(The following was excerpted from a recent article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently urged the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED’s) new Office of State Support to fully implement technical assistance policies and procedures to help ED grant recipients sustain educational reforms made under the Race to the Top program.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Single Audit Information Service.) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO) plans, by October, to implement enhanced monitoring measures  that comply with its standard operating procedures to ensure that Section 2501 grant recipients adhere to grant regulations and their award terms and conditions, in response to a recent audit by the department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).

This month, the federal government has taken steps to comply with requirements under the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act). Although these actions will affect those on the federal level first over the next couple of years, the grants community as a whole should remain aware of what the federal government will be evaluating concerning standardized financial reporting in open, machine-readable formats.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that responds to specific concerns among its award recipients regarding the agency’s policies adopting in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) uniform grant guidance. In the FAQ, NSF sought to clarify questions about uniform guidance implementation, indirect costs and travel, among other provisions.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Single Audit Information Service.) The New York Department of Health is calling for managed care organizations (MCOs) to correct and resubmit Medicaid drug claims that were previously unprocessed due to errors to enable the state to collect potential rebates of more than $119.3 million, according to a recent audit by the New York Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

This is a step in the right direction. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently announced that improper payments in the nation’s school meals programs are down.