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SALT LAKE CITY — As the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation takes steps to shore up its finances, a new legislative audit shows oversight of case management is weak, costly to taxpayers, and in some cases in conflict with federal and state regulation.
In one instance, a client's case that had been open for 26 years was reviewed by supervisors only twice in two-plus decades, the audit states.
"The first review was performed in 1997 and the second in 2002, with no further review over the last 13 years. There also appears to have been little progress on this case," the audit by the Office of the Legislative Auditor General found. The audit notes the case was closed in March during the auditors' review.
Auditors were scheduled to present the audit to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee late Wednesday afternoon.
The office of rehabilitation is charged with helping eligible people with disabilities prepare for the workforce and obtain employment, with the overarching goal of living as independently as possible.
But in recent years, the agency has been under fire for financial mismanagement, which led to state lawmakers earlier this year taking steps to move it from the State Office of Education and place it under the control of the state Department of Workforce Services.
An earlier audit found the agency ran a $4.9 million deficit in 2014 and needed a $6.3 million supplemental appropriation in 2015, among other problems.
The new audit indicates issues with case management oversight that runs afoul of state and federal laws and policies.
Auditors found several instances where the agency footed the entire cost of tuition, books and fees when federal education grants were available or before clients' eligibility for grants had been determined, in conflict with federal regulations and office policy.
In one case, a client received a Pell Grant of about $1,500, which reduced the cost of tuition by nearly half. "However the counselor still paid the full $2,992, allowing the client to receive the full grant amount from the university for other expenses. … In total, (the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation) paid $7,588 for books and tuition for just three semesters," the audit states.
Auditors also determined that 77 percent of the vocational rehabilitation cases they reviewed lacked documentation required by state and federal law.
"Vocational rehabilitation's inadequate documentation has contributed to cases remaining open for unnecessarily extended periods, resulting in increased costs," the audit states.
Among high-risk cases, 92 percent lacked documentation, according the audit.
"High-risk" cases included four cases that had been open the longest, four cases on which the most had been spent, and four randomly selected cases that had been open more than five years.
The auditors' review of the high-risk cases revealed cases open for more than 10 years "in which little progress toward any vocational objective can be noted."
Related
Rehab agency mismanaged budget, audit shows
A legislative audit released claims the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation mismanaged its budget, resulting in a $4.9 million deficit in 2014.Auditors also found cases for clients who had moved out of state and never returned, and instances in which the same or similar items had been purchased multiple times for a client.
They also uncovered cases where clients received "full tuition support for out-of-state college attendance, including law school."
While the audit notes the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation has made technical and program improvements under new leadership, auditors wrote that the "strong culture of oversight" within the Department of Workforce Services should help to bring stronger controls and address "many concerns" in the previous audit of finances and the latest audit over case management.
The department "uses a robust review system to ensure case accuracy," the audit says. It reviews seven to 10 determinations per employee per month, the audit notes.
"This work has contributed to a 93 percent accuracy rate among cases as of May 2015," the audit states.
Reviews of vocational rehabilitation cases by the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation "are neither independent nor frequent," the audit states.
"Given the previously discussed lack of documentation and oversight, the current level of review appears insufficient," the audit says.
The agency, in a written response to the audit, largely agreed with the auditors' recommendations.
"The issues identified in the audit report confirm some of our concerns with the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation vocational rehabilitation program. We appreciate that the report acknowledges some of the efforts we have already made to align processes, implement controls and enhance our review system to ensure effective and efficient administration of the program.
"We are confident as we further focus on the issues, we will continue to strengthen the vocational rehabilitation program and provide even better management and oversight of the program funding," Darin Brush, the agency's executive director, wrote in a letter to Legislative Auditor General John Schaff.
