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Neighborhood Food Environments Program Grant Compliance

Fresh produce in a shopping cart.

Objective

To determine whether the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment is complying with expenditure requirements under the state grant-funded Neighborhood Food Environments Program and whether the department properly reported grant expenditures to the grant governing authority and sufficiently monitored grant subrecipients.

Background

The Neighborhood Food Environments Program is intended to advance policy changes that increase targeted neighborhoods’ access to healthy food. The city receives its grant funding from the state and partners with Jefferson County Public Health and the Tri-County Health Department to address food environment-related policies and practices from a regional approach.

Why this matters

Noncompliance with state grant documentation and oversight requirements jeopardizes both the city’s future state funding for the Neighborhood Food Environments Program and its goal of increasing Denver residents’ equitable access to healthy and affordable foods.

Findings

Finding 1 - Selected Expense Transactions Appear Eligible for Neighborhood Food Environments Program Grant Funding but Some Lack Complete Supporting Documentation

Ten — or 37% — of 27 expenses we tested were missing some form of documentation required by the state. Seven of those were missing travel-related documentation.

Finding 2 - The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment Did Not Sufficiently Monitor Subrecipients’ Expenditures

The department does not have formal processes for reviewing invoices on a detailed level, which led to subrecipients not maintaining sufficient documentation for grant expenditures in accordance with grant requirements. We could not determine eligibility for one grant expenditure because of the lack of documentation.

In addition, the department never completed the city’s required worksheet to determine the subrecipient statuses of Jefferson County Public Health and the Tri-County Health Department.

Recommendations

1.1 Develop Mileage Policy – The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment should develop and implement a policy and procedure for mileage related to the Neighborhood Food Environments Program. The policy and procedure should meet the state’s travel documentation requirements laid out in the invoice documentation checklist. The department should also include Fiscal Accountability Rule 10.7 in this new policy.

Agency Response: Agree, Implementation Date – January 31, 2022

1.2 Develop Documentation Requirements – The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment should develop and implement policies and procedures for documentation requirements based on the guidance provided by the state’s invoice documentation checklist and the agreement for the state grant that pays for the Neighborhood Food Environments Program.

Agency Response: Agree, Implementation Date – June 30, 2022

1.3 Develop Documentation Retention Training – The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment should develop and conduct a training to teach new grant staff about documentation requirements for the Neighborhood Food Environments Program.