**PRESS RELEASE**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2020
Audit Shows Improvements Made, More Needed at Department of Human Services
Contact information: Brianna Ludwig, North Dakota State Auditor’s Office, 701-328-2453, bsludwig@nd.gov
State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Department of Human Services, which shows that while the agency has made some progress since our 2017 audit, there is more work to do. The agency has fully or partially implemented 13 of our recommendations from 2017 but has not implemented another 13 of our recommendations.
During our audit we found Medicaid benefits paid for medical services claimed to have been performed after the individuals date of death, childcare providers were operating without proper re-inspection of correction orders, child care providers operating under restrictive agreements are not being properly monitored, untimely face-to-face contact with suspected victims of child abuse and neglect, not performing quality assurance reviews of child abuse and neglect assessments and not ensuring individuals with confirmed child abuse or neglect are properly listed in the Child Abuse and Neglect Index, which is used for background checks.
"We need to do everything we can to ensure the safety and well being of our most precious resource, our children,” Auditor Gallion said. “The fact that some of these are repetitive findings, meaning we continue to point them out to the agency, and they are not being addressed, is concerning."
The audit also found the Department reported incorrect financial information for the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and found inadequate controls surrounding the Drug Rebate and Analysis Management System.
This audit is a result of the State Auditor’s Office statutory responsibility to audit or review each state agency once every two years. The complete audit report, including the status of prior recommendations, can be found on our website at https://bit.ly/DHS2019audit.
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The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office is a constitutional office that produces informative audits to improve government. The Office of the State Auditor is a valuable tool for North Dakota state agencies and local government entities, providing an opportunity to improve operations, fiscal responsibility and taxpayer services.