Auditor General DeFoor’s PCCD Audit Finds Law Enforcement Education Grants in Compliance; Recommends Ways to Make First Chance Trust Fund Process More Transparent

HARRISBURG – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor today released a performance audit of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), which showed the agency continues to properly manage law enforcement education funds, but recommended improvements for transparency and accountability when awarding First Chance Trust Fund grants.

“This is the first time we have audited the award process and financial operations of the First Chance Trust Fund, a new program established in 2017 which provides grants to organizations and school districts to help at-risk youth stay out of trouble with law enforcement, and stay in school or obtain employment,” Auditor General DeFoor said. “PCCD has properly distributed the funds, but our audit team has recommendations for process improvements that will lead to greater transparency and accountability in how the grants are awarded and measure success for this important program.”

The performance audit had two objectives and covered the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The objectives were to determine if the education and training accounts for sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and constables followed laws, regulations, policies and guidelines; and to determine if the revenues and expenditures of the First Chance Trust Fund followed laws, regulations, policies and guidelines.

In addition to the two findings outlined above, auditors had eight recommendations regarding the First Chance Trust Fund:

• Ensure grant application reviewers always complete the required conflict of interest forms and maintain copies for recordkeeping purposes.
• Complete and document administrative review of applications to determine that the applicants adhere to administrative guidelines to be considered for further review pursuant to its policy.
• Develop and utilize a detailed scoring checklist when reviewing applications that mirrors the criteria outlined in the funding announcement guidelines.
• Require grant application reviewers to include written comments for each score on the checklist to provide sufficient explanation and justification.
• Require grant application reviewers to hand or digitally sign completed individual scoring checklists.
• Create guidelines based on the applicant’s numeric review score that correlates to whether an applicant should be recommended for award of funding.
• Document reviewer reconciliation meeting minutes to ensure accountability, objectivity, and transparency of award decisions, including a detailed explanation of how varying scores and recommendations come to a consensus for final award recommendations.
• Closely monitor the success of the first-round funding awards, along with the Trust Fund balance, as the amount of available funds continues to increase to determine the best timing for the next round of awards to achieve a successful program and benefit at-risk children/youth as intended by the First Chance Trust Fund under Act 44 of 2017, as amended.

Administered by PCCD, the First Chance Trust Fund was created by Act 44 of 2017 to help at-risk youth stay in school or obtain employment and avoid becoming involved in the criminal justice system. It is funded by a 1% contribution from vendors with contracts at the Department of Corrections (DOC) that exceed $5 million annually. Private individuals also can contribute to the fund.

PCCD manages two education and training accounts: one for sheriffs and deputy sheriffs and another for constables. Both training accounts are supported by surcharges assessed by magisterial district courts, county courts and prothonotaries.

Review the PCCD audit report and learn more about the Department of the Auditor General online at www.PaAuditor.gov.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT: April Hutcheson, Auditor General, 717-787-1381 or news@paauditor.gov