County of AmadorLocal Government

Name: Foster Care - Title IV-E Assistance Listing #: 93.658 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass-Through Entity: State Department of Social Services Award No.: 93-Unknown Year: 2024-2025 Compliance Requirement: Internal Control Criteria: State-specific policies (Assembly Bill 403 in California) requires the County to maintain Level of Care Protocol documentation that supports the rate, including the "basic" rate of foster care recipients. Condition During testing of Foster Care (ALN 93.658) maintenance payments, it was noted that several of the case files did not contain a finalized Level of Care Protocol scoring form (SOC 500) to support the basic rate. Cause The County has had specific training related to Level of Care Protocols and are gaining additional information relatedd to documents needed for final Level of Care Protocol assessments. Current onboarding and refresher training for case workers did not sufficiently emphasize the mandatory requirement of the LOCP form for Basic Rate placements, as staff incorrectly prioritized the form only for higher-level or "specialized" care rates. Effect The lack of consistent Level of Care Protocol documentation creates a risk that the County cannot definitively demonstrate that the foster care maintenance payments were made at the correct, state-approved rate. Questioned Cost No questioned costs were identified as a result of our audit procedures. Context: Out of a sample of 37 cases, 30 cases lacked Level of Care Protocol scoring form SOC 500. Repeat Finding This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend that the Department continues training that requires a completed LOCP scoring form for all placements, including those at the basic rate. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Refer to separate Management's Corrective Action Plan for views of responsible officials and management's responses.

2020-002 Name: Foster Care ? Title IV-E CFDA#: 93.658 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass Through Entity: State Department of Social Services and State Department of Health Care Services Award No.: Various Year: 2019-20 Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Criteria Good internal control over eligibility requires that the required Determination of Federal AFDC-FC Eligibility Form FC 3 signed by the Eligibility Worker and the appropriate box noting Federal eligibility be checked. Condition Federal eligibility requires that the determination of the child?s eligibility for foster care be documented in the case record on the Statement of Facts Supporting Eligibility of AFDC-FC form (the FC 2) and the Determination of Federal AFDC-Eligibility form ( FC 3). The County does document eligibility on the FC 2 and FC 3 by the completion of the form, however, a signature is required on both forms. The Eligibility Worker must sign the FC 2 and FC 3 and check the appropriate box, which indicates the recipient?s eligibility or non-eligibility. In 3 of 23 cases tested, the FC 3 was completed and although the individuals was determined to be eligible, the form was not signed by the Eligibility Worker. Cause Appropriate training or review procedures concerning eligibility were inadequate. Effect Eligibility documentation was not complete for 3 of the 23 cases tested. Questioned Cost There were no questioned costs noted as a result of the audit procedures. Context We randomly selected 23 case files to test eligibility documentation compliance for the Foster Care ? Title IV-E program. Sampling was a statistically valid sample. We noted 3 of the 23 case files did not have the required eligibility documentation. Repeat Finding Not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend that the County incorporate procedures into their review process to ensure that all forms are accurately completed and only eligible individuals are provided Federal Care assistance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Refer to separate Management?s Corrective Action Plan for views of responsible officials and management?s responses.

2020-003 Name: Adoption Assistance CFDA#: 93.659 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass Through Entity: State Department of Social Services Award No.: Various Year: 2019-20 Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Criteria Good internal control over eligibility requires that the required Eligibility Certification Form AAP-4 be signed by the Authorized Official of the County Welfare Department and the appropriate box noting Federal eligibility be checked. The County should only provide Federal aid to individuals who have been determined to be eligible for Federal benefits. Condition Title 22 California Code of Regulations Section 35331(a) requires that the determination of the child?s eligibility for adoption assistance be documented in the case record on the Eligibility Certification-Adoption Assistance Program form (AAP-4). In 7 of 25 cases tested, the AAP-4 was completed and although the individual was determined to be eligible, the box noting Eligibility for Title IV-E (FFP) was not checked. We also noted one case where the individual was only eligible for State funding. This is a systemic finding. Cause Appropriate training or review procedures concerning eligibility were inadequate Effect Eligibility documentation was not complete for 7 of the 25 cases tested. Also, the County provided benefits to one ineligible individual. Questioned Cost Federal aid in the amount of $6,000 was paid to an ineligible individual during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Context We randomly selected 25 case files to test eligibility documentation compliance for the Adoption Assistance program. Sampling was a statistically valid sample. We noted 7 of the 25 case files did not have the required eligibility documentation and one case was only eligible for State funding. Repeat Finding This is a repeat of prior year finding 2019-002. Recommendation We recommend that the County incorporate procedures into their review process to ensure that only eligible individuals are provided Federal Adoption Assistance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Refer to separate Management?s Corrective Action Plan for views of responsible officials and management?s responses.

2019-002 Name: Adoption Assistance CFDA #: 93.659 Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass Through Entity: State Department of Social Services Award No.: Various Year: 2018-19 Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Criteria Good internal control over eligibility requires that the required Eligibility Certification Form AAP-4 be signed by the Authorized Official of County Welfare Department? and the appropriate box noting Federal eligibility be checked. The County Should only provide Federal aid to individuals who have been determined to be eligible for Federal benefits. Condition Title 22 California Code of Regulations Section 35331 (a) requires that the determination of the child?s eligibility for adoption assistance be documented in the case record on the Eligibility Certification ? Adoption Assistance Program form (AAP-4). In 15 of 39 cases tested, the Eligibility Certification form AAP-4 was completed and although the individual was determined to be eligible, the form was not signed by the `Authorized Official of County Welfare Department? and/or the box noting Eligibility for Title IV-E (FFP) was not checked. We also noted one case where the individual was only eligible for State funding. This is a systemic finding. Cause Appropriate training or review procedures concerning eligibility were inadequate. Effect Eligibility documentation was inadequate for 15 of the 39 cases tested. Also, the County provided benefits to an ineligible individual. Questioned Cost Federal aid in the amount of $5,760 was paid to an ineligible individual during the 2018/2019 fiscal year. Context We randomly selected 39 case files to test eligibility documentation compliance for the Adoption Assistance Program. Sampling was a statistically valid sample. We noted 15 of the 39 case files did not have the required eligibility documentation. Repeat Finding Not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend that the County incorporate procedures into their review process to ensure that only eligible individuals are provided Federal Adoption Assistance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Refer to separate Management?s Corrective Action Plan for views of responsible officials and management?s responses.

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