| Financial Audit Division | November 2023 |
The Minnesota Board on Aging did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with significant legal requirements for the Senior Nutrition Program. Furthermore, the Minnesota Board on Aging generally did not comply with significant legal requirements for the Senior Nutrition Program.
Area Agencies on Aging generally did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with significant legal requirements for the Senior Nutrition Program. Area Agencies on Aging generally did not comply with significant legal requirements for the Senior Nutrition Program. The more significant instances of noncompliance and internal controls weakness were in the areas of program monitoring and recertification of program participants.
The list of findings below and the full report provide more information about these concerns.
Finding 1. Neither the Minnesota Board on Aging nor the Minnesota Indian Area Agency on Aging had the necessary documentation to support how the Minnesota Indian Area Agency on Aging’s service providers calculated meal reimbursement rates. (p. 22)
Finding 2. Some service providers did not have valid contracts with the subcontractors that provided direct services for the program. (p. 23)
Finding 3. Neither the Minnesota Board on Aging nor Area Agencies on Aging reviewed and approved any of the contracts between service providers and subcontractors prior to use. (p. 25)
Finding 4. Results of a survey of program participants suggest that the overall quality of participant data in the Minnesota Board on Aging’s participant database is questionable. (p. 27)
Finding 5. A substantial number of those who responded to a survey of program participants indicated that—contrary to federal program guidance—they were required to pay for program meals. (p. 29)
Finding 6. The Minnesota Board on Aging did not conduct any monitoring activities for the Senior Nutrition Program. (p. 31)
Finding 7. Most Area Agencies on Aging did not perform the required number of site visits of service providers and subcontractors. (p. 34)
Finding 8. Service providers did not annually recertify program participants receiving Senior Nutrition Program meals. (p. 37)
Finding 9. The Minnesota Board on Aging did not have documentation to support payments made to tribal service providers for direct program services. (p. 40)
