The Municipality did not always manage Head Start disaster assistance awards in accordance with Federal and Commonwealth requirements. Specifically, the Municipality’s financial management system did not always ensure compliance with requirements for (1) submitting timely and accurate Federal financial reports, (2) maintaining support for award drawdowns, and (3) timely completing bank reconciliations. Additionally, the Municipality did not conduct timely criminal background checks for nine individuals associated with our sampled expenditure transactions. These deficiencies occurred because the Municipality did not have adequate controls in place to ensure proper financial management and compliance with criminal background checks. As a result, the Municipality did not minimize the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse of Federal funds; and potentially jeopardized the safety of children. (author abstract)