U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs

MEMORANDUM TO:	Mary W. Demory Assistant Inspector General for Inspections
FROM:	Mary Lou Leary Acting Assistant Attorney General
SUBJECT:	Comments on Draft Inspection Report - Oversight of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Formula Grant Program

This memorandum transmits comments from the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Corrections Program Office (CPO), in response to your draft report dated July 24,2000, on the subject inspection. For ease of review, each recommendation is stated in bold, followed by our response to the recommendation.

1. Require CPO grant managers to obtain timely and accurate reports from grantees.

   The CPO does not agree with the recommendation as written, and would suggest amending the recommendation to say "Require CPO grant managers to notify grantees when reports are untimely and work with the grantee to ensure submission." As the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has noted in the report, the requirement is for grantees to submit the reports to OJP. These are not OJP initiated reports. The CPO is very diligent in reminding grantees to submit reports if the reports are untimely, and will work with them if there is a question as to the reporting requirement. This having been said, the CPO does not believe that the recommendation accurately reflects the restraints of the process. The CPO agrees that there is a significant benefit to receiving timely reports from the grantees, and will notify grantees when reports are untimely.

2. Require CPO grant managers to formally document site visits and other significant contacts with grantees and subgrantees and maintain these records in the grant files.

   The CPO agrees with this recommendation.

Additionally, the OIG should note that page 4, 3rd Paragraph, states, "(a)t the time of application, five of the six grantees had not completed their solicitation of project proposals…" A detailed application is preferred, but a general application is also acceptable in those situations where the States wish to wait until they know the amount of the award before they put out a solicitation for subawards. They are aware that once they make a determination, they are to immediately send an Individual Project Report.

The balance of the report contained useful suggestions that we have already addressed internally, and we appreciate the OIG bringing them to our attention.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. If you have any questions or require additional information on this subject, please contact Phillip Merkle, Special Assistant to the Director, GPO, on (202) 305-2250, or Demise Christodoulopoulos, OJP Audit Liaison on (202) 616-5968.

cc:	Larry Meachum Director GPO Phillip Merkle Special Assistant to the Director GPO Cynthia J. Schwimer Comptroller Harri J. Kramer Director OCPA Vickie Sloan JMD Audit Liaison Denise Christodoulopoulos OJP Audit Liaison

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