Audit Report on Little Flower Children and Family Services Foster Care Contract with the Administration for Children’s Services

Audit Report In Brief

This audit determined whether Little Flower Children and Family Services (LFCFS) complied with the major programmatic provisions of its foster care contract with the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and whether LFCFS’s days-of-care payment requests to ACS were adequately supported.   The scope period of this audit was Fiscal Year 2006 (July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006).

LFCFS, established in 1929, is a social service agency that delivers services and programs to children, families, and disabled adults in New York City and on Long Island.  Family foster care is the largest program at LFCFS.  During Fiscal Year 2006, LFCFS provided services to 1,377 foster children in about 600 foster boarding homes.  In March 2006, ACS renewed its foster care contract with LFCFS for three years for a total of $84.1 million.  ACS paid LFCFS $24.9 million for foster care services provided during Fiscal Year 2006.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Our audit revealed that LFCFS generally complied with most of the major programmatic provisions of its foster care contract with ACS.  The Family Assessment and Service Plans (FASPs) were completed and included in the foster child case files, and the foster parents received the required background checks, home inspections, and initial training.  In addition, LFCFS’s days-of-care payment requests to ACS were adequately supported.

However, there were weaknesses in certain areas that should be addressed.  Some foster child case files lacked evidence that the required contacts and visits to foster children and parents by LFCFS caseworkers were conducted.  In addition, LFCFS did not follow up with those foster parents who did not attend annual refresher training.  Finally, for the foster children in our sample, although LFCFS reported to ACS that it was due $836,116 in administrative-rate and pass-through payments for Fiscal Year 2006, ACS paid LFCFS $846,910—a difference of $10,794.  The difference appears to have resulted mostly from a lack of communication between ACS and LFCFS on reimbursement issues.

Audit Recommendations

To address these issues, the audit recommends, among other things, that LFCFS:

• Ensure that caseworkers consistently document all visits and contacts with foster children and foster parents and maintain these records in the children’s case files.

• Provide supervisory oversight to ensure that all required contacts and visits are conducted and documented.

• Follow up on all foster parents who do not attend the annual refresher training to ensure that they attend this required training.

The audit also recommends that ACS ensure that LFCFS receives clear instructions for presenting its reimbursement requests to ACS.

Agency Response

In their response, ACS officials generally agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendations.