Department of Economic Security - Division of Children, Youth and Families - Child Protective Services - Contractor Payments

The Division administers Arizona's child welfare program and related services, many of which are provided by contracted caregivers and community service providers. In fiscal year 2010, the Division spent more than $291.6 million on contracted and nonrecurring services. Auditors selected a sample of 80 payments for review—15 parent aide mileage payments and 65 potential duplicate payments for various other division services—totaling nearly $282,000 and paid between July 2004 and February 2010. They found that 32 of the payments included errors totaling more than $39,700. Auditors also identified an additional $11,759 in payment errors for parent aide hours. The Department and Division have taken steps to improve the processing of contractor payments and should take some additional actions, including conducting ongoing monitoring of contractor and nonrecurring payments. Additionally, the Department paid nearly $1.4 million for division contractor claims that were 2 to 4 years old without following required procedures, but has taken action to appropriately process these types of claims in the future. Finally the Division is more consistently safeguarding bus passes.