REPORT DIGEST

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES

FINANCIAL AUDIT

For the Year Ended:

June 30, 2005

and

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION

For the Year Ended:

June 30, 2005

Summary of Findings:

Total this audit                      14

Total last audit                      15

Repeated from last audit         9

Release Date:

April 11, 2006 

State of Illinois

Office of the Auditor General

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND

AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:

Office of the Auditor General

Iles Park Plaza

740 E. Ash Street

Springfield, IL 62703

(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and the Full Report are available on

the worldwide web at

http://www.state.il.us/auditor

SYNOPSIS

¨      The Department did not reconcile all trust accounts maintained in the Children’s Trust Fund at June 30, 2005.

¨      Child welfare and foster care files lacked complete and timely prepared documentation.

¨      The Department's child abuse investigations did not always fully comply with State law.  For instance, the Department:

-                      Did not always determine whether reports of child abuse and neglect were "unfounded" or "indicated" within 60 days.

-                      Failed to initiate some investigations of child abuse and neglect within 24 hours of receipt.

¨      All contracts were not reviewed and signed prior to the beginning of the contract period.

¨      All overtime worked was not evidenced by proper prior approval.

¨      Contracts with residential and group home service providers did not include measurable criteria necessary to ensure desired results are achieved.

¨      The Department did not adequately document employees’ time spent on official State business as required by the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.

All accounts not reconciled

Child case files incomplete and not timely prepared

All child abuse and neglect determinations not timely completed

Historical Analysis

All child abuse and neglect reports not investigated timely

Historical Analysis

Contracts signed after beginning of contract period

Overtime approvals missing or incomplete

Additional contract provisions needed

Time reporting records do not document time spent on official State business

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE RECONCILIATION OF CHILDREN’S TRUST ACCOUNTS

      The Department did not reconcile all trust accounts maintained in the Children’s Trust Fund.  At June 30, 2005, the Department was in the process of consolidating children’s trust accounts, previously maintained in individual savings accounts, into a single checking and investment bank account (consolidated account).  Approximately $2.1 million out of a total of $4.2 million of the trust accounts were still in individual savings accounts at June 30.  The consolidation process was performed in increments in cooperation with the Social Security Administration, which makes electronic deposits into the various children’s trust accounts.  The Department maintained a single trust account ledger to account for each of the children’s trust account balances.  There were 4,419 trust accounts in the trust account ledger at June 30.  Although the Department was reconciling the trust accounts held in individual savings accounts at June 30, 2005 to balances reported by the bank, a reconciliation of the remaining trust account balances to the consolidated bank account was not performed.

      Good internal control procedures require monthly reconciliations of the Department’s records to the balances reported by the bank to ensure the balances are accurate and to maintain adequate control over the children’s trust accounts.  (Finding 1, page 11)

      Department officials agreed and stated the bank account balance for the consolidated account has been reconciled since November 2005.

INCOMPLETE AND UNTIMELY CHILD WELFARE AND FOSTER CARE FILES

      The Department’s Child Welfare and Foster Care files lacked required documentation and not all case procedures were performed timely.  During our review of 60 case files, we noted:

-         5 administrative case reviews (ACRs) were not performed and 1 was performed one month late.

-         5 ACR notifications were not sent and 2 were mailed from one to seven days late.

-         1 health summary was not in the file.

-         2 education and development summaries were not in the file.

-         21 medical and dental consent forms were not in the file or were outdated.

-         32 placement and payment authorization forms did not contain all required documentation.

-         29 files did not contain current photographs of the child.

-         2 files did not contain required permanency hearing information.

The Department’s Administrative Procedures prescribe deadlines and documentation requirements for file maintenance.  The failure to follow established Department procedures could result in inadequate care, unauthorized services or misuse of State funds.  (Finding 3, pages 15-16)  This finding was first reported in 1998.

  Department officials stated they will continue to stress the importance of adequate and timely documentation for the placement files.  (For the previous agency response, see Digest Footnote #1.)

OVERDUE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT DETERMINATIONS