NORFOLK -- Audit faults Norfolk's human services office

Audit faults Norfolk's human services office

http://content.hamptonroads.com/stor...199&ran=180413

By HARRY MINIUM, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 19, 2007

NORFOLK

State auditors say that for nearly two years, Norfolk’s Human Services
Department lacked proper accounting procedures to control its spending
and improperly billed the state for child care costs for the poor and
other programs.

The department’s director, N. Clark Earl, also allowed a department
manager to approve spending $1.2 million on a computer support contract
after the manager disclosed that he was marrying a woman who worked on
that contract, the audit said.

The city’s response

# City Manager Regina V.K. Williams says Norfolk disputes many of the
audit findings and faults the state for not allowing the city to respond
first.

# The city has agreed to pay back $182,000 for the office rental and
complied with state law on reimbursements. Williams said there were
safeguards on the support contract, although the city should have
recognized the potential conflict of interest.

Previous problems

In 2003, dozens of Human Services employees were fired or forced to
resign after an audit found that they had improperly filed to receive
emergency food stamps after Hurricane Isabel. Some of the employees,
speaking before the City Council, blamed department director N. Clark
Earl for giving them improper guidance.



Those expenses and others, totaling several million dollars , are being
reviewed by the state to determine whether the city must give back any
money. City officials say they expect they will have to repay
approximately $700,000.

City Manager Regina V.K. Williams disputed many parts of the report,
saying that it is unfair to the city and was released without giving
city officials the chance to respond. She also said some of the numbers
used by state officials were inflated.

“The process involved here doesn’t promote good government,� she said.

Earl declined to be interviewed for this report. In October, he
announced that he would retire in December.

The department, which has more than 450 employees and a budget of more
than $60 million, is responsible for a variety of services, including
child welfare, aid to poor families, work force development and juvenile
justice. Earl has led the department since May 2001. In that time, two
other reports have found problems related to finances.

In 2003, dozens of employees were fired or forced to resign after an
audit found they had improperly filed to receive emergency food stamps
after Hurricane Isabel. Some of the employees, speaking before the City
Council, blamed Earl for giving them improper guidance.

“It’s probably the worst-run department in the city,� Councilman Paul R.
Riddick said at the time.

That same year, city Auditor John Sanderlin said the department needed
to shore up accounting and billing practices in its day care and foster
care programs. Williams said that all but one of Sanderlin’s
recommendations were implemented and the one that wasn’t does not relate
to the issues raised by the state.

The state audit began as a routine review by the Virginia Department of
Social Services, which provides more than 60 percent of the department’s
funds, said Melissa Perdue, a state spokes woman.

In April, state officials noticed that last December, the city had
billed the state nearly $8.2 million in reimbursement claims for child
care costs, salaries and retirement expenses. That was more than double
what the city spent in the previous year, state officials said.

Williams disputed that, saying the increase occurred because the city
submitted claims for services for prior years. That was a bookkeeping
mistake, she said, but spending from year to year did not increase
markedly. About $500,000 of that money probably will have to be repaid,
she said.

After that discovery, the state called in its auditors – the first time
that’s been done with a locality’s social services department in recent
years, Purdue said.

As officials began to look into that issue, “the review was expanded
into other areas as internal control weaknesses were identified,�
according to the audit.

The state’s Auditor of Public Accounts was notified by auditors for the
state Social Services Department and began a review that will not be
complete for several weeks, officials said.

The state audit faulted state social services for its oversight of the
Norfolk department. It found that Norfolk:

# Wrongfully billed the state for rent of space at the city’s Workforce
Development Center at Wards Corner that did not benefit social services
clients. The city agreed to repay $182,000.

# May be paying too much in rent for the center. The city pays $1.2
million per year. Williams said the amount is reasonable. State
officials acknowledge there are no guidelines to determine whether it is.

# Did not conduct monthly reconciliations of its reimbursement system as
required by state policy. The audit said $7.7 million worth of costs
were submitted without adequate documentation.

Williams responded that state law doesn’t require monthly
reconciliation, though she agreed that doing so “is a good idea.�

# Did not set appropriate controls on spending on the computer support
contract with Keane Inc., the company that employed the woman who is now
married to the department manager, of the department’s information
systems manager. In one case, an account that had a limit of $50,000 was
used to pay expenses totaling $327,000.

Williams objected, saying that overall, the department stayed within its
budget with Keane. She said the wrong account numbers were recorded on
some invoices.

Williams said that the city employee’s wife was involved in contracts
worth $280,000, not the entire $1.2 million approved by her husband. At
least one other employee also signed off on the invoices. There was no
evidence of favoritism or personal gain, she said.

Nonetheless, she said, Earl should have seen the potential conflict of
interest when told the employee was going to be married to someone at Keane.

“Even the appearance of a conflict of interest is unacceptable,� she said.

In September 2006, two months after the city attorney ruled that the
situation posed a conflict, the manager’s spouse stopped working for Keane.

State social services officials are to develop a work plan for resolving
the issues raised in the audit by March 31. That plan is due by Nov. 30.

Overall, the audit’s findings indicate that the department “doesn’t
appear to have somebody there to put controls in place,� said Laurie
Henry , an Old Dominion University accounting professor who worked for
11 years with the state of Maryland’s tax division.

“What happens with human services groups is they get so focused on
delivering services, their accounting systems have poor controls. … I
have a feeling whoever is running the department probably is casual
about things.�

But Henry said she was glad to see no overt evidence of fraud.

“The potential for fraud is there, because the controls are so weak,�
she said. “It could be happening. But the state spent so much time
looking into this, if there was fraud, I think they would have caught it.�

Williams said that Earl’s departure is not related to the audit and that
he did not retire under any pressure from her.

Earl has won praise for creating the Center for Aging, a cooperative
venture between Human Services and Senior Services of Southeastern
Virginia. He also made major changes in the agency’s foster care program.

Williams said her discussions with Earl about retirement began months
ago. But four sources who asked not to be identified said a majority of
the City Council pressured Williams at the council retreat in September
to ask him to step down because they were hearing numerous complaints
about Human Services, especially with its foster care program.

Williams said she informed City Council members of the audit in a
confidential memo and that she personally briefed Mayor Paul Fraim. When
asked about it, seven of the eight council members said they did not
recall being briefed on it.

“If she says she told me, then she must have,� Fraim said, but he added
that he doesn’t recall the conversation or receiving a memo.

He and several other council members declined further comment, saying
they didn’t know enough to speak about the audit.

The city manager, who hired Earl, has been under fire as of late.

Nearly three weeks ago, it was learned that the man she placed in charge
of a new crime-fighting agency is a felon found guilty of manslaughter
and drug dealing. After an intense public debate, he eventually resigned.

Williams acknowledged that the state audit found weaknesses, as do most
audits. Yet she said she is concerned with how the audit is being
carried out.

“We have been told we will not have the chance to respond,� she said.
“We intend to respond anyway.�

Staff writer Michelle Washington and news researcher Jak on Hay s
contributed to this report.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371,










CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...