Audit Report On The Department Of Youth And Community Development Out-Of-School Youth Program

This audit determined whether the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) effectively monitored Out-of-School Youth (OSY) program contractors to ensure that they complied with key provisions of their contracts. The scope period covered by this audit was Fiscal Year 2009 (July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009).

DYCD is charged with administering the City’s youth employment and training programs. One of DYCD’s programs, the OSY¹ program, provides educational and employment services to 16 to 21 year olds who are not connected to school or work, or who need assistance upgrading their occupational skills. The educational services include basic-skills training, GED classes, and assistance with pursuing post-secondary education. The employment services include job readiness and occupational skills training, as well as job search and placement efforts. Funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the target population for OSY programs is low-income youths who are neither attending school nor working and who fall into one of the at-risk groups defined by WIA. ²

In Fiscal Year 2009, DYCD had a budget of about $8.1 million for the OSY program. During this period, the contractors registered 890 OSY program participants. Payments to OSY vendors are based 80 percent on reimbursement of line-item expenditures and 20 percent on performance.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

DYCD adequately monitored the OSY program providers to ensure that they generally complied with key provisions of their DYCD contracts. DYCD program managers made periodic site visits to the OSY providers and prepared informal site visit reports and comprehensive annual monitoring reports. The providers’ participant files generally contained adequate supporting documentation relative to participant eligibility, assessments, and service plans. In addition, the program facilities we visited were in good condition and provided adequate space for classroom instruction. Furthermore, OSY provider claims for milestone payments were adequately supported.

However, we determined that DYCD did not adequately follow up to ensure that providers implemented the corrective action plans OSY program providers developed in response to weaknesses identified in DYCD monitoring reports. In addition, we found that the four providers in our sample (1) did not sufficiently complete the required biweekly updates of pre-exit participant progress and monthly updates of post-exit participant progress and (2) did not ensure that each staff member who had direct contact with participants had the required fingerprints, criminal background checks, and training. Finally, DYCD monitoring reports did not note most of these deficiencies.

Audit Recommendations

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

• Conduct follow-up visits to ensure that identified deficiencies are promptly corrected.
• Ensure that participant progress is regularly updated.
• Ensure that fingerprints and criminal background checks are documented for all OSY staff who have direct contact with participants.
• Ensure that all staff are adequately trained, especially on how they should interact with the participants.
• Ensure that program managers effectively assess contractor compliance with all key contractual requirements, including but not limited to those related to bi-weekly and monthly updates, fingerprinting, criminal background checks, and training; such assessments should be included in the monitoring reports.

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