’ APRs and documenting its reviews of those APRs.