Institutional Federal Compliance Report 2021

ANDREW M. CUOMO Governor ROBERT F. MUJICA JR. Director of the Budget

SANDRA L. BEATTIE First Deputy Director CHARLES WILLIAMS Deputy Director

Regional Office staff have begun to perform reviews of Title IV-E Foster care case files. Staff use a checklist to affirm the documentation necessary to make an eligibility determination is present in the case file. In the event documentation is missing, the regional office staff work with the districts to correct the deficiencies. Any district that is found to have substantial errors or omissions will be referred to the Title IV-E unit for a more in-depth review of a greater number of cases. The results of the Office’s risk assessment were used to determine the first districts which would be subject to the reviews. BFO’s Title IV-E Unit have begun performing ongoing eligibility reviews of Title IV-E Foster Care case files during the years which the federal Foster Care Eligibility Review is not conducted. They have committed to reviewing 30 cases during the first three quarters, with the last quarter of the year to be used for any follow-up on outstanding items. BFO determines the districts for review based upon prior reviews and their other internal data. This review includes reviewing whether participants were placed with eligible foster care providers. Districts identified as being deficient from the review performed by Regional Office staff will be added to this list. As part of the review of title iv-e claims they type and amount of expenses are reviewed for allowability. OCFS Audit and Quality Control (AQC) has begun performing on-site county claims audits of the districts. The results from the Office’s risk assessment were used to determine which districts to audit first. As part of the audit, a month is selected and the supporting documentation for all claims submitted by the county during that month are reviewed to determine whether expenditures were allowable. This includes Title IV-E Foster Care claims. The scope also includes reviewing the matching requirements relating to payments in the first instance. These audits are ongoing and will be performed throughout the year.