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3 golden objects Minnesota Legislature

Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary


Management Letter

Department of Human Services

Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2002


Key Findings:

  • The Department of Human Services did not receive over $515,000 in federal funds for allowable MAXIS electronic benefit transfer (EBT) costs. Although the department made the necessary calculations to allocate MAXIS EBT costs to the TANF program, it never requested the federal funds to reimburse the allocable federal share of those costs.
  • The department did not ensure that counties timely resolved discrepancies identified as part of the benefit eligibility process, as required by federal regulations. For certain federal assistance programs, the federal government requires the state to "coordinate data exchanges" with other federally assisted benefit programs, including income information submitted by applicants.
  • The department has not fully reconciled recipient eligibility status information between the state's public assistance eligibility system (MAXIS) and the medical assistance claims processing system (MMIS). During part of fiscal year 2002, the MAXIS system was unable to produce valid eligibility status reports.
  • The department did not amend its Child Support Enforcement State Plan to incorporate a federal guideline requiring states to obtain applicant social security numbers on certain vehicle license applications.
  • The department did not adequately separate duties over receipts collected by the Special Recovery Unit. One unit employee is responsible for all receipts and accounts receivable duties within the section.
  • The department's process for identifying accounts receivable for financial reporting purposes was inadequate. The department did not recognize accounts receivable in accordance with applicable accounting principles and did not categorize its receivables in a way to facilitate financial reporting.

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 2002 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 certain 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 and child support collections and disbursements. Finally, we performed procedures on major federally funded programs administered by the department to determine whether the department complied with certain federal requirements.

Office of the Legislative Auditor, Room 140, 658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155 : legislative.auditor@state.mn.us or 651‑296‑4708