Audit Report on the Compliance of Builders for the Family and Youth Diocese of Brooklyn with its Department For the Aging Contract for the Operation Of The Bay Senior Center

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

The Bay Senior Center (The Bay) is operated by Builders for the Family and Youth (BFFY), an affiliate of Catholic Charities. BFFY was selected as the contractor to operate The Bay after responding to a Request for Proposal issued by the Department for the Aging (DFTA). The objectives of this audit were to determine whether BFFY maintains adequate and accurate records of expenses and revenues of The Bay, adequately and satisfactorily provides the services called for in its contract with DFTA, and complies with the key terms of its contract.

BFFY generally maintains adequate and accurate records of the revenues and expenses of The Bay. BFFY accurately reported expenditures and requested reimbursement only for expenses that were actually incurred. Accurate records were maintained for the client contributions for lunch and daily transportation.

In addition, BFFY adequately and satisfactorily provides most of the services called for in its contract with DFTA. However, the performance levels for two of The Bay’s core services were below the service target, and there were some discrepancies in some of the service numbers reported on the Contractor Invoice and Service Report.

Also, BFFY did not always comply with the requirements of its contract with DFTA or with the DFTA Fiscal Management Manual. Specifically, BFFY commingled the DFTA funds for The Bay with funds it receives to operate another center, employees do not complete and sign their own time sheets, Contractor Invoice and Service Reports are not submitted in a timely fashion, deposits are not made daily, and 13 percent of invoices did not contain initials to show that they had been verified by BFFY officials prior to payment.

The report lists 17 recommendations, some of which are listed below. DFTA should:

• Ensure that BFFY’s staff promotes The Bay’s presence and services in the community to increase the average daily attendance. DFTA should then monitor ongoing attendance.
• Have BFFY’s central administration and The Bay’s staff talk with center attendees to determine why so few are taking advantage of the transportation services, and redesign the program to increase attendance or more widely publicize in Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses and the surrounding neighborhood the availability of The Bay’s transportation service.
• Ensure that the service delivery numbers on the Contractor Invoice and Service Report are accurate and can be supported by the proper back-up documentation.
• Revise the contract language if it no longer requires that separate accounts be maintained for each contract.
• Ensure that the contractor can generate separate reports for the transactions of each center.
• Require employees at The Bay to fill out and sign their own timesheets, which should also be signed by the employee’s supervisor.
• Ensure that invoices for reimbursement are submitted by BFFY by the 20^th day of the following month, as required by the DFTA.
• Ensure that BFFY verifies that goods and services have been received by initialing all invoices.

The matters covered in this report were discussed with officials from DFTA and BFFY during and at the conclusion of this audit. A preliminary draft report was sent to DFTA officials on April 11, 2003, and was discussed at an exit conference on April 25, 2003. We submitted a draft report to DFTA officials on April 30, 2003, with a request for comments. We received a written response from DFTA officials on May 16, 2003.

DFTA generally agreed with all but one recommendation. It disagreed with the recommendation that DFTA require contractors to tag all equipment that is susceptible to theft, not just items that cost more than $1,000.