§ 706. Administrative and fiscal accountability
(a)
Annual reporting requirements; form, etc.
(1)
Each State shall prepare and submit to the Secretary annual reports on its activities under this subchapter. Each such report shall be prepared by, or in consultation with, the State maternal and child health agency. In order properly to evaluate and to compare the performance of different States assisted under this subchapter and to assure the proper expenditure of funds under this subchapter, such reports shall be in such standardized form and contain such information (including information described in paragraph (2)) as the Secretary determines (after consultation with the States) to be necessary
(B)
to secure a complete record of the purposes for which funds were spent, of the recipients of such funds,
(C)
to describe the extent to which the State has met the goals and objectives it set forth under section
705
(a)(2)(B)(i) of this title and the national health objectives referred to in section
701
(a) of this title, and
(D)
to determine the extent to which funds were expended consistent with the State’s application transmitted under section
705
(a) of this title. Copies of the report shall be provided, upon request, to any interested public agency, and each such agency may provide its views on these reports to the Congress.
(2)
Each annual report under paragraph (1) shall include the following information:
(A)
(B)
Information on the status of maternal and child health in the State, including—
For purposes of subparagraph (A), each of the following shall be considered to be a separate class of individuals: pregnant women, infants up to age one, children with special health care needs, other children under age 22, and other individuals.
(3)
The Secretary shall annually transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report that includes—
(A)
a description of each project receiving funding under paragraph (2) or (3) of section
702
(a) of this title, including the amount of Federal funds provided, the number of individuals served or trained, as appropriate, under the project, and a summary of any formal evaluation conducted with respect to the project;
(C)
based on information described in paragraph (2)(B) supplied by the States under paragraph (1), a compilation of the following measures of maternal and child health in the United States and in each State:
(i)
Information on—
Information under this clause shall also be compiled by racial and ethnic group.
(ii)
Information on—
(iii)
Information on such other indicators of maternal, infant, and child health care status as the Secretary has specified under paragraph (2)(B)(iii).
(D)
based on information described in subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) of paragraph (2) supplied by the States under paragraph (1), a compilation of the following information in the United States and in each State:
(i)
Information on—
(II)
the number of such deliveries to pregnant women who were provided prenatal, delivery, or postpartum care under this subchapter or were entitled to benefits with respect to such deliveries under a State plan under subchapter XIX of this chapter in the year.
Information under this clause shall also be compiled by racial and ethnic group.
(ii)
Information on—
(II)
the number of such infants who were provided services under this subchapter or were entitled to benefits under a State plan under subchapter XIX of this chapter or the State plan under subchapter XXI of this chapter at any time during the year.
Information under this clause shall also be compiled by racial and ethnic group.
(b)
Audits; implementation, standards, etc.
(1)
Each State shall, not less often than once every two years, audit its expenditures from amounts received under this subchapter. Such State audits shall be conducted by an entity independent of the State agency administering a program funded under this subchapter in accordance with the Comptroller General’s standards for auditing governmental organizations, programs, activities, and functions and generally accepted auditing standards. Within 30 days following the completion of each audit report, the State shall submit a copy of that audit report to the Secretary.
(2)
Each State shall repay to the United States amounts found by the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for a hearing to the State, not to have been expended in accordance with this subchapter and, if such repayment is not made, the Secretary may offset such amounts against the amount of any allotment to which the State is or may become entitled under this subchapter or may otherwise recover such amounts.
(3)
The Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, withhold payment of funds to any State which is not using its allotment under this subchapter in accordance with this subchapter. The Secretary may withhold such funds until the Secretary finds that the reason for the withholding has been removed and there is reasonable assurance that it will not recur.
(c)
Public inspection of reports and audits
The State shall make copies of the reports and audits required by this section available for public inspection within the State.
(d)
Access to books, records, etc.; creation of new records
(1)
For the purpose of evaluating and reviewing the block grant established under this subchapter, the Secretary and the Comptroller General shall have access to any books, accounts, records, correspondence, or other documents that are related to such block grant, and that are in the possession, custody, or control of States, political subdivisions thereof, or any of their grantees.
[1] See References in Text note below.