WPBN: According to the findings of an audit that was made public by the Office of the State Auditor, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety did not have specific protocols in place to guarantee that the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds were properly established.
As a result of the department’s inability to do so, the report from State Auditor Jessica Holmes stated that there was an increased chance that beneficiaries could have misappropriated funds without the misuse being recognized and addressed in a timely manner.
Under the Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act, which was passed by the General Assembly of North Carolina in October 2018, the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund was established.
The purpose of the funds in this fund was to offer the emergency relief and assistance that was required and appropriate in response to the consequences of Hurricane Florence.
According to the findings of a prior audit that was published in April 2022, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) distributed the following items between November 1, 2018, and January 31, 2021:
- The Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds, totaling 502 million dollars, were distributed to recipients with inadequate monitoring.
- Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds totaling 783 million dollars were distributed without verifying that all grantees had a means to measure the results of the funds.
According to the most recent report, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) provided the following items through the end of the year 2023:
- There will be minimal supervision of the distribution of $18 million in Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds to external recipients.
- Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Funds totaling $94 million were distributed without verifying that all grantees had a means to measure the results of the funds.
A total of three suggestions were provided to DPS by Holmes’ study. They said that the government should keep a close eye on the expenditures made by external receivers of the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund in order to guarantee that the money are used in a manner that is permitted by the law.
It is also recommended that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) adopt policies and procedures to guarantee that all grantees have goals for what they will do with any future catastrophe money, and that they monitor their progress toward fulfilling those goals.
Furthermore, the report suggested that the General Assembly should take into consideration the possibility of including monitoring requirements into future legislation concerning disaster recovery or other emergency relief funding.
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By stating that they were not clearly named in the statute as “administering” the monies to external groups, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) expressed their disagreement with the conclusions in their response to the report.
It was also asserted by DPS that they use a document called a “Scope of Work,” in which beneficiaries explain how they intend to spend the money.
Additionally, according to DPS, grantees are obliged to produce progress reports on a quarterly basis. When asked about their ability to withhold or provide supervision for emergency money, the agency stated that they had many limitations.
