Audit Report on Oversight of Father Flanagan’s Group Home Contract by the Department of Juvenile Justice

Audit Report In Brief

This audit determined whether Father Flanagan’s Boys Group Home (Father Flanagan’s) operated in accordance with the key terms of its contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and whether DJJ adequately monitored the contract.

DJJ provides detention, aftercare, and prevention services to juveniles aged 7 through 15 in New York City.  DJJ oversees a network of non-secure detention group homes in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.  In 2000, DJJ entered into a contract with Father Flanagan’s for the purchase of non-secure detention group care for juveniles at 535 Bergen Street, Brooklyn.  The term of the most recent contract between DJJ and Father Flanagan’s for the Bergen Street facility was April 1, 2005, through March 31, 2008.  According to the contract, Father Flanagan’s is required to provide the following services: custody, detention, basic youth care, food, clothing and shelter, transportation, education, health care, recreation, court-related services, social work and case management services, social skills instruction, group sessions, and the monitoring and supervision of these services.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Father Flanagan’s, for the most part, operates in accordance with the key terms of its contract with DJJ.  It ensures that educational services are provided according to state and local regulations, including transporting juveniles to and from school and providing assistance when needed.  Father Flanagan’s also ensures that juveniles are transported to and from court, medical and dental appointments, and recreational events.  In addition, all new employee backgrounds are examined prior to hiring, and the backgrounds of existing employees are monitored annually. Furthermore, Father Flanagan’s ensures that various logbooks are maintained and that weekly indicator reports, monthly expenditures, and quarterly reports regarding employee status are submitted to DJJ, as required by the contract.  Moreover, operating expenditures paid for with DJJ funds appeared to be reasonable, were adequately supported by invoices, and were always within the contract budget.

However, we noted some areas in which Father Flanagan’s was not in compliance with the contract.  Father Flanagan’s did not ensure that all of its employees had valid driver’s licenses, and had incomplete logbooks which are required to contain all incidents that occur at the facility.

We also found that DJJ does not adequately monitor its contract with Father Flanagan’s Bergen Street facility.  DJJ has not conducted performance evaluations of the contract on an annual basis as required.  Site visits and corrective action plans are not documented; internal and external audits were lacking; facility logbooks were not adequately reviewed; and driver’s licenses were not monitored for validity.  In addition, DJJ did not have case management reports, minutes of Facility Director meetings, facility census reports, or school progress reports, which should be used by DJJ to monitor Father Flanagan’s compliance with the contract.  Furthermore, the incident database maintained by DJJ was incomplete.

Audit Recommendations

Based on our findings, we make 10 recommendations, 5 of which are listed below.  DJJ should:

• Ensure that it conducts annual performance evaluations for all contractors and should conduct a current performance evaluation prior to the renewal of the Bergen Street facility contract to determine whether it should be renewed.

• Create a formal monitoring system whereby it performs routine site visits to the Bergen Street facility to ensure compliance with the contract and, if necessary, perform follow-up visits.

• Ensure that timely annual external audits of the financial and operational activities as well as periodic internal audits are conducted of the Bergen Street facility.

• Ensure that it periodically reviews the Bergen Street facility’s logbooks, along with any accompanying backup documents, and that logbooks are completed and up to-date.  It should also ensure that evidence of its own review is documented.

• Ensure that Father Flanagan’s is reviewing and monitoring its employees’ driver’s licenses to ensure that they are valid and that the employees are qualified to drive.

DJJ Response

In their response, DJJ officials generally agreed with nine audit recommendations and disagreed with one.