Audit Report On The Department For The Aging’s Monitoring Of Senior Centers

Audit Report in Brief

The New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) plans, administers, and coordinates the provision of services that assist many of the City’s 1.4 million senior citizens in participating in their communities and maintaining their independence.  DFTA receives federal, state, and city funds to provide services for senior citizens.  DFTA provides these services directly as well as through contracts with community-based organizations throughout the five boroughs.  The services include hot meals and activities at senior centers, home care, home-delivered meals, case management, and transportation.  According to DFTA’s website, there were 258 DFTA- affiliated senior centers located throughout the five boroughs as of August 6, 2012.

DFTA manages contracts with community-based organizations and is responsible for ensuring service quality at the senior centers.  As part of its oversight, DFTA’s Bureau of Community Services (BCS) unit conducts formal assessment surveys of each senior center through inspections by program officers and nutritionists. The survey evaluates the center’s social and nutritional programs as well as the maintenance of the center.

Audit Findings and Conclusion

Based on the conditions observed during our inspection of 63 senior centers and a review of DFTA and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) inspection reports, we believe DFTA’s monitoring of senior centers could be enhanced to better ensure that senior centers are being maintained in a safe and clean condition. Specifically, 43 of the 63 centers visited had issues of non-compliance with DFTA standards including obstructed exits, inadequate lighting in hallways and stairways, and sanitary concerns in the bathrooms and kitchen areas. Eighteen of these 43 centers had recurring issues over multiple years, and six of these 18 had issues in more than one area. Senior center personnel accompanied us on our visits and were made aware of the conditions that were found.

Audit Recommendations

This report makes a total of five recommendations.  DFTA should:

• Inspect the centers cited in the report to ensure that the problems have been corrected and have not recurred.
• Enhance its monitoring and oversight of senior centers by revising its inspection procedures to ensure that:
  • Supervisor approval is documented in the inspection files when conditions identified during an inspection are resolved upon submission of reliable documentation.
  • Prior to contract negotiation, DFTA should conduct an inspection identifying all conditions that need to be corrected. A punch-list of conditions should be discussed and given to center sponsors at the completion of the inspection with an established timeframe for corrective action. Prior to lease signing, a thorough follow-up inspection should be conducted to ensure that all conditions have been corrected.
• Establish a system that tracks recurring problems at each center. Recurring problems need to be corrected before renewing contracts. Serious safety and sanitary conditions should be corrected before signing the contract.
• Ensure that centers contact the responsible City agency (Department of Buildings, Fire Department, or New York City Housing Authority) to obtain the required Place-of-Assembly permits and required fire inspections.
• Revise its procedures to ensure that inspectors review and document whether specific violations cited on DOHMH inspection reports were corrected.

Agency Response

In their response, DFTA officials agreed with the report’s findings and conclusions.  DFTA officials stated that though they believe that protocols are in place to monitor and track the conditions of senior center facilities, this audit does demonstrate the need for more accountability from senior center programs so that older New Yorkers can receive services in a clean and safe environment. While not responding directly to our specific recommendations, DFTA officials further stated that many of the specific conditions cited in our report have already been or are in the process of being corrected. Further, DFTA officials stated that they will be adopting new policies to hold senior center programs more accountable.  We commend DFTA for initiating prompt action in response to our report. The specific details of the above are included in DFTA’s response, which is attached as an addendum to this report.