| Public Release Date: February 7, 1997 | No. 97-07 |
The mission of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is to protect, maintain, and improve the health of the citizens of Minnesota. The department is organized into two divisions: Health Systems and Special Populations, and Health Protection. Some of the activities the department performs to achieve its goals include public health studies, and investigations, collecting and analyzing health and vital data, establishing and enforcing health standards, and advising the Governor and Legislature on matters relating to the public's health. Anne M. Barry is the commissioner of the department.
Our audit scope was limited to those areas material to the State of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended June 30, 1996, and to the Single Audit objectives. The only area that met this criteria is the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The WIC Program is designed to provide supplemental food and nutritional education to disadvantaged children and pregnant women. The areas of the WIC Program we audited include: cash management, rebate revenues, expenditures, payroll, and indirect costs. We also verified Single Audit general requirements.
We found that the federal drawdowns, rebate revenues, and grant expenditures are fairly presented on the State of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal year 1996.
We found that MDH complied with the applicable general and program specific federal requirements for the WIC Program. However, the department did not draw down indirect cost earnings from federal sources in a timely manner and exceeded its authorization to make payments prior to receiving federal money.
