Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary
Department of Human Services
Federal Compliance Audit

 

Financial Audit Division Report 15-07

Released March 24, 2015

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Conclusion

The Department of Human Services generally complied with and had internal controls to ensure compliance with certain legal requirements applicable to its major federal programs for fiscal year 2014. However, as noted in Finding 1, the department did not comply with and did not have adequate internal controls to comply with federal eligibility requirements for the Medical Assistance, Children’s Health Insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Child Care and Development Fund programs. Also, as a result of the weaknesses in eligibility controls, we conclude that the department did not comply with and did not have adequate internal controls to comply with federal allowable costs and activities requirements for the Medical Assistance and the Children’s Health Insurance programs and allowable costs for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Child Care and Development Fund programs. In addition, the department had other internal control weaknesses and instances of noncompliance, including three findings repeated from our prior report,¹ as noted in the findings in this report.

Audit Findings

• The Department of Human Services did not adequately ensure that recipients receiving benefits met the eligibility requirements for Medical Assistance, Children’s Health Insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Child Care and Development Fund, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs. This is a repeat finding.
• The Department of Human Services did not fully identify, analyze, and document its internal controls related to compliance with federal internal control requirements for several federal programs. This is a repeat finding.
• The Department of Human Services did not consistently ensure county workers with access to the department’s computer systems needed the access.
• The Department of Human Services did not correctly allocate $936,072 in costs according to its federally approved cost allocation plan, causing the department to claim $457,931 more in federal reimbursement than allowed.
• The Department of Human Services did not always perform licensing visits to child care facilities in a timely manner. This is a repeat finding.

Audit Scope

Our scope included programs we determined to be major federal programs for the State of Minnesota for fiscal year 2014, including: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Cluster, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Cluster, Child Support Enforcement, Child Care and Development Fund Cluster, Foster Care, Social Services Block Grant, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicaid Cluster.²

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¹ Office of the Legislative Auditor, Financial Audit Division Report 14-11, Department of Human Services Federal Compliance Audit, issued March 26, 2014.

² A cluster of programs is a group of closely related programs that have similar compliance requirements and are treated as a single program.