Homelessness

Appropriate Controls Implemented for 1990 McKinney Amendments' PATH Program Gao ID: HEHS-94-82 February 22, 1994

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Projects for Assistance in Transition From Homelessness (PATH) program provides states with funds to serve homeless persons with serious mental illnesses and substance abuse problems. HHS has implemented appropriate program controls to ensure that PATH expenditures are consistent with the 1990 McKinney Amendments, which require GAO to report on the PATH program every three years. In the five states GAO reviewed--California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas--state grant procedures, financial oversight, and provider monitoring also helped guarantee that PATH services reached the target population. Local providers' mental health assessments further ensured that PATH services reach the people they were intended for.

GAO found that: (1) PATH program controls help ensure that states use PATH grants to fund eligible services for the target population; (2) the PATH program has a three-step application review and follow-up process; (3) the 1990 McKinney Act amendments require PATH grantees to annually report their prior fiscal year program activities and expenditures; (4) HHS on-site monitoring includes observing selected local provider activities and meetings between program coordinators; (5) state-level program controls are designed to help ensure program integrity; (6) states hold local providers accountable for delivering the agreed-to services by conducting periodic site visits and requiring providers to report their anticipated outcomes; and (7) many local providers perform mental health assessments to ensure that PATH services reach the target population.



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