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2002
Statewide Accountability Report:
posted on 2/14/03 - WW30
The state auditor has published his 2002 annual report
on government. Keep in mind as you read these "lowlights"
that he is not permitted to do comprehensive performance audits. These
are the findings of a limited financial audit.
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$952,105 in fraud uncovered.
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The state overpaid claimants and service providers by about $1.2
million, in addition to $1.9 million in questionable payments.
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In 50% of the cases reviewed, DSHS did not investigate alerts
sent by the Social Security Administration regarding invalid SS
numbers or deceased recipients.
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DSHS staff reported they routinely delete as many as 2,000 SSA
alerts each month without investigation.
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At least $725,774 paid by the Department of Labor & Industries
in workers' compensation to ineligible recipients, including $92,426
paid to incarcerated individuals and $387,700 paid to deceased
individuals.
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The Employment Securities Division is not complying with eligibility
requirements for unemployment insurance.
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The Department of Labor & Industries is unable to account
for more than $4.7 million in employer industrial insurance premium
payments, which were recorded as received but never deposited.
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The Ferry System failed its fifteenth audit in a row.
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Ferries lack adequate internal controls over travel payments.
Two Chief Engineers may have been paid at least $100,000 more
than allowed.
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DSHS still does not have sufficient internal controls over drugs
in Western State Hospital pharmacies.
 Click
here to view the 2002 Statewide Accountability Report.
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2001
Statewide Accountability Report:
posted on 12/18/02 - WW16
- In the last year of the 1999-01 budget cycle - long before the
terrible events of September 11 and the recession - state officials
had spent $1.1 billion more than the state’s actual revenue.
Our current budget deficit is not the result of unexpected crises,
it is the result of overspending.
- $275,121 in fraud was uncovered at state agencies in 2000-01.
- Individuals who are not eligible to receive health insurance subsidies
are asking for and receiving them anyway. The Health Care Authority
does not know how much it overpaid to individuals.
- Only 30 percent of the 160 agencies surveyed by the State Auditor
are complying with a 1996 law mandating that every agency have an
internal audit function.
- On July 2, 2001, an audit revealed that $46,552 in checks were
missing from the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).
No reason has been given for the disparity, and the money has not
been found.
- The Liquor Board cannot properly account for $421 million in sales.
This finding comes on the heels of reports that the state has spent
millions of dollars on a new liquor distribution system that doesn’t
work.
- Drugs at Western State Psychiatric Hospital are missing or have
been misappropriated.
- For the 14th year in a row, the state Ferry System cannot account
for money collected from ferry passengers.
- The Horse Racing Commission failed to collect gaming fees totaling
$954,600 between 1999 and 2001.
Click
here to view the 2001 Statewide Accountability Report.
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2001
Single Audit Report:
posted on 12/18/02 - WW17
- Western Washington University did not comply with federal regulations
regarding the use of federal program income from four U.S. Department
of Education grants. ($179,949 questioned costs)
- Public funds were misappropriated and payroll documents falsified
at the University of Washington’s Diabetes Endocrinology Research
Center. ($27,914 misappropriated)
- The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development did
not submit accurate federal financial reports for the STOP Violence
Against Women Program. ($516,000 miscalculated)
- The Employment Security Department did not comply with regulations
for allowable and allocable costs for six of its federal programs.
($623,582 questioned costs)
- The Employment Security Department is not complying with client
eligibility requirements for the Unemployment Insurance Program.
($320,645 in possible overpayments)
- The Employment Security Department did not comply with cash management
regulations for three federal programs. ($9.2 million in overdraws)
- The Employment Security Department did not comply with performance
reporting requirements for the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
- The Department of Health has not established adequate internal
controls over eligibility for the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants, and Children to ensure compliance with
program requirements. ($67,046,972 questioned costs)
- The Department of Health did not comply with special provisions
regarding duplicate and dual payments for the Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
- The Department of Health did not comply with special regulations
regarding management evaluations of its subrecipients for the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
- The Department of Health overstated expenditures on the Schedule
of Expenditures of Federal Awards for the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants, and Children. ($24,458,988 overstated)
- The Department of Social and Health Services’ Medical Assistance
Administration has not established sufficient internal controls
to ensure compliance with Medicaid provisions regarding licensing
and other eligibility criteria for its health care providers. ($9,837,143
questioned costs)
- The Department of Social and Health Services’ Medical Assistance
Administration has not established sufficient internal controls
to ensure compliance with Medicaid provisions regarding recipient
eligibility for health care services. ($27,645 questioned costs)
- The Department of Social and Health Services’ Division of
Alcohol and Substance Abuse has not established sufficient internal
controls over the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Block Grant to ensure compliance with program requirements.
- The Department of Social and Health Services’ Division of
Child Support did not comply with regulations for allowable and
allocable costs in the Child Support Enforcement program. ($199,859
questioned costs)
- The Department of Social and Health Services’ Vocational
Rehabilitation Program did not comply with federal regulations regarding
client eligibility and allowable costs. ($25,235 questioned costs)
- The State of Washington is not complying with subrecipient monitoring
requirements for some of the federal programs it administers.
- The State of Washington is not complying with suspension and debarment
requirements for some of the federal programs it administers.
- Seven of the state’s colleges and universities are not complying
with federal law for the return of student financial aid.
Click
here to view the 2001 Single Audit Report.
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2001-2002
JLARC Findings:
updated on 12/26/02 - WW18
- K-12 Special Education Audit ($1 billion program): OSPI had no
means to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and didn't seem
interested in this problem when they testified before JLARC. Click
here to view the audit report.
- Welfare evaluation of workforce ($1.1 billion program): Welfare
reform needs improved performance monitoring, and the performance
measures given to state agencies that are responsible for carrying
out welfare reform need to be strengthened. Click
here to view the audit report.
- Environment ($500 million program): There is a lack of effective
outcome measures to evaluate program investment performance.
Click
here to view the audit report.
- Mental health ($1.2 billion program): A framework for comprehensive
performance measures needs to be developed. Click
here to view the audit report.
- Child support ($1 billion program): The Division of Child Support
within DSHS needs to improve its performance measurement system.
- Study of Washington Management Service: Nearly half of the Washington
Management Service members don't even manage a single person, and
the medium number of employees managed is only one. Click
here to view the audit report.
- Development Disabilities Division caseload and staffing issues
($1.2 billion program):
- The DD program has no performance indicators to help determine
if funds are being spent appropriately and efficiently.
- Over one-thrid of the clients weren't even eligible for service.
- Duplicate DD benefit payments have been made, and the checks
and balances DSHS said were in place to catch such errors are
nonexistent.
- Nearly half of the individuals reported as “field-based
staff” by DSHS are not working in that capacity, yet DSHS
requested additional funds for more field staff.
- Further, when DSHS submitted numbers that are used to request
additional field staff, they included 1,100 clients that were
already receiving care in a DDD institution.
- Click
here to view the audit report.
- Development Disabilities Division residential habilitation centers
($50 million in potential savings):
- $7 million could be raised by logging forestlands next to
Rainier School near Buckley.
- $7.7 million could be generated by selling off surplus property
at five state-run homes for the developmentally disabled.
- $36 million could be saved by closing two DDD homes (Fircrest
School in Shoreline and the Francis Haddon Center in Bremerton)
and relocating residents to other homes that are not being used
to capacity. According to the report, some activist groups such
as ARC of Washington, which represents developmentally disabled
persons, believe consolidation can happen without harming any
residents.
- Click
here to view the audit report.
Click
here to view additional reports published by the Joint Legislative
Audit and Review Committee.
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