Purpose

To determine whether the costs reported by HTA of New York, Inc. (HTA) on its Consolidated Fiscal Report (CFR) were properly calculated, adequately documented, and allowable under the State Education Department’s (SED) guidelines, including the Reimbursable Cost Manual (RCM). Our audit covered the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014.

Background

HTA is an SED-approved, for-profit special education provider located in Westchester County, New York. HTA provides preschool special education services to children with disabilities between the ages of three and five years. HTA is reimbursed for preschool special education services through rates set by SED. The reimbursement rates are based on financial information, including costs, that HTA reports to SED on its annual CFR. To be eligible for reimbursement, reported costs must comply with the RCM requirements. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, HTA reported about $2.7 million in reimbursable costs on its CFR for one rate-based preschool special education program: Preschool Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) services.

Key Findings

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, we identified $28,952 in ineligible costs that HTA reported on its CFR for the SEIT program. The ineligible costs included:

• $22,207 in other than personal service costs, which consisted of $15,813 that was not related to the SEIT program, $3,678 that was not sufficiently supported, and $2,716 that was otherwise not allowed; and
• $6,745 in personal service costs, which consisted of $4,065 in unsupported staff time, $1,546 in employee compensation that was reported as more than one full-time equivalent on the CFR, and $1,134 in other non-reimbursable costs.

Key Recommendations

To SED:

• Review the disallowances identified by our audit and, if warranted, make the necessary adjustments to the costs reported on HTA’s CFR and to HTA’s tuition reimbursement rates.
• Remind HTA officials of the pertinent SED guidelines that relate to the deficiencies we identified.

To HTA:

• Ensure that costs reported on annual CFRs fully comply with SED’s requirements, and communicate with SED to obtain clarification as needed.

Other Related Audits/Reports of Interest

Kidz Therapy Services, PLLC: Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2015-S-63)
The ARC of Ulster-Greene: Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2015-S-60)