| Public Release Date: March 6, 1998 | No. 98-12 |
The Department of Children, Families & Learning is responsible for providing educational assistance to school districts and local educational agencies. In addition, the department is responsible for programs that address social and economic concerns. The department funds itself mainly from General Fund appropriations and federal grants. Department expenditures for fiscal year 1997 totaled approximately $4 billion. Mr. Robert Wedl is the commissioner of the department.
Our audit scope included those areas material to the state of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended June 30, 1997, and to the Single Audit objectives. The statewide audit and single audit objectives included the determination that financial activities were accurately reported on the accounting system, and that the department complied with material state and federal laws and regulations.
We concluded that the Department of Children, Families & Learning's financial activities for the programs included in the Statewide Audit scope are fairly presented in the state of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Report for fiscal year 1997. However, we did find the following concerns. The department did not properly estimate the allowance for uncollectible loans for the Maximum Effort School Loan Fund. The department also made incorrect payments for the Child Care Development Program. The department did not properly establish a monitoring system for subrecipients of federal library grants. Finally, the department continues to lack important quality control mechanisms in its computing environment for state and federal programs.
The Department of Children, Families & Learning agrees with the findings and recommendations in this report. The department is taking actions to resolve these issues.
