State and New York City audits of departments and agencies issued

On September 15, 2024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits of departments and agencies of State and New York City were issued.

        Click on the text highlighted in color to access the audit report posted on the Internet. 

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance – Controls Over the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (2022-S-34)  The Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative’s (ESSHI) goal is to develop 20,000 units of supportive housing over the 15-year period ending in 2031. The Office of Mental Health serves as the lead procurement agency for ESSHI, which provides up to $25,000 annually per individual or unit toward supportive housing for vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness. Auditors found significant deficiencies in OTDA’s oversight of the ESSHI program, including insufficient monitoring of contract requirements, inadequate conditions at some housing units, and inadequate case management for support services.

New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board – Complaint Processing (Follow-Up) (2024-F-8)  The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) receives, investigates, prosecutes, mediates, hears, makes findings, and recommends action on civilian complaints filed against members of the New York City Police Department. A prior audit, issued in October 2022, found that CCRB did not complete investigations in a timely manner and did not have performance measures in place to effectively monitor lengthy investigations, weaknesses that could jeopardize CCRB’s ability to hold officers accountable for misconduct. CCRB made some progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit report, partially implementing two of the four recommendations and not implementing two.  

State Education Department (Preschool Special Education Audit Initiative) – Small Wonder Preschool, Inc. – Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2023-S-36)  Small Wonder Preschool, Inc. (Small Wonder), a not-for-profit special education provider in New York City, is approved by the State Education Department (SED) to provide education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 5. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2021, Small Wonder reported approximately $5.9 million in reimbursable costs for the SED preschool cost-based program. Auditors identified $264,701 in reported costs that did not comply with requirements.

Office of Children and Family Services – Oversight of Child Protective Services (Follow-Up) (2024-F-6) The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) is responsible for overseeing the locally administered child welfare system, including 58 local departments of social services (LDSSs). To improve practices within LDSSs, OCFS implemented a Program Quality Improvement (PQI) process in January 2020. A prior audit, issued in January 2023, found that OCFS could make improvements to child fatality and PQI reviews. OCFS made some progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit, fully implementing one of the three recommendations and partially implementing the other two.

Office of General Services – Monitoring of Construction Management (Follow-Up) (2023-F-44) GS) operates the Design & Construction Group, which provides State agency clients a full range of architectural, engineering, contracting, and construction management services. If OGS determines that a construction management consultant is needed, it solicits bids through a Request for Proposals (RFP), and for each proposal, completes a Cost and a Technical Review, including an assessment of the bidder and minority-and-women-owned business enterprise (MWBE), small business, and subcontracting goals. A prior audit, issued in December 2021, found that several areas of OGS monitoring of construction management contracts needed improvement. Auditors found $207,316 paid to a State-certified women-owned business enterprise should not have been claimed as credits toward the MWBE goals and one construction management consultant’s bid proposal, for a contract valued at approximately $1.8 million, did not meet the criteria outlined in the RFP, yet this was not reflected in OGS’ evaluation and scoring. OGS officials made significant progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit report, implementing three of the four recommendations and partially implementing the final one. 

Department of Health – Management of Indoor Air Quality for Individuals With Asthma (Follow-Up) (2024-F-4) Asthma is a significant public health problem in the United States. Reducing asthma triggers is one objective of the Department of Health’s (DOH) Healthy Neighborhoods Program, designed to provide environmental health services to targeted high-risk neighborhoods. The program contracts with Local Health Departments (LHDs) to perform in-home visits and assessments to raise awareness of and help families manage asthma in order to reduce hospitalizations. A prior audit, issued in August 2022, found that DOH needed to improve its oversight and monitoring of LHDs to ensure that individuals identified with asthma in targeted areas continued to receive appropriate assistance. DOH officials made some progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report, partially implementing four of the initial report’s six recommendations and not implementing two.

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