The Hope Clinic, Inc.

2019-001 Timing of Mental Health Care Grant Expenditures Criteria: Gwinnett County (the County) will not release grant funds to the Clinic until the Clinic proves that it has released checks to pay for its mental health care program expenses. Condition: Management requested reimbursements to pay for its mental health care program expenses prior to releasing the checks to it mental health care provider. Context: Several instances of mental health care provider checks taking upwards of 3 weeks to clear were noted during audit testing. Management responses to these inquiries indicated that checks were held until the Clinic received notice from the County that the grant funds had been released. Effect: The Clinic is in violation of the County?s grant agreement, but the effects are minimal. This is a timing issue of when the Clinic?s mental health program provider is paid and when the Clinic receives the funds from the County. Cause: Cash balances are low at the Clinic; therefore, management prefers to not have to borrow from its reserves and emergency lines of credit to pay for expenses that will be reimbursed by the County. Recommendation: We recommend that the Clinic establish a reliable source of cash reserves to allow them to pay the mental health care provider prior to applying for reimbursement of the funds per the grant agreement.