OPEN LETTER

Robin Arnold-Williams, Secretary
Department of Social and Health Services
PO Box 45010
Olympia, WA 98504-5010

Dear Secretary Arnold-Williams:

Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS)! The glowing reports from Utah concerning your service there give us great hope that you will be able to reform the department and restore the people's trust in this $8-billion-a-year enterprise.

Your appointment comes at a critical juncture for DSHS, especially in light of the department's recent lack of compliance with state and federal law and the loss of federal funds that may result.

Based on your service record in Utah, we are hopeful you will enjoy a mutually beneficial working relationship with State Auditor Brian Sonntag and make compliance with state and federal law a priority of your administration.

Though Governor Gregoire has likely already briefed you on the situations facing DSHS, the following areas are of particular concern to the citizens of Washington:

• DSHS obstructed the state auditor's audit of Washington's $6.1 billion Medicaid program, forcing the auditor to "disclaim" the entire program. Already the Health and Human Services (HHS) department is investigating DSHS' compliance with federal grants concerning day care reimbursements (Mattawa day care audit finding). It is likely with the auditor's release of the Washington Single Audit, HHS will initiate a critical review of the state's Medicaid program. We fear these federal funds may be at risk.

• For fiscal year 2004, 41 audit findings (including the 22 findings from the 2004 Medicaid audit) were issued against DSHS. Many of these were repeat findings from the previous year. Among the problems identified, DSHS:

• is not in compliance with eligibility requirements for the TANF program;

• does not have adequate controls over payments made to child care providers;

• does not ensure all recovered overpayments are credited to the proper funding source;

• does not adequately perform background checks on child care providers;

• paid $22 million to individuals who did not provide valid social security numbers;

• paid $1.3 million for unallowable medical services for illegal aliens; and

• cannot account for more than 1.4 million pills (worth in excess of $529,000) at some of the state's mental institutions.

It has also recently come to light that DSHS continues to employ felons, some convicted of murder and rape, in positions that grant those individuals unsupervised access to the elderly, adults with disabilities and children. We are hopeful that you will follow the advice of Tim Welch, spokesman for the Washington Federation of State Employees, and end the practice of providing felons with access to the vulnerable. Mr. Welch recently commented to a state paper, "If DSHS didn't want any felons or lawbreakers to work for DSHS, they shouldn't have hired them in the first place. I think they need to catch these problems as people are applying for the jobs."

We agree and hope you will also conduct a retroactive house cleaning of DSHS personnel. Families should not have to worry about whether or not they are entrusting their loved ones to the care of an agency that grants murderers and rapists access to our most vulnerable citizens.

While the problems facing DSHS are daunting, Governor Gregoire has expressed confidence in your ability to move the department forward and we join her in wishing you success. Please let me know if we can be of any assistance as you initiate your reforms of DSHS.

Sincerely,

Bob Williams
President
Evergreen Freedom Foundation

cc: Honorable Governor Christine Gregoire
Honorable State Auditor Brian Sonntag

Additional Information
DSHS workers passed checks despite misconduct, convictions
DSHS fails $6.1 billion Medicaid audit
DSHS: "No doubt there is fraud throughout the state..."
DSHS response to the 2003 Statewide Audit in its own words

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org