FAC Explorer

Finding 1240322 (2025-002)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-10-13
Audit: 414858
Organization: Hamilton County General Health District (OH)
Auditor: AUDITOR OF STATE OF OHIO KEITH FABER

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: 20% of eligibility placement forms lacked required signatures from program personnel, indicating insufficient review.
  • Impacted Requirements: The absence of signatures violates established policies for approving Foster Care federal award participants.
  • Recommended Follow-up: Ensure all eligibility placement forms are reviewed and signed by program personnel to prevent benefits being granted to ineligible participants.

Finding Text

The Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services (HCDJFS) established eligibility policies and procedures for the approval of participants in the Foster Care federal award. The policies and procedures include a requirement that each eligibility placement form is required to be reviewed and approved by program personnel and evidenced by signature on the eligibility placement form. Due to the lack of controls over the eligibility placement process, of the eligibility placement agreements tested for fiscal year 2025, eight of 40 (20%) were not signed by HCDJFS program personnel to indicate review of the placement agreement with the eligibility determination. Lack of controls in place by reviewing and signing placement forms could result in benefits provided to ineligible participants. HCJFS program personnel should review all eligibility placement forms and approve such forms by signature.

Corrective Action Plan

To improve Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services (HCDJFS) compliance with ensuring eligibility placement agreements are signed and stored, new procedures were established to transfer record keeping from field staff to administrative staff. This began under the leadership of Sarah Reis with initial rollout in May of 2026. Currently, all collection and management of signed placement agreements are streamlined through one department. Procedures are in place to ensure placement agreements are reviewed and signed by all parties, then uploaded into Traverse (the electronic document management system or EDMS used by HCDJFS) for record keeping. These procedures include a workflow shared with Reis’ team outlining the following: 1. The placement coordinator sends a placement confirmation email to all parties with the electronic Individual Child Care Agreement or ICCA 3224. 2. The caseworker completes placement with youth and caregiver. Caseworker reviews ICCA 3224/caregiver contract with the youth and caregiver. 3. The caseworker electronically signs ICCA 3224. The caseworker circulates to caregiver/provider network (if applicable) for electronic signature. 4. The caseworker saves ICCA 3224. Caseworker sends saved form back to parties on the placement confirmation email (see step one), confirming placement occurred. 5. A Program Specialist in the Placement Department of HCDJFS (currently Folana Thomas) will enter the placement into the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information system (SACWIS) and admission to Managed Care Partnership (MCP). The program specialist also enters payment authorization into SACWIS and uploads the ICCA 3224 into the electronic file in Traverse.

Categories

Eligibility

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1240317 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240318 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240319 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240320 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240321 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240323 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240324 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240325 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240326 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240327 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240328 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240329 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240330 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240331 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240332 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240333 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240334 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240335 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1240336 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.558 TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES $14.81M
93.778 GRANTS TO STATES FOR MEDICAID $5.75M
93.563 CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES $4.94M
10.561 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE MATCHING GRANTS FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $4.17M
93.659 ADOPTION ASSISTANCE $3.63M
14.239 HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM $2.42M
93.556 MARYLEE ALLEN PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES PROGRAM $882,672
17.259 WIOA YOUTH ACTIVITIES $852,912
21.023 EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $827,841
93.658 FOSTER CARE TITLE IV-E $741,457
93.575 CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT $674,014
66.001 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAM SUPPORT $594,567
93.471 TITLE IV-E KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAM $575,295
93.667 SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT $550,400
16.745 CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION PROGRAM $473,665
17.258 WIOA ADULT PROGRAM $471,040
16.741 DNA BACKLOG REDUCTION PROGRAM $367,815
66.034 SURVEYS, STUDIES, RESEARCH, INVESTIGATIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND SPECIAL PURPOSE ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE CLEAN AIR ACT $334,886
16.842 OPIOID AFFECTED YOUTH INITIATIVE $330,203
97.052 EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER $317,075
14.218 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/ENTITLEMENT GRANTS $311,254
97.067 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM $303,852
14.231 EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT PROGRAM $299,278
16.812 SECOND CHANCE ACT REENTRY INITIATIVE $283,513
93.959 BLOCK GRANTS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE $238,292
10.935 URBAN AGRICULTURE AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION GRANTS PROGRAM (UAIP) $213,180
16.828 SWIFT, CERTAIN, AND FAIR SUPERVISION PROGRAM: APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND PROJECT HOPE $199,593
17.278 WIOA DISLOCATED WORKER FORMULA GRANTS $190,849
97.091 HOMELAND SECURITY BIOWATCH PROGRAM $172,670
93.674 JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD $172,469
93.150 PROJECTS FOR ASSISTANCE IN TRANSITION FROM HOMELESSNESS (PATH) $156,952
97.042 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANTS $130,484
20.940 RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES PILOT (RCP) DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM $120,999
16.838 COMPREHENSIVE OPIOID, STIMULANT, AND SUBSTANCE USE PROGRAM $119,872
16.836 INDIGENT DEFENSE $111,294
16.585 TREATMENT COURT DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM $109,425
93.472 TITLE IV-E PREVENTION PROGRAM $108,449
16.554 NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (NCHIP) $87,496
93.645 STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES CHILD WELFARE SERVICES PROGRAM $68,254
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $64,787
20.703 INTERAGENCY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PUBLIC SECTOR TRAINING AND PLANNING GRANTS $61,340
16.742 PAUL COVERDELL FORENSIC SCIENCES IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM $52,087
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $45,114
21.027 CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS $44,436
93.958 BLOCK GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES $40,693
17.207 EMPLOYMENT SERVICE/WAGNER-PEYSER FUNDED ACTIVITIES $38,745
20.600 STATE AND COMMUNITY HIGHWAY SAFETY $37,307
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $36,877
17.277 WIOA NATIONAL DISLOCATED WORKER GRANTS / WIA NATIONAL EMERGENCY GRANTS $35,805
16.320 SERVICES FOR TRAFFICKING VICTIMS $35,028
16.738 EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM $27,984
93.323 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND LABORATORY CAPACITY FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES (ELC) $25,376
20.205 HIGHWAY PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION $20,714
93.136 INJURY PREVENTION AND CONTROL RESEARCH AND STATE AND COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAMS $18,950
20.608 MINIMUM PENALTIES FOR REPEAT OFFENDERS FOR DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED $13,587
93.788 OPIOID STR $12,067
17.225 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE $10,064
93.747 ELDER ABUSE PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS PROGRAM $9,814
97.137 STATE AND LOCAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM $7,106
93.243 SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES PROJECTS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE $4,022
93.767 CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM $3,691
93.090 GUARDIANSHIP ASSISTANCE $3,497
17.245 TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE $444