State & Local Government - Kearney & Company

Kearney & Company’s knowledge of government programs starts at the federal level and flows through state and local entities. Because we work with the largest grant-making agencies in the federal government, we’re fluent in grants policies at the federal level. This places us in a unique position to understand compliance and reporting requirements for state and local government organizations.

We use this understanding to guide our state and local clients through the grants management process. Because of our relationships with federal entities, including OMB, we have the insights to help our clients interpret and resolve compliance questions quickly and accurately.

As a result, our auditing and consulting solutions help state and local organizations assess compliance and implement new requirements timely and effectively.

Case Studies

Kearney audited a state judicial council’s procurement practices. We conducted this performance audit in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, as issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.

Through staff augmentation to a state auditor’s office for two performance audits, Kearney: 1) evaluated the Department of Developmental Services’ oversight responsibilities, such as whether it had established caseload ratios and conducted reviews to ensure ratios were met and 2) evaluated whether the state’s requirements for its Battered Intervention Programs sufficiently addressed the causes of intimate partner violence and its public health impacts.

Kearney analyzed select financial information from multiple cities’ Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports into a database maintained by the state auditor’s office. This allowed the client to identify local government entities that are at high risk for the potential of waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement or that have major challenges associated with their economy, efficiency, or effectiveness.

In one engagement, Kearney provided a state with comprehensive grants management support following a natural disaster. This included evaluating subrecipient performance, processing requests for reimbursement, and assessing subrecipient compliance with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and policies.

Kearney is assisting a state with the reconciliation and validation of invoices submitted after almost 7,000 wildfire incidents in 2021. This involves a review against contractual requirements, FEMA guidance, and state contracting guidelines.

Kearney provided support to a state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which aided renters facing hardship due to COVID-19. Assistance was provided in performing completeness checks on applications, issuing communications to the applicants and landlords, and calculating the amount of assistance to be paid to keep residents in their homes.