New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli releases State Department and Agency audits

On October 16, 2024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued the following State Department and Agency reports.

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Empire State Development – New NY Broadband Program (Follow-Up) (2024-F-10) The New NY Broadband Program (Program)—launched in 2015 and managed by the Broadband Program Office (BPO), a division of Empire State Development (ESD)—was designed to ensure that every New Yorker had access to high-speed broadband. A prior audit, issued in July 2022, found BPO effectively monitored and managed the Program; however, the Program did not achieve its overall goal of providing statewide broadband availability. In March 2021, BPO officials stated more than 14,000 households were unserved or underserved. ESD made progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s three recommendations, one was implemented, one was partially implemented, and one is no longer applicable.

Department of Health – Oversight of the Early Intervention Program (Follow-Up) (2024-F-3) The mission of the Early Intervention Program (Program) is to identify and evaluate as early as possible those infants and toddlers whose healthy development is compromised and provide appropriate intervention to improve child and family developments. The Department of Health (DOH) oversees both the Program and its contracts with the 57 counties in the State and New York City that administer the Program at the local level. A prior audit, issued in February 2023 found that many children who could benefit from the Program weren’t receiving services, and children who were receiving services weren’t always getting them in a timely manner. DOH made some progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit; however, additional actions are needed. Of the initial report’s five audit recommendations, one was implemented and four were partially implemented.

State Education Department – Privacy and Security of Student Data (Follow-Up) (2024-F-11) The State Education Department (SED) is part of the University of the State of New York, one of the most complete, interconnected systems of educational services in the United States. SED is responsible for safeguarding its data and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its systems. A prior audit, issued in May 2023, found that SED did not fully comply with its policies related to information security and data privacy, including completing the data classification for all types of information that it creates, collects, processes, or stores, some of which contain students’ personally identifiable information. SED officials made significant progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s three audit recommendations, two were implemented and one was partially implemented.

Office of Information Technology Services – Windows Domain Administration and Management (Follow-Up) (2024-F-12) The Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) is responsible for maintaining Active Directory domains on behalf of the State’s Executive agencies. Because Active Directory and associated domain controllers ultimately control access and authorization in a Microsoft Windows environment, it is vital to ensure that appropriate controls are in place and that policies and standards are being adhered to. A prior audit, issued in May 2023, determined ITS did not have certain security controls in place, according to several ITS policies and standards, to ensure appropriate management and monitoring of its Active Directory environment. ITS officials made progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report. Of the confidential report’s six audit recommendations, three were implemented, two were partially implemented, and one was not implemented.

Workers’ Compensation Board – Assessment of Costs to Administer the Workers’ Compensation Program for the Three State Fiscal Years Ended March 31, 2023 (2024-M-1) The purpose of this report was to ascertain the total expenses that the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) incurred in administering the Workers’ Compensation Program (Program) for the three State Fiscal Years ended March 31, 2023. The Office of the New York State Comptroller performed certain procedures, which were agreed to by the Board, to ascertain the Board’s expenses. Annual expenses to administer the Program averaged about $214.1 million. 

State Education Department (Preschool Special Education Audit Initiative) – Adaptive Solutions Multi Services, PLLC – Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2022-S-48) Adaptive Solutions Multi Services, PLLC (Adaptive Solutions), a New York City-based proprietary organization, is approved by the State Education Department (SED) to provide special education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 5 years. For the 3 fiscal years ended June 30, 2018, Adaptive Solutions reported approximately $11.2 million in reimbursable costs for the SED preschool cost-based programs. Auditors identified $803,921 in reported costs that did not comply with requirements.

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