GRANTS 

MANAGEMENT

Oversight of Selected 

States’ Disbursement 

of Federal Funds 

Addresses Timeliness 

and Administrative 

Allowances

Report to Congressional Requesters

April 2013

GAO-13-392

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-13-392, a report to 

congressional requesters

April 2013

GRANTS MANAGEMENT 

Oversight of Selected States’ Disbursement of 

Federal Funds Addresses Timeliness and 

Administrative Allowances

Why GAO Did This Study

Grant programs in which states are 

awarded federal grants but then pass 

funds on to subrecipients—entities 

within states’ jurisdiction—are referred 

to as “pass-through grants.” These 

relationships pose challenges for the 

management of grant programs, as the 

multiple levels add complexity to the

flow of funds, administration, and 

oversight.

As requested, GAO examined 

management and oversight of passthrough grants. This report addresses

(1) requirements and oversight related 

to the timeliness of federal grant funds 

from states to subrecipients and the 

portion states may withhold for their 

administration, (2) select states' 

practices in disbursing federal grant 

funds to subrecipients and the extent 

to which select federal granting 

agencies have identified compliance

issues with these requirements, and 

(3) the views of subrecipients on the 

impact of selected states’ practices in 

disbursing grant funds. To conduct this 

study, GAO selected states and 

programs based on characteristics 

affecting pass-through grants 

management. GAO reviewed 

documentation on government-wide 

regulations and selected federal passthrough grant programs; reviewed 

monitoring reports and audits of state 

pass-through entities; and interviewed

federal and state officials, as well as

subrecipients and others with relevant 

expertise. Findings cannot be 

generalized to all states and programs, 

but our work provides insights related 

to pass-through grants management. 

GAO makes no recommendations in 

this report. OMB and selected federal 

granting agencies provided technical 

comments, which were incorporated as 

appropriate

What GAO Found

As pass-through grant funds flow to subrecipients, they are subject to 

government-wide and program-specific policies, two of which are particularly 

relevant to disbursement issues for states as they pass funds on to 

subrecipients. As shown below, pass-through grants are typically first awarded to 

states, local governments, or other entities and then further awarded to 

subrecipients. The Cash Management Improvement Act governs the exchange of 

funds between the federal government and the states and is applicable to 

timeliness in the grant disbursement process. In addition, the Office of 

Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular No. A-133, Audits of States, Local 

Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, provides general guidance on the 

roles and responsibilities of the federal awarding agencies and primary recipients 

of government funds regarding audit requirements of grantees. Specific program

policies can provide additional requirements for individual grant programs related 

to disbursement of funds. For example, as with the programs we reviewed, 

authorizing legislation may contain statutory limits on the amount of funds that 

states and local governments can withhold from the grant awards for their own 

administrative expenses. To ensure states comply with federal requirements and 

agency regulations for disbursing federal grant funds, federal agencies monitor 

aspects of pass-through grants related to administrative costs that states 

withhold and timeliness of reimbursement. According to their monitoring 

procedures, selected federal agencies also review the results of states’ “single 

audits”—annual audits performed on many recipients of federal funds. 

Examples of How Federal Funds Flow through Primary Grant Recipients to Subrecipients

Selected states’ pass-through grant disbursement practices varied for the three 

programs GAO reviewed, but generally complied with federal requirements. For 

example, states had some flexibility in determining whether a grant would be 

distributed on a reimbursement basis or through a cash advance. For the 

programs and states GAO reviewed, GAO found that states generally worked 

within the federal parameters of their grant programs and reimbursed the 

subrecipients within the time allowed in their grant agreements. 

Subrecipients in GAO focus groups reported minimal issues with timeliness of 

federal funds’ reimbursement and administrative funds that states withheld. In 

addition, these subrecipients did not report instances in which federal 

requirements related to reimbursement timeliness or administrative funds 

withheld were not followed and therefore were not impacted by these 

requirements not being met. 

View GAO-13-392. For more information, 

contact Stanley J. Czerwinski at (202) 512-

6806 or czerwinskis@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Letter 1 

Background 4

Both Government-wide Policies and Specific Program Policies 

Govern Distribution of Pass-Through Grant Funds 7

Selected States’ Pass-Through Grant Disbursement Practices Vary, 

but Generally Comply with Federal Requirements 12

Subrecipients in Focus Groups Reported Minimal Issues with 

Timeliness of Federal Funds’ Reimbursement and 

Administrative Funds that States Withheld 15

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 17

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 18

Appendix II GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 22

Tables

Table 1: Information on Grant Programs Selected for Review 3

Table 2: Frequency of Subrecipient Reimbursement across 

Selected States and Federal Grant Programs 12

Table 3: Information on Grant Programs Selected for Review and 

Criteria Used to Select Them 19

Table 4: Information on States Selected for Review and Criteria 

Used to Select Them 20

Figures

Figure 1: Examples of How Federal Funds Flow through Primary 

Grant Recipients to Subrecipients 5

Figure 2: Typical Grant Life Cycle for Pass-Through Grants 6

Contents 
Page ii GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Abbreviations 

Byrne JAG Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant

CDBG Community Development Block Grant

CMIA Cash Management Improvement Act

CSBG Community Services Block Grant

DOJ Department of Justice

FFATA Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 

2006

GSA General Services Administration

HHS Department of Health and Human Services

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development

OMB Office of Management and Budget

Treasury Department of the Treasury 

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Page 1 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

April 16, 2013

The Honorable Tom Coburn, M.D.

Ranking Member

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

The Honorable Susan M. Collins

United States Senate

The Honorable Mark Kirk

United States Senate

Federal grant programs are delivered through a complex set of 

mechanisms and often involve multiple layers of government and 

nonprofit entities. In fiscal year 2012, at least $79.6 billion1

Grant programs in which states are awarded federal grants but then pass 

funds on to one or more levels of recipients—referred to as “pass-through 

grants”—provide a useful approach to involving key partners, but they 

also present administration challenges. These pass-through grants use 

entities such as local governments and nonprofit organizations that are 

in federal 

grant funding was passed through states to local governments and 

nonprofit organizations that partner with the federal government to deliver

services, such as improving local infrastructure, providing community job 

training, or running drug treatment programs. This network of grantors 

and grantees provides many services critical to the nation’s interest, and 

by leveraging the funds and expertise of entities within the granting 

network, these services can be delivered more efficiently. Over the last 

several years, current economic conditions have placed financial strain on 

all governmental sectors—federal, state, and local—as well as nonprofit 

organizations, and the efficient management of these grant programs at 

all levels is critical. Further, for grant programs to be successful it is 

important to ensure financial and programmatic controls are implemented 

while maintaining the viability of the entities within the granting network.

 

1

As of February 14, 2013, based on data reported by federal agencies and available on 

USASpending.gov. This estimate represents the total amount of federal funds spent on 

grants greater than or equal to $25,000 to subawardees in fiscal year 2012, as reported by 

prime awardees.

 
 

Page 2 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

located where services are needed to deliver the services and allow 

states flexibility to determine the specific purposes and needs to which 

grant funds should be directed. With these grant programs, federal 

agencies partner with grantees not solely to deliver services, but also to 

determine which subrecipients receive funds and aid in program 

administration. With multiple levels involved, administrative challenges 

can include transfer of funds, funding of grant administration at various 

levels, and oversight of the subrecipients to which funds are passed. 

Further, subrecipients are to address both state and federal requirements 

of grant programs.

You raised questions related to pass-through grants management, 

particularly the disbursement of federal funds to subrecipients, and asked 

us to review the issue. As a result, we are reporting on (1) governmentwide and select agencies’ requirements and oversight related to the 

timeliness of federal grant funds from states to subrecipients and the 

portion of funds states may withhold for their own administration, (2) 

select states’ practices in disbursing federal grant funds to subrecipients 

and the extent to which select federal granting agencies have identified 

compliance issues with these requirements, and (3) the views of 

subrecipients on the impact of selected states’ practices in disbursing 

grant funds.

To achieve our objectives, we identified, reviewed, and discussed with the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) federal government-wide 

regulations or efforts related to cash disbursement and program 

administrative allowances. We selected three federal granting agencies—

the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

(HUD)—to obtain information on the extent to which they identified 

compliance issues with federal requirements. We selected these granting 

agencies because they provide a range of grant funding, including 

significant pass-through grant programs. We then selected three federal 

pass-through programs to gain information on the federal pass-through 

grant process, reviewed documentation on the selected programs, such 

as program and monitoring guidance, and discussed application of this 

guidance with agency officials. We selected programs within these 

agencies that were of a typical size for that agency. We also selected 

programs about which we have reported previously to leverage resources 

and use existing information in program descriptions and information on 

administration of these grant programs. Table 1 identifies the grant 

programs and provides additional information on these programs.
 

Page 3 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Table 1: Information on Grant Programs Selected for Review

Program 

Agency and 

administering 

component

Amount 

allocated to 

states (fiscal 

year 2012) Purpose Eligible Subrecipients

Edward Byrne Memorial 

Justice Assistance Grant

Department of Justice, 

Bureau of Justice 

Assistance

$193.3 million Supports a range of program 

areas, including law 

enforcement; prosecution and 

courts; prevention and 

education; corrections and 

community corrections; drug 

treatment and enforcement; 

planning, evaluation and 

technology improvement; and 

crime victim and witness 

initiatives. 

Local governments are 

required by the law to 

receive a portion of the 

states’ grant amount; 

nonprofit organizations 

may also receive funds.

Community Services 

Block Grant

Department of Health and 

Human Services, 

Administration for Children 

and Families, Office of 

Community Services

$658.1 million Supports a variety of programs

to reduce poverty, revitalize 

low-income communities, and 

empower low-income families 

and individuals in rural and 

urban areas to become selfsufficient.

Typically community 

action agencies (nonprofit 

or governmental 

organizations) with the 

goal of alleviating poverty, 

but can include other 

organizations, such as 

migrant worker 

organizations.

State-Administered

Community Development 

Block Grant

Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 

Office of Community 

Planning and 

Development

$882.3 million Supports development of 

viable communities by 

providing decent housing and 

a suitable living environment 

and by expanding economic 

opportunities, principally for 

persons of low- and moderateincome. 

Units of local government 

that do not receive 

Community Development 

Block Grant funds directly 

from the Department of 

Housing and Urban 

Development.

Source: GAO summary of data from above agencies.

We selected three states for review—Illinois, Massachusetts, and 

Tennessee—to maximize the likelihood of presenting diversity in how the 

grant programs were administered. These states were selected based on 

criteria including geographic location, per capita granting amount, 

population, and recommendations from experts such as specialists in 

grant administration. Illinois is an example of a large state in the Midwest 

Census region that has a relatively low per capita granting amount. 

Massachusetts is a medium-sized commonwealth in the Northeast 

Census region that has a relatively high per capita granting amount. 

Tennessee is a medium-sized state in the South Census region with an 

average per capita granting amount. In addition to the recommendations, 

we reviewed survey data from the Urban Institute’s 2010 study on 
 

Page 4 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

nonprofits’ perception of grant and contract administration, which included 

rankings of the quality of states’ grant administration based on survey 

responses.2

We conducted this performance audit from May 2012 to April 2013 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

We conducted site visits to each of these states to review 

documentation and speak with granting and financial control officials to 

determine their policies and procedures for distributing grant funds. We 

also conducted focus groups of nonprofit and local government 

subrecipients to aid in identifying concerns with the granting process. 

While the programs and states we reviewed present differences in the 

management of pass-through grants, they do not represent a 

generalizable sample, thus information we obtained from them cannot be 

generalized to all federal agencies and related grant programs or state 

recipients. However, they provided insights and examples related to passthrough grants management. Appendix I contains more details on our 

scope and methodology, including how we selected focus group 

participants.

Some federal grant programs—referred to as pass-through grants—are 

awarded with a specific requirement that a portion of grant funds be 

distributed by the initial grant recipient (such as a state or local 

government) to entities within that grantee’s jurisdiction to carry out 

services.3

 

2

Urban Institute. Human Services Nonprofits and Government Collaboration: Findings 

from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants

(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 2010).

The initial recipients of the funds, known as prime recipients, 

distribute funds to entities within the jurisdiction, known as subrecipients. 

For purposes of this report, we focus on grants where state agencies are 

the prime recipient. Congress may establish a grant program as a pass3

While the term “program” does not have a well-defined, standard meaning in the 

legislative process, it is generally defined as an organized set of activities directed toward 

a common purpose or goal that an agency undertakes or proposes to carry out its 

responsibilities. 

Background 
 

Page 5 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

through program in its authorizing legislation and there can be multiple 

benefits to this structure. Pass-through grants can balance federal 

interests with state flexibility, as well as leverage the financial and 

program resources of prime recipients and subrecipients.

Pass-through grant funds flow to subrecipients in various ways. Passthrough grants are first awarded to prime recipients, such as states, local 

governments, or other entities, and then awarded to subrecipients. In 

some cases, entities that are subrecipients for certain grant programs can 

be prime recipients for other grant programs. Figure 1 broadly illustrates 

the flow of pass-through funds and shows how different types of entities 

can be the prime recipient.

Figure 1: Examples of How Federal Funds Flow through Primary Grant Recipients 

to Subrecipients

Federal grants passed through prime recipients are to complete the 

normal steps in a grant life cycle (see figure 2). In addition, prime 

recipients conduct their own granting process to award funds to 

subrecipients, mirroring many of the same steps as in the federal 

agency’s grant life cycle. This process typically involves subrecipients 

applying for grant funds and, if grant funds are awarded, entering into a 

grant agreement with the prime recipient. After prime recipients enter into 

agreements with subrecipients, funds may be distributed to the 

subrecipient. Funds for many grants to subrecipients are distributed on a 

reimbursable basis, with the subrecipient incurring an expense and then 

reporting that expense to the prime recipient who then reimburses the 

subrecipient. Significant gaps in the time or amount of funding provided 

could lead to financial instability of the subrecipient.
 

Page 6 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Figure 2: Typical Grant Life Cycle for Pass-Through Grants

States, as prime recipients, may exercise flexibility in many aspects of 

pass-through grant administration. In many cases, states are able to 

determine the funding priorities and set the award process. States may 

also set their own monitoring plans and schedules within federal 

requirements. Broadly, a subrecipient is accountable to the prime 

recipient for use of the federal funds provided by the pass-through grant, 

and therefore subrecipients send much of the reporting information to 

states. In general, federal agencies have requirements to monitor how the 

prime recipient monitors its subrecipients.

There is no comprehensive estimate of the amount of federal grant funds 

awarded from prime recipients to subrecipients. USASpending.gov 

provides information reported by recipients on funds they awarded to 

subrecipients for grants greater than or equal to $25,000, but grants of 
 

Page 7 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

less than $25,000 are not required to be included. According to 

USASpending.gov data for fiscal year 2012, $79.6 billion4 was reported 

as being redistributed to subrecipients.

All federal grant programs are subject to a common foundation of 

governing rules and government-wide requirements, and two are 

particularly relevant to entities that pass funds on to subrecipients. The 

Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA) governs the exchange of 

funds between the federal government and the states, and is applicable 

to timeliness in the grant disbursement process, while OMB’s Circular No. 

A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit 

Organizations, outlines the requirements for an annual audit in 

accordance with the Single Audit Act; such an audit encompasses 

compliance with requirements such as determining the extent of 

compliance with CMIA and policies on allowances for administrative 

expenses.5

CMIA provides the general rules for efficient transfer of federal financial 

assistance between the federal government and states. CMIA requires 

that state and federal granting agencies minimize the time elapsing 

between the transfer of funds from the U.S. Treasury and the state’s 

payout of funds for federal assistance program purposes. For pass-

 

4

According to USASpending.gov as of February 14, 2013. This estimate represents the 

total amount of federal funds spent on grants greater than or equal to $25,000 to 

subawardees in fiscal year 2012, as reported by prime awardees. USASpending.gov was 

first launched in December 2007 to meet requirements of the Federal Funding 

Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006. Among other things, FFATA 

required OMB to establish a free, publicly accessible website containing data on federal 

awards, including subawards. All subawardee data are based on prime awardee 

submissions to the FFATA Subaward Reporting System, which is operated by the General 

Services Administration (GSA). GSA officials noted that the system may not include all 

funds spent in a particular fiscal year. In addition, in 2012 we reported finding data errors 

and missing data on the site; however, OMB and agencies have taken steps to improve 

the site and quality of its data. While discrepancies in data do not allow for direct 

comparison of prime award data and subaward data, as of February 15, 2013, 

USASpending.gov reported that $536.5 billion in grants were awarded to states in fiscal 

year 2012, but the data did not indicate how much of that $536.5 billion was for direct 

grants versus pass-through grants. While we have evaluated USASpending.gov data in 

the past and identified concerns with the data reliability, we have not released any new 

evaluations of the data since GSA changed its processes in response to our findings, and 

we have not performed tests specific to the reliability of the data for this report.

5

The Single Audit Act is codified, as amended, at 31 U.S.C. §§ 7501-7507. 

Both Governmentwide Policies and 

Specific Program 

Policies Govern 

Distribution of PassThrough Grant Funds
 

Page 8 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

through grants, this means that the prime recipient is generally not 

allowed to draw down its grant funds and retain these funds. Rather, the 

grant funds must be drawn when a distribution to subrecipients is needed. 

States may enter into a “Treasury-State Agreement” with the Department 

of the Treasury (Treasury). This agreement outlines the draw-down and 

distribution practices for the states for selected large grant programs.6

OMB’s Circular No. A-133 provides general guidance on the roles and 

responsibilities of the federal awarding agencies and primary recipients of 

government funds regarding audit requirements of grantees and 

subrecipients.

7

• federal awarding agencies the responsibility to advise recipients of 

requirements imposed on them by federal laws, regulations, and the 

provisions of contracts or grants, and

The circular sets forth guidance implementing the Single 

Audit Act, which requires certain entities receiving federal awards under 

more than one federal program to undergo a single audit, which is 

intended to promote the efficient and effective use of audit resources.

Additionally, the circular sets forth standards for obtaining consistency 

and uniformity among federal agencies for the audits of states, local 

governments, and nonprofit organizations expending federal awards 

totaling $500,000 or more annually. Among other responsibilities, the 

circular gives:

• primary recipients the responsibility to identify subrecipient awards; 

advise subrecipients of requirements imposed on them by federal 

laws, regulations, and the provisions of contracts or grant agreements 

as well as any supplemental requirements; and monitor the 

implementation of the grants.

Similarly, federal agencies monitor and oversee certain aspects of passthrough grants as part of their monitoring procedures.

 

6

31 C.F.R. §§205.01 – 205.35. 

7

OMB is responsible for developing government-wide guidance to help ensure that grants 

are managed properly and that the funds are spent in accordance with applicable laws 

and regulations. OMB instructions or information issued to federal agencies are referred to 

as “circulars.” These circulars apply to recipients of federal pass-through awards and they 

give instructions to federal agencies on implementing policies within their purview, 

including those that apply to grant programs. In addition, these circulars lay out guidance 

applicable to grants management in the areas of administration, audits, and cost 

principles. 
 

Page 9 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

As part of an entity’s single audit, the independent auditor is to test 

compliance with CMIA. The auditor examines compliance in areas such 

as whether the state minimized the time between receipt of federal funds 

and expenditure, whether there are internal controls in place to help 

ensure that timely payments are made, and whether any interest earned 

by the state was reported and remitted.8 The auditor is to test compliance 

by comparing a sample of the state’s reimbursement requests to 

determine if they conform to the procedures in the state’s Treasury-State 

Agreement.9

The independent auditors performing single audits may also review the 

allowances states withhold for administrative costs before passing funds

on to subrecipients. OMB’s Circular A-133 single audit compliance 

supplement states that for programs where a maximum percentage or 

amount is allowed for the grantees’ administrative costs (such as the 

three programs we reviewed), auditors are to verify that administrative 

costs were accurately recorded and that these costs do not exceed the 

allowed amount. As a result of their work, auditors can identify issues with 

excess administrative funds withheld; however, generally, auditors do not 

test all transactions or programs, as they use a risk-based approach in 

their testing.

In addition to government-wide requirements, program-specific 

requirements—found in a grant program’s authorizing legislation, 

appropriation, or implementing regulations—can provide specific 

requirements for individual grant programs related to disbursement of 

funds. For example, as with the three programs we reviewed, the 

authorizing legislation may contain statutory limits on the amount of 

administrative funds that states and local governments are allowed to 

withhold from the grant awards for their own administrative expenses. 

The three programs we reviewed did not set specific requirements for the 

timing of payments from prime recipients to subrecipients. OMB guidance 

 

8

CMIA requires that states pay interest to the federal government if they draw down funds 

in advance of need and requires the federal government to pay interest to states if federal 

program agencies do not make program payments in a timely manner when states use 

their own funds. 

9

Office of Management and Budget. Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement. June 2012.

Federal Agencies Vary In 

Certain Pass-Through 

Grant Management 

Requirements
 

Page 10 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

states that the CMIA and Treasury-State Agreements would set these 

policies.

The three programs we reviewed varied in the amount of grant funds the 

authorizing statute permits a prime recipient to use for its own 

administrative expenses prior to distributing funds to subrecipients: 

• The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) 

program allows the prime recipient to withhold up to 10 percent for 

administrative expenses without regards to the award amount. 

• The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program allows the 

prime recipient to withhold up to 5 percent—or $55,000, whichever is 

greater—for administrative expenses. The grant program also allows 

for an additional amount to be withheld for special projects, which the 

state may retain for activities such as training and technical 

assistance, but the state may also distribute these funds to existing 

recipients or other recipients to meet state goals, so long as the 

combined administrative expenses and special project funds do not 

exceed 10 percent of the total funds made available to the state.

• The state-administered Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 

allows the prime recipient to withhold $100,000 plus 3 percent of the 

state’s CDBG grant plus program income for administrative expenses. 

The program requires that any funds spent for administration in 

excess of $100,000 must be matched by the state. The state may also 

opt to use up to 3 percent of the grant plus program income for 

technical assistance, but the combination of administrative and 

technical assistance cannot exceed $100,000 plus 3 percent of the 

amount granted to the state plus program income.

As part of program monitoring procedures to help ensure states comply 

with federal requirements and agency regulations, federal agencies 

oversee aspects of pass-through grants related to the administrative 

funds states withhold and the timeliness of reimbursement practices. 

Federal agencies can establish their own monitoring procedures and 

develop their own monitoring tools, and our review of the three selected 

agencies’ procedures indicated the agencies address both of these 

issues in their monitoring tools and guidance:

• At HHS, monitoring plans allow for on-site monitoring to occur for the 

CSBG grant at approximately five states each year. Additional 

monitoring visits may be conducted if problems are identified during 

the course of program administration. Monitors review compliance 

with CMIA as well as the amount of administrative fees withheld.

Federal Monitoring Efforts 

Include Methods to 

Identify Issues of 

Distributing Funds to 

Subrecipients 
 

Page 11 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

• At HUD, grantees may receive on-site monitoring or desk reviews, offsite agency reviews of documents submitted by the grantee. Some 

states receive on-site monitoring annually, while other states have a 

longer gap between these site visits, determined by a risk-based 

scoring method. CDBG program monitoring protocols include 

requirements for reviewing the amount of administrative funds 

withheld. HUD also requires grantees to submit an annual 

performance report, including financial information, which is used to 

aid in identifying any potential payment issues.

• At DOJ, monitoring procedures provide for some on-site monitoring 

reviews in addition to annual desk reviews of its grantees. The 

frequency of on-site monitoring reviews is based on several factors, 

including risk assessment, resource availability, and whether the state 

has had a recent audit. DOJ monitoring reviews are to look at the 

states’ timing of its fund distributions, which is generally done by 

reviewing a sample of drawdown transactions.

The three selected federal agencies also include a review of the results of 

states’ single audits as part of their monitoring procedures for periodic 

reviews. Reviewing single audit reports can help identify potential internal 

control issues or any program-specific issues from past audits. For 

example, DOJ financial monitoring protocols require the monitoring staff 

to review the most recent single audit to determine if there are findings 

related to department programs, which could identify cash disbursement 

delays or excess administrative funds withheld. Protocols specific to the 

CSBG program require monitoring staff to review the single audit report 

as well as financial documentation used to support that audit and 

documentation of any actions taken to resolve audit findings. Agency 

officials we spoke with said that reviews of single audits are helpful parts 

of the monitoring process, but they rarely see specific issues with delayed 

reimbursement or excess administrative funds withheld by the state 

identified in the single audit. Circular A-133 requires audited entities to 

respond to findings with actions they plan to take and deadlines for 

completing these actions.10

 

10Each state has a cognizant agency for its single audit that, among other tasks, 

coordinates management decisions for audit findings. 
 

Page 12 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

While states are required to meet the government-wide requirements and 

specific program requirements, they can set their own practices for 

distributing funds to subrecipients. For example, the reimbursement 

cycle—how frequently states reimburse subrecipients for grant 

expenses—can vary across and within states. States have some flexibility 

in determining whether a grant will be distributed on a reimbursement 

basis or through a cash advance. For the selected programs in the 

selected states, the frequency with which subrecipients were allowed to 

request a reimbursement ranged from whenever the subrecipient needed 

funds to once a quarter. For example, in Tennessee, all selected grant 

programs allowed subrecipients to request reimbursements once a 

month. In Massachusetts, CSBG subrecipients received a portion of their 

grant on a monthly basis, while recipients of the Byrne JAG program were 

generally allowed to request reimbursements once a quarter. Table 2 

shows this variation across the selected states and grant programs we 

reviewed.

Table 2: Frequency of Subrecipient Reimbursement across Selected States and Federal Grant Programs

Selected states

Selected Federal Grant Programs

Byrne JAG CSBG State-administered CDBG

Illinois Upfront advance and then a 

schedule as agreed upon 

between state and subrecipient 

Reimbursed as frequently as the 

subrecipient requests, up to 

once per week

Reimbursed as frequently as the subrecipient 

requests, up to once per week

Massachusetts Quarterly reimbursement 

(subrecipients demonstrating 

need may be reimbursed more 

frequently) 

Monthly advance Monthly reimbursement or advance, 

depending on subrecipient preference

Tennessee Monthly reimbursement 

(subrecipient can opt for less 

frequently)

Monthly reimbursement Monthly reimbursement (subrecipient can opt 

for less frequently) 

Source: GAO summary of state agency information.

The states’ procedures allow for subrecipients to receive grant 

reimbursements once an approved receipt of invoice or payment request 

is received. According to state officials we interviewed, subrecipients 

generally receive payment within 30 days, particularly since the payments 

are delivered through electronic fund transfer. However, according to 

these state officials, if reimbursement delays occur, they are generally 

related to a lack of documentation required for approval.

States may withhold a portion of a grant to help defray the costs of 

managing the grant, and the states we reviewed exercised some flexibility 

in their use of these funds. Allowable administrative costs can generally

Selected States’ PassThrough Grant 

Disbursement 

Practices Vary, but 

Generally Comply 

with Federal 

Requirements 
 

Page 13 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

include areas such as personnel or accounting costs. For pass-through 

grants, the state may be able to use these funds for expenses related to 

monitoring subrecipients. States may specify how they intend to use 

administrative funds in documents submitted to the granting agency. The 

states and programs we reviewed varied in how they described their use 

of administrative funds. For example, as noted earlier, according to HHS

documents, up to 5 percent of a state’s CSBG funds can be reserved for 

administrative expenses, including monitoring activities. Furthermore, 

state plans may provide more specific information regarding the use of 

administrative funds. For instance, in the CSBG program for 

Massachusetts, a portion of the 5 percent allocated for CSBG 

administrative expenses and monitoring activities is earmarked for staff 

salaries and associated fringe benefits. Another portion is earmarked for 

direct administrative expenditures, such as office supplies, travel, and 

state overhead. 

Federal program officials we spoke with said most states use the 

maximum administrative funds allowed. They noted that they had seen 

some states in the past use less than the maximum—using these funds 

for service delivery instead—but they have seen these states begin to 

withhold the maximum amount. Most state program officials we spoke 

with said that they did withhold the full amount allowed for these costs. 

However, in Tennessee, CSBG granting officials said they did not always 

use the 5 percent allowed for special projects, but they plan to use the full 

5 percent in the future. 

For the selected programs and states we reviewed, we found that states 

worked within the federal requirements of their grant programs and 

reimbursed the subrecipients within the time allowed in their grant 

agreements. State agency officials for the selected federal programs in 

each of the three selected states told us they had not received any 

complaints from their subrecipients regarding timeliness of grant 

reimbursements. Each of the three states had established procedures 

and used automated systems to reimburse its subrecipients. In addition, 

we learned that the states withheld administrative funds for federal grant 

programs appropriately, in accordance with the amounts set by the 

programs. 

Our review of the most recent federal agency monitoring reports for the 

three programs reviewed in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Tennessee 

showed that monitors found no issues related to excessive administrative 

allowances or delays in fund disbursement. Monitoring reports were 

completed for all selected states between 2008 through 2012. For the 
 

Page 14 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Byrne JAG and state-administered CDBG program, all selected states 

had at least one on-site review during this time period. For the CSBG 

program, HHS conducted one on-site review of our selected states and is 

currently drafting a report of the review. In addition, recent single audit 

results for these three states do not indicate significant noncompliance 

related to administrative allowances or fund disbursements. We reviewed 

single audit reports for fiscal years 2009 through 2011 and identified one 

finding where a state (Illinois) took longer to reimburse a subrecipient 

than allowed—the auditor identified three reimbursement payments that 

were three or fewer days late. We found no instances of excess 

administrative funds being withheld.11

In addition, single audit reports may identify noncompliance related to 

other aspects of the pass-through grants process, such as reporting and 

subrecipient monitoring. For example, concerning reporting, in 

Tennessee’s 2010 Single Audit report, the state’s Department of Human 

Services—the state agency that administers the CSBG program for 

HHS—either did not submit federally required financial reports or did not 

submit them on a timely basis. The federal government requires these 

financial reports to be filed as one method to monitor the programs 

funded by the CSBG program. Similarly, in the same report, for the stateadministered CDBG program, the state’s Department of Economic and 

Community Development did not file quarterly reports to HUD in a timely 

manner. Concerning subrecipient monitoring, Tennessee’s 2011 Single 

Audit report indicated that the Department of Human Services did not 

have procedures in place to ensure that subrecipients were audited when 

required.12

 

11We reviewed selected states’ single audit reports from fiscal years 2009 through 2011 to 

identify any findings related to late reimbursements or excess administrative funds 

withheld. In addition, we reviewed these reports for any issues related to our three 

selected programs. 

12According to these single audit reports, Tennessee made changes or plans to make 

changes to address these findings. They agreed to submit additional reports to HHS to 

meet program requirements, implement new business practices to improve the timeliness 

of report submittal to HUD, and improve the oversight process of subrecipient audits. 
 

Page 15 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Subrecipients in our focus groups did not report instances in which 

federal requirements related to reimbursement timeliness or 

administrative funds withheld were not followed, and therefore were not 

impacted by these requirements not being met; however, they did identify 

other grant management issues. Some subrecipients who commented on 

the timeliness of reimbursement said they were reimbursed in a timely 

manner. Other subrecipients we interviewed said they were aware of the 

requirements for administrative funds withheld by states for their passthrough grant program. Nevertheless, even though their states generally 

complied with federal regulations, some subrecipients we interviewed 

expressed concerns related to reimbursement timeliness and 

administrative funds withheld. While these concerns generally did not 

identify instances of noncompliance with federal requirements, they did 

illustrate how the pass-through grant process, subrecipients’ perceptions 

of the process, and state practices can potentially impact subrecipients. 

For instance, although their states withheld administrative funds within 

federal law, a few subrecipients we spoke with expressed frustration over 

the amounts withheld because they did not feel their organizations were 

being adequately reimbursed for their own administrative expenses. In 

2010, we reported finding differences in the rate at which state and local 

governments reimburse nonprofit organizations in select states.13

In addition, states may have their own processes to manage the 

disbursement of state grant funds, which can affect subrecipients. For 

example, subrecipients we spoke to in Illinois cited a delay in receiving 

reimbursements of grant funds from their state general fund, which some 

subrecipients said negatively affected the services they provide. 

According to Illinois state officials, because the state has insufficient cash 

to meet all obligations and has set priorities for paying monies from the 

Illinois general fund, there can be up to a 9-month delay in disbursing 

state grant funds that originate from the state’s general fund. According to 

a quarterly report issued by the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, as of 

December 31, 2012, pending vouchers from the state’s general fund 

In 

particular, we found that these differences, including whether nonprofit 

organizations are reimbursed at all, depend largely on the policies and 

procedures of the state and local governments that award federal funds to 

nonprofit organizations.

 

13GAO, Nonprofit Sector: Treatment and Reimbursement of Indirect Costs Vary Among 

Grants, and Depend Significantly on Federal, State, and Local Government Practices, 

GAO-10-477 (Washington, D.C.: May 18, 2010).

Subrecipients in 

Focus Groups 

Reported Minimal 

Issues with 

Timeliness of Federal 

Funds’ 

Reimbursement and 

Administrative Funds 

that States Withheld
 

Page 16 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

dated back to August 2012. While these funds are not federal grant funds, 

delays of this nature could affect a subrecipient’s ability to deliver 

services, particularly if the subrecipient is a smaller organization. As 

subrecipients, nonprofit organizations often receive grants from multiple 

sources to fund their services, and absent a sufficient safety net, such 

delays in funding could hinder a nonprofit organization’s ability to continue 

to effectively partner with the federal government to provide services to 

vulnerable populations. According to one subrecipient we interviewed, 

despite having foundation funds to help mitigate cash flow issues, his 

organization had to cut programs that served vulnerable populations—

programs funded, in part, by pass-through grants—because of issues 

with the state funding for these services.

In focus groups we held with subrecipients, several other concerns were 

raised that can be linked to the multiple layers involved in managing passthrough grants. For example, the award process for pass-through grants 

involves two steps—allocating funding to states and awarding funds to 

subrecipients—which subrecipients said could extend the time it takes to 

receive a grant and cause funding uncertainty for a subrecipient. 

Furthermore, although monitoring serves as an important tool for internal 

control, distinct federal and state monitoring requirements may lead to 

additional responsibilities for subrecipients.14

 

14GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, 

For example, some 

subrecipients we interviewed said they may have to report the same or 

similar information to multiple granting entities, resulting in duplicative or 

redundant reporting. Federal agencies may require states, as part of their 

responsibilities as pass-through entities, to conduct monitoring site visits 

of subrecipients; however, the three federal agencies we selected may 

also conduct site visits to select subrecipients. Some subrecipients in our 

focus groups that are required to have a single audit expressed frustration 

that state monitors are looking at much of the same information contained 

in the single audit. Some subrecipients in our focus groups said they 

dedicate a significant amount of time to each step of the monitoring 

process, so duplicative or redundant reporting may reduce the amount of 

time they can devote to service delivery. We have additional work under 

way for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs that looks more closely at federal grants management reform

efforts, including what actions have been taken to address challenges 

GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1

(Washington, D.C.: November 1999).
 

Page 17 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

such as communicating with grantee recipients. We plan to issue the 

results from this work later this spring.

We provided a draft of this report to the Secretaries of HHS and HUD, the 

Attorney General, and the Director of OMB for review and comment. Each 

agency provided technical comments, which were incorporated as 

appropriate.

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional 

committees and the Secretaries of HHS and HUD, the Attorney General, 

and the Director of OMB. The report also is available at no charge on the 

GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff has any questions concerning this report, please 

contact me at (202) 512-6806 or czerwinskis@gao.gov. Contact points for 

our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 

on the last page of this report. Key contributors are listed in appendix II.

Stanley J. Czerwinski

Director, Strategic Issues

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 18 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Our objectives were to report on (1) government-wide and select 

agencies’ requirements and oversight related to the timeliness of federal 

grant funds from states to subrecipients and the portion of funds states 

may withhold for their own administration, (2) select states’ practices in 

disbursing federal grant funds to subrecipients and the extent to which 

select federal granting agencies have identified compliance issues with 

these requirements, and (3) the views of subrecipients on the impact of 

selected states’ practices in disbursing grant funds.

To determine the government-wide and select agencies’ requirements 

governing the timeliness of federal grant funds from states to 

subrecipients and the portion of funds states may withhold for their own 

administration, we identified Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) 

circulars related to grants management and reviewed these circulars to 

determine the extent that they related to pass-through grants. We 

discussed these circulars with OMB officials. We selected three federal 

pass-through grant programs to illustrate how federal agencies manage 

pass-through grant programs, including requirements for distribution and 

monitoring practices. To select these programs, we examined data on 

grant programs from USASpending.gov to determine the amount federal 

agencies awarded in grant funds across the agency and the amount of 

grant funds awarded by grant program. We identified programs that had 

significant pass-through requirements with a range of subrecipients. We 

also identified programs in which we had conducted past work in order to 

leverage resources. Table 3 presents the programs we selected and the 

criteria for this selection.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 19 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Table 3: Information on Grant Programs Selected for Review and Criteria Used to Select Them

Program

Agency and administering 

component

Amount program 

allocated to states 

(fiscal year 2012) 

(dollars in millions)

Amount agency 

allocated to states 

(fiscal year 2011) 

(dollars in millions)

Report number 

of select GAO 

work

Edward Byrne Memorial 

Justice Assistance Grant

Department of Justice, Bureau of 

Justice Assistance $193.3 $1,358

GAO-12-517

GAO-11-87

Community Services Block 

Grant

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Administration for 

Children and Families, Office of 

Community Services $658.1 $338,791 GAO-06-627

State-administered 

Community Development 

Block Grant

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, Office of 

Community Planning and 

Development $882.3 $3,150

GAO-12-575R

GAO-10-1011

Source: GAO summary of data from above agencies and USASpending.gov.

To determine states’ practices in disbursing federal grant funds to 

subrecipients, we identified three states to illustrate variation in states’ 

management of pass-through grants. We based the decision on state

population, the amount of federal grants awarded to the state, and the 

census region (as shown in table 4). We also considered the per capita 

grant amount for each state, recommendations of subject matter experts 

and stakeholders in the field of grant administration, and results from a 

2010 Urban Institute study on nonprofit organizations’ perceptions of 

states’ grant administration practices.1 With the subject matter expert 

recommendation and the survey results, we identified states with a range 

of reputations in grant administration.

 

1

We assessed the reliability of the survey data in the Urban Institute report and found it to 

be reliable for the purposes of this report.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 20 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Table 4: Information on States Selected for Review and Criteria Used to Select Them

State Population (2010 census) Census region

Federal grants awarded

(fiscal year 2011) (dollars in billions) 

Illinois 12,830,632 Midwest $15.63

Massachusetts 6,547,629 Northeast $10.95

Tennessee 6,346,105 South $8.98

Source: GAO summary of Census and USASpending.gov information. 

We conducted site visits at each of these three states, interviewing state 

financial control officials, such as staff from the state auditor or state 

comptroller office, to identify state procedures for managing grant funds. 

We also interviewed administrators of the three selected programs to 

determine their procedures for administering the selected grant programs. 

We reviewed monitoring reports for select states’ administration of the 

selected programs. We also reviewed 3 years worth of single audit 

reports for the select states to identify potential cash management issues. 

While the programs and states we reviewed present differences in the 

management of pass-through grants, they do not represent a 

generalizable sample, thus information we obtained from them cannot be 

generalized to all federal agencies and related grant programs or state 

recipients. However, they provide insights and examples related to passthrough grants management. 

To determine the impact on recipients of state practices in disbursing 

grant funds, we convened focus groups of subrecipients in each of the 

three states we visited. In each state, we conducted two focus groups: 

one of subrecipients from local governments and one of subrecipients 

from nonprofit organizations. The primary criterion for selecting 

participants was that they were subrecipients of federal grants. To identify 

these subrecipients, we used sources including the Single Audit 

Clearinghouse, referrals from state agency officials or nonprofit

organizations, and state-specific sources of information on grantees. 

Each focus group had from 4 to 8 participants and there were a total of 34 

participants across the three states. At these focus groups, we discussed 

how federal and state management of pass-through grants positively 

impacted their organizations as well as suggestions for improvement. We 

also reviewed external literature and discussed concerns with stakeholder 

groups including the National Council of Nonprofits and the National 

Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 21 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

We conducted this performance audit from May 2012 to April 2013 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 22 GAO-13-392 Federal Grant Fund Disbursement

Stanley J. Czerwinski, (202) 512-6806 or czerwinskis@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Carol Patey, Assistant Director; 

Veronica Mayhand; Sarah McGrath; Jeffrey Niblack; Robert Robinson; 

Cynthia Saunders; Albert Sim; Sabrina Streagle; and Michelle Wong 

made key contributions to this report.

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact

Acknowledgments 

(450968)
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