U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

"Review of Head Start Compensation at Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc.," (A-04-04-03501)

December 6, 2004


Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (1.5 mb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objective of this audit was to determine whether Friends of Children of Mississippi, Inc. (Friends) compensation practices for teachers and the top five key executives were reasonable and consistent with Federal requirements and guidelines.  Friends’ compensation practices for teachers appeared reasonable and consistent with Federal requirements when compared to other Head Start grantees in Mississippi as well as teachers employed by the State.  Also, Friends allocated cost of living allowances and used quality improvement funds consistent with Administration for Children and Families program instructions.  However, compensation practices for executives needed improvement in that Friends’ could not demonstrate that their compensation practices for executives met Federal requirements.  Also, Friends did not comply with the OMB Circular A-122 when allocating executive compensation charges to Head Start and other programs.  We also identified two aspects of Friends’ financial operations that needed improvement.  Friends generally agreed with our findings, except our finding regarding compensation practices for executives.