Finding 1228839 (2024-002)

Reference Number: 2024-002 Federal Program Title: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Federal Assistance Listing Number: 93.558 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass-Through Entity: California Department of Social Services Federal Award Number and Year: N/A Name of County Department: Health and Human Services Category of Finding: Eligibility Instance of Noncompliance and Significant Deficiency Criteria § 206.10 Application, determination of eligibility and furnishing of assistance. (a) State plan requirements. A State plan under title I, IV-A, X, XIV, or XVI(AABD), of that Social Security Act shall provide that: (1) Each individual wishing to do so shall have the opportunity to apply for assistance under the plan without delay. Under this requirement: (i) Each individual may apply under whichever of the State plan plans he chooses; (ii) The agency shall require a written application, signed under a penalty of perjury, on a form prescribed by the State agency, from the applicant himself, or his authorized representative, or, where the applicant is incompetent or incapacitated, someone acting responsibly for him. When an individual is required to be included in an existing assistance unit pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)(vii), such individual will be considered to be included in the application, as of the date he is required to be included in the assistance unit; Condition During our audit of the TANF program, we noted that for one of the twenty-five sampled case files, the case file was incomplete and missing the fully executed and signed written application as required. Cause Due to turnover in program staff during the FY2022-2023 period, there were vacancies in positions that provide a review of case files to ensure all required documents are present and retained. This resulted in the signed copy of the application being misplaced and the unsigned copy of the application being retained. Effect Failure to maintain complete and accurate case files, as required by federal regulations, may result in assistance payments made to individuals to be considered unallowable. Questioned Costs The individual identified as having an incomplete case file received $6,216 in assistance payments during FY23-24. Context Total assistance payments for FY23-24 were $888,558. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Recommendation We recommend the County consider revising policies and procedures that provide the ability for controls to operate during staff vacancies and ensure complete files are maintained for individuals receiving social services assistance payments.