State Assessment of Internal Controls Final Report, May 2007
Download Guide in Word (1,622 KB) or PDF (676 3KB) format.
G. Puerto Rico
Previous Page | Table of Contents | IV. Results of Additional Pilot States: Washington >>1. Review Team Process
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico participated in the project based on the strong encouragement of the ACF staff in the Region II Office, who thought that including a site where Spanish is vital to its operations would also enrich the project. First, Puerto Rico examined the Instrument in depth, organized its Project Team, and then prepared and scheduled the orientation/site visit. Puerto Rico translated the Instrument into Spanish for ease of use by its staff.
In preparation for the review, the Puerto Rico Project Team analyzed its Child Care State Plan, its Annual Plan, program components, and other appropriate plans to have a clear overview of the program scope, goals, and objectives. This was done to determine how well the internal controls of the agency are established and functioning and to assess and recommend what, where, and how the Administration needed to improve. The participants felt that the process allowed them the opportunity for self-evaluation and identification of strengths and needs of the Child Care Program. Consequently, action plans to deal with identified needs will be developed following on-going meetings throughout the next year.
During the process of administering the Instrument, the Puerto Rico Project Team included personnel from its Regions and direct service providers. Puerto Rico organized the direct service providers into clusters or teams to respond to the Instrument. The clusters frequently responded that the Instrument did not apply to their day-to-day operations of direct service to families and their children.
The Central Office manages most of the internal control processes that affect the Regions. Therefore, the Regions only responded to elements over which they had a level of control.
As part of its initial planning, the Puerto Rico Project Team established deadlines to collect the needed information and complete the Instrument. The team assigned a central person to collect, compile, review, and summarize all of the responses. The Puerto Rico Project Team then analyzed the collected data, reviewed the findings, and developed a list of strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for improvement. For the additional fiscal findings, the team compiled an action plan with appropriate deadlines and identified responsible parties.
2. Benefits of the Instrument
The Puerto Rico Project Team indicated that the process allowed them the opportunity for self-evaluation to identify the strengths and needs of the Child Care Program. The Puerto Rico Project Team will develop action plans to address identified needs during the next year.
3. Changes to the Instrument
The Puerto Rico Project Team proposed the following changes to the Instrument:
- Incorporating an external validation process; and
- Including a section specific to the child care program.
4. Recommendations
Puerto Rico Project Team recommendations included:
- Using it as a tool to re-examining issues raised in previous fiscal audits;
- Using it to compliment other agency monitoring activities;
- Including additional fiscal audit findings, as a follow-up to previous audits;
- Including a list of strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for improvement in the child care area; and
- Developing a corrective action plan for areas needing improvement with appropriate deadlines and identified responsible parties.