October 17, 2012 

Community Action Partnership of Orange County – Weatherization Assistance Program Funds Provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the Weatherization Assistance Program (Weatherization Program) received $5 billion to reduce energy consumption for low-income households through energy efficient upgrades.  The State of California received $186 million in Recovery Act Weatherization Program funding, of which $7.3 million was allocated to the Community Action Partnership of Orange County (Agency) to weatherize 2,342 homes.  The State of California Department of Community Services and Development was responsible for administering Weatherization Program grants, including funds provided to the Agency.  The Department of Energy's (Department) Office of Inspector General contracted with Lopez and Company, LLP, an independent public accounting firm to conduct an examination of the Agency's compliance with Federal and State laws, regulations and program guidelines applicable to the Weatherization Program for the period of July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011.  The examination found that the Agency failed to evaluate the quality of work performed on 7 of 60 homes (12 percent) reviewed.  Additionally, 12 of 35 homes (34 percent) had final inspections that identified the need for necessary re-work.  Finally, the Agency could not provide evidence that a cost or price analysis was performed for procured weatherization materials and contractor services.  As a result, $24,900 in costs reimbursed for the weatherization of the 7 homes reviewed and $190,000 in procurements were questioned.  In total, $214,900 in costs charged to the Weatherization Program were questioned.  In response to the finding, the Department and State concurred with the recommendations and proposed corrective actions to improve the administration of the Weatherization Program and to resolve questioned costs.

Topic: Financial Assistance