Auditors have found that Guam’s Village Community Care program operated without clear oversight, limiting the government’s ability to account for about $10.8 million in funds awarded to village mayors.
The audit released Sunday criticized inconsistent record-keeping and gaps in documentation during leadership transitions, but there were no questioned costs.
“While our audit did not identify improper expenditures, we found that oversight expectations, monitoring procedures, and documentation practices were not consistently established across the program,” Public Auditor Benjamin J. F. Cruz stated. “Effective accountability requires maintaining sufficient documentation to demonstrate that oversight occurred.”
The Village Community Care program was administered by the Department of Public Health and Social Services and provided village mayors with funding to support childcare-related services and community programs.
The program, with the Guam Economic Development Authority acting as an intermediary, was launched in 2022. Funds had to be spent by Sept. 30, 2024.
Records unavailable
In September of last year, the Office of the Attorney General asked the Office of Public Accountability for help obtaining records from the Yigo Mayor’s office related to a $600,000 grant.
Financial records from the previous mayoral administration were not available, although grant award recipients were supposed to maintain records of expenditures, including receipts, for seven years.
The Office of Public Accountability launched the audit after it conducted a limited review of records from Yigo and “was unable to fully determine whether records were complete or whether expenditures could be independently verified due to limited documentation and the absence of a structured transition between mayoral administrations,” the audit stated.
Auditors determined the “program operated without a clearly defined and consistently applied oversight and monitoring framework.” Program activities were carried out across multiple entities, but key elements of effective oversight were not uniformly established or implemented.
Both GEDA and Public Health agreed with the audit’s findings.
Public Health Director Theresa Arriola noted that although the program has been concluded, the agency has established a “corrective action plan to serve as a framework in the event that similar funding opportunity is received in the future.”
