A biennial audit of the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services by the state auditor’s office shows millions of dollars in questionable payments.
State Auditor Josh Gallion says it took a considerable amount of work for a team of about five to seven people to complete the audit of HHS, and they found seven areas of concern.
One issue was the Summer Food Assistance Program. The audit found 5,872 children who should have received assistance, but did not – as well as 1,610 children who were granted a benefit but were ineligible.
Another issue had to do with payments to North Dakota’s Free Through Recovery and Community Connect programs. The audit found $1.4 million in payments made without required provider engagement, as well as GAP payments that lacked proof of need, correct tracking or timely receipts.
Gallion says these audits help make sure state dollars are allocated and documented correctly.
"We want to make sure that the decisions made, the resources provided to these service providers - that we have clear documentation, we have the proper support, and that when we go back and evaluate that decision, it's properly documented to verify those payments are authorized and appropriate. Our goal is to go in and make sure that their control environment is adequate enough to ensure payments are approved, they meet the criteria - and if they criteria is not met, those are caught, and corrected before overpayments are sent out."
The audit also found improper payments to help childcare employees pay for their own childcare, incomplete background checks and verification of service for in-home service providers, and electronic visit verification data not being used.
A statement from Health and Human Services says they were pleased with the findings, which they say showed strong overall performance where only seven areas of concern were identified out of a $6 billion biennial budget. HHS Commissioner Connor Swanson said HHS was committed to working with the auditor’s office to work on implementing improvements across its operations.
