EFPR Group, CPA's PLLC, has been engaged by the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor to assess whether the $495 million received by the District of Columbia from the Coronavirus Relief Fund which was established under the CARES Act were spent in compliance with Federal and District of Columbia laws and regulations. As part of the scope of this engagement, the receipt of the $495 million was observed and analyzed to verify that the District of Columbia received the maximum available from Federal legislation. 

This audit found that the District’s meal sponsors moved quickly to open Grab & Go meal sites in areas of greatest need, but that their efforts could have been supported better by stronger coordination mandated by District leadership. Specifically, we found that 96% of at-risk students had access to at least one meal site located in their home neighborhood cluster in the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic—later growing to 99% by June—but some neighborhoods with many at-risk students could have had better access to meals sooner.

ODCA is participating in the National Data Quality COVID-19 Audit effort led by the Delaware State Auditor. This multistate audit seeks to gather information about what COVID-19 data states are collecting and reporting to provide a basis for improved and more consistent data collection nationally in the future. DC Health has built detailed systems and teams to collect, analyze, and report COVID-19 data. At the same time, opportunities exist for reporting more information that the public needs.

The analysis presented here establishes a baseline of policies that were implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR)1 , aligned with the intent of the policy, and the data sources available to provide context, including population and demographic, mobility, COVID19 caseload and death, economic, and geographic data.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, decision makers across the world created policies to curb the spread of the disease. These policies influenced many aspects of society in an effort to reduce COVID-19 caseload and deaths and limit economic impacts. There is now a growing set of data capturing policies, the effects on the policy environment, and the ongoing impacts of the pandemic itself on different regions and populations, as measured by these different impacts.