Audit Report On The Compliance Of The Concord Family Services With Foster And Child Care Payment Regulations

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This audit determined whether Concord Family Services, Inc., (CFS) appropriately managed the revenues received through its contract with the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and complied with the provisions of its contracts with ACS. CFS is a not-for-profit corporation under contract with ACS since 1990 to operate a foster home program and render foster care services, such as life-skills training and post-adoption services, to children in the community. CFS currently operates in three community board areas in Brooklyn—Brownsville, East New York, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

CFS has two contracts with ACS to provide foster care services to children under the Foster Boarding Home Program (FBH) and the Supervised Independent Living Program (SILP). FBH handles foster care placements for children who are removed by ACS from their primary families. After placement, CFS monitors the children and provides support services while they are in foster care. SILP provides services to children from ages 18 to 21 years living independently of adult supervision. CFS provides housing, financial services, support services, and various life-skills workshops to the children. During Fiscal Year 2004, ACS paid $6,618,747¹ to CFS for providing services to 457 children in its programs—430 in the FBH program and 27 in the SILP.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

Our audit revealed that in Fiscal Year 2004, CFS appropriately managed the revenues of $6.6 million it received through its contracts with ACS. In general, expenditures were appropriate and adequately supported. However, we found that CFS was not efficiently spending certain funds and lacked some supporting documentation for its expenditures. These issues were not material enough to detract from our overall conclusion. Nevertheless, CFS was not in compliance with certain provisions of its contracts with ACS, which called into question whether foster children in CFS’s care were receiving adequate services. Specifically, we found the following weaknesses in CFS’s operations: the lack of files and of supporting documentation; the expenditure of excessive amounts on clothing; the lack of accountability over the purchase and distribution of children’s clothing; insufficient oversight of CFS by its Board of Directors; and operating with a deficit in each of the last four fiscal years. As the services provided by CFS directly impact the quality of life of children in foster care, it is extremely important that these issues be addressed immediately.

Audit Recommendations

To address these issues, we recommend, among other things, that CFS:

• Ensure that all case files and related documentation pertaining to foster children are adequately maintained and available for review upon request by authorized personnel.
• Use program funds more efficiently by purchasing clothing from reasonably priced stores.
• Ensure that the CFS Board of Directors is provided with the necessary information to effectively manage CFS operations.
• Enhance its Board of Directors’ oversight regarding financial operations.

We also recommend, among other things, that ACS:

• Establish an authorization process that documents the review and approval of all special and non-routine payments to foster care agencies.
• Ensure that financial audits are conducted at CFS on a timely basis.

ACS Response

ACS officials generally agreed with the audit’s recommendations.