Department of Children and Families employees have wasted taxpayer money on non-work-related cell phone calls and purchases of premium gasoline for state-owned cars, a state audit has found.
Auditors examining 275 instances in which workers’ cell phone use exceeded 1,000 minutes a month in the 2005-06 state fiscal year found that half of the calls were made on days when employees weren’t at work.
In addition, the audit found that social workers were unnecessarily buying premium gasoline for state-owned vehicles and often using commercial filling stations, though a free state-run gas pump was available.
The report by the state auditors said DCF could save $87,000 a year if it monitored cell phone use more closely.
The agency could save an additional $34,000 if it stopped paying for 258 cell phones the auditors say aren’t being used.
And the agency would save more than $16,500 if workers used the free state pumps, the report said.
The annual operating budget for DCF is expected to exceed $900 million this year.
Gary Kleeblatt, a spokesman for the agency, said employees have been disciplined for improper cell phone calls, and some have been forced to repay the state.
“We take that seriously,” he said.
Employees also have been reminded to use state filling stations, Kleeblatt said.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell this week called on state agencies to curb spending to blunt the impact of rising energy prices and other increasing costs at state agencies.
Christopher Cooper, a Rell spokesman, said state workers are wasting taxpayer money by putting premium gasoline in state cars.
“And while the money may not look that big … wasting even $1 of taxpayer money is too much,” he said.
The audit also found that DCF continued to pay thousands of dollars to a guardian caring for two foster children, though the children were returned to their biological mother and were living with her for a year.
And the auditors said the agency couldn’t provide proof that $110,335 spent on emergency services for 35 clients in the Manchester-Hartford area resulted in the delivery of the services.
The auditors couldn’t find invoices for 25 of 68 payments made in the local agency offices they checked. Where there was documentation, the auditors found that the agency inadvertently twice paid for the same service in 21 instances.
State Auditor Robert G. Jaekle said some findings were troublesome because DCF was alerted to problems with cell phone use, gasoline purchases and proper documentation in prior audits.
A lack of records makes it hard to tell whether the money is being spent appropriately, the auditors’ report said.
“I get concerned when there are several small items that just seem to defy common sense,” Jaekle said. “It’s basic good business practice and a concern for spending state tax dollars.” (AP)
