Report Summary
Management Letter
Department of Human Services
Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2000
Key Findings and Recommendations:
- The Department of Human Services did not promptly request medical assistance reimbursement for certain clients at the department's regional treatment centers and long-term care facilities. The department did not bill the $22 million due for the period January to June 2000 until February 2001. Ideally, billings should be submitted at least monthly. The department should resolve the billing problems within its state operated services computer system and ensure that it promptly requests all medical assistance reimbursements for its clients.
- The Department of Human Services did not properly record certain child support transactions within the state's accounting system. The department should perform reconciliations that ensure child support collections and disbursements are properly recorded on the state's accounting system. As part of the reconciliation process, the department should identify and explain any differences between actual child support collections and disbursements recorded on PRISM and MAPS. The department should work with the Department of Finance to resolve child support transaction errors on MAPS and record the necessary adjusting transactions.
Management letters address internal control weaknesses and noncompliance issues found during our annual audit of the state's financial statements and federally funded programs. The scope of work in individual agencies is limited. During the fiscal year 2000 audit, our work at the Department of Human Services focused on major public assistance programs, including medical assistance, temporary assistance for needy families, and food stamps; and on other grant programs, including federal social services, community social services, and chemical dependency treatment. We reviewed cost of care revenues for the department's residential treatment centers and group homes. We also reviewed child support collections and disbursements. Finally, we performed procedures on a number of federally funded programs administered by the department to determine whether the department complied with certain federal requirements.
