Department: Health and Human Services
Title: Internal control over TANF client child support sanction procedures needs improvement
Questioned Costs: None
Status: Management’s opinion is that corrective action is not required
Corrective Action: The Department disagrees with this finding. The audit ob...
Department: Health and Human Services
Title: Internal control over TANF client child support sanction procedures needs improvement
Questioned Costs: None
Status: Management’s opinion is that corrective action is not required
Corrective Action: The Department disagrees with this finding. The audit objective identified in the Compliance Supplement is to "Determine whether, after notification by the state Title IV-D agency, the TANF agency has taken necessary action to reduce or deny TANF assistance." One of the two suggested audit procedures is to "Test a sample of cases referred by the Title IV-D agency to the TANF agency to ascertain if benefits were reduced or denied as required." The Department spent a lot of time and effort attempting to validate for OSA that it had a testable population, and the Department believes that the Office of State Auditor can perform this procedure either with the DSER-provided report of referrals or with that report in conjunction with the additional material the Department has pulled and analyzed for OSA. In the absence of that review nothing in the Department’s records, data, or discussions with OSA could reasonably be interpreted to suggest a “significant deficiency” in its Internal Controls over this aspect of the TANF program. There has not been any evidence that referrals made from DSER to OFI are getting lost, ignored, or misapplied. All 38 cases that the Department analyzed for completeness purposes reflect a well-functioning and substantively accurate sanction referral and case-action process, and this record does not support the OSA's conclusion to the contrary.
Completion Date: N/A
Agency Contact: Ian Yaffe, Director, Office for Family Independence, DHHS, 207- 592-1481