Objective

To determine the extent of implementation of the four recommendations included in our initial audit report, Reimbursement of Homeless Shelter Providers – Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse (Report 2021-S-34).

About the Program

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) administers programs for the State’s low-income residents and provides support, supervision, and guidance to local departments of social services (Local Districts), including those that serve the homeless. OTDA’s funding of shelter services is administered through the Local Districts, comprising the New York City Department of Homeless Services and 57 county offices throughout the rest of the State. Local Districts' annual claims submission to OTDA for homeless housing was $2 billion or more for calendar years 2019 through 2022.

The Onondaga County Department of Social Services (OCDSS) contracted with the not-for-profit Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse (Rescue Mission) to provide homeless services. Rescue Mission is one of the largest providers of homeless services in Onondaga County with a 192-bed capacity for emergency shelter services.

In order to effectively evaluate whether costs are eligible for reimbursement, OTDA requires Local Districts that reimburse shelter providers outside of New York City to submit the shelter’s operating budget annually by January 1. According to State regulations, OTDA will reimburse Local Districts, such as OCDSS, for the calendar year’s approved costs, which are adjusted based on their shelters’ actual costs.

OTDA, pursuant to its Administrative Manual, is responsible for reviewing each shelter’s operating budget, working with the Local Districts to ensure that all required documents have been included, and assessing budgeted operating costs to verify that they are reasonable and necessary. Upon making payments to their providers, Local Districts submit monthly claim packages to OTDA for reimbursement. Local Districts’ claim submissions must comply with OTDA’s Fiscal Reference Manual, which provides guidance on costs that are eligible for reimbursement.

The objective of our initial audit, issued on October 26, 2022, was to determine if OTDA adequately monitored and appropriately reimbursed claims for homeless shelter providers, such as the Rescue Mission. Our audit covered the period from January 2020 through December 2020. Overall, the audit found that, outside of OTDA’s oversight processes for the review and approval of shelter budgets, OTDA had not taken any action thereafter to ensure that shelters’ actual costs claimed for reimbursement, as submitted by the Local Districts, complied with the approved budget, State laws and regulations, or OTDA’s own policies, as required. For calendar year 2020, we identified $26,123 in costs claimed by Rescue Mission that were improperly reimbursed.

Key Findings

OTDA officials made some progress in addressing the issues we identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s four audit recommendations, two were implemented, one was partially implemented, and one was not implemented.

Key Recommendation

OTDA officials are requested, but not required, to provide information about any actions planned to address the unresolved issues discussed in this follow-up within 30 days of the report’s issuance.