HARRISBURG – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor Wednesday released an audit of the Jefferson County Children and Youth Services agency, which helped the county improve how it protects vulnerable children.
“During our routine audit of this agency, we were specifically asked to evaluate if an outside contract for case management services was functioning the way it should,” DeFoor said.
“We were able to help the Jefferson County Commissioners determine the contract was not meeting the needs of the community and county employees need to do this work in order to ensure vulnerable children are being protected. Protecting our children is our most important job.”
The county had hired a contractor to administer most of its children and youth services because it was having trouble recruiting people to work for the agency.
The audit found the agency director moved from the county’s employment to the contractor’s payroll, leaving no county employee in charge of the agency.
This presented potential conflicts of interest, the potential for gaps in service and did not comply with Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ (DHS) regulations.
“The work of children and youth agencies is vital to our communities, but is a difficult job,” DeFoor said. “This audit is a great example of why it is essential for counties to maintain internal controls, even if they seek to contract out for case management or other services.”
The audit also found:
· The contract with the management company was vague, lacked many of the standard contract terms and conditions, and did not include specific outcomes or performance measures;
· The management company failed to consistently meet the necessary administrative actions required by DHS regulations, according to county officials;
· Quality control reviews of case files were performed by a management company employee rather than a county employee or third party;
· A management company employee was approving payments made to the company by the county, creating a possible conflict of interest; and
· The county’s finance director was concerned by a lack of detail included in the invoices the management company provided for payment.
The audit recommends if the county hires a management company again in the future, internal controls should be implemented to ensure there is proper oversight and compliance with state regulations.
Review the Jefferson County CYS agency audit and learn more about the Department of the Auditor General online at www.PaAuditor.gov.
