State Auditors of Public Accounts found a bevy of financial gaffes in the Department of Mental Retardation; the kind of small-scale mismanagement common to state departments, auditors said, but notable here for the large number of weaknesses — some of which have been problems since the last audit in August 2004.
The department, which provides housing or other services for some 15,000 Connecticut residents with mental development problems, spent about $750 million in 2005, the last year in the audit. In a report released Sept. 7, auditors made 11 recommendations that mostly urged the department to follow proper procedures when it tracks money and equipment.
Taking A Toll
“We didn’t determine that any [problems] were material or significant. But I don’t want to downplay their significance,” said state auditor Bob Jaekle, who went on to say that the kind of accounting and monitoring lapses at the DMR “create an environment that could lead to more serious problems.”
Employees used department cell phones, but DMR administration doesn’t keep track of their calls.
Divisions miscalculated refunds that are owed from vendor contracts; one division over collected by $18,000 in one case and failed to get the nearly $22,000 it was owed in another.
The department paid out wrong amounts for former employees, overpaying nearly $7,000 to one worker.
Mismatched petty cash accounts, missing purchase orders on large transactions, contracts signed late — or not at all. In one case, the department paid $76,000 to use a school for meeting space but never drew up a contract for it.
Some employees took a casual attitude toward department credit cards, exceeding monthly limits, paying sales tax or not purchasing from vendors with state contracts.
That lack of oversight may allow for more serious money losses in the future, Jaekle said.
The department discovered one noteworthy oversight on its own, according to the audit: department officials discovered an employee had falsified his timesheets over a three-year period and was overpaid by about $30,000. DMR reported the discovery in May and turned it over to the state police for investigation.
Fast Action
Vincent O’Connell, chief financial officer for the department, said many of the more common issues were from employees trying to get tasks done quickly and not stopping to fill out the paperwork and track purchases or set up contracts.
“It’s hard for me to be critical when a person is trying to get things done in an expeditious manner,” especially in terms of giving care to a client, O’Connell said, but he added that employees should have followed the rules nonetheless.
That auditing period, 2004-2005, was a particularly tumultuous time for the department, O’Connell said.
Budgetary constraints shrank the department just before fiscal year 2004, he said, and the DMR lost 564 employees to early retirement and had to consolidate from five divisions into three. Positions were left vacant and a lot of institutional knowledge left all at once, leaving the department scrambling.
The Department of Mental Retardation was already working to improve when auditors began their work, O’Connell said. At the time of the state audits, the department had two internal auditors on staff; it now has four and is looking to add four more.
“We’re making strides,” he said.
