The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, at its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, received an update on recent audit results of selected Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) programs. The update was given by the Audit Review Committee (ARC) Chairman Commissioner Dan Murrey on the results of audits conducted by the County's Internal Audit Department and the County's outside audit firm of Cherry, Bekaert, & Holland, L.L.P.
Local media reported that funds given to the DSS through the Giving Tree program were misspent or missing. During the meeting, Commissioner Dumont Clark asked Internal Audit Director Nita Spears to clarify those reports. She stated that the money was not necessarily misspent or missing, but that controls were not in place during the period of February 2008 through December 2008 to accurately determine how the money was spent.
Commissioner Murrey and County Manager Harry Jones also noted that new procedures and control measures have been implemented throughout DSS to prevent similar accounting problems in the future. Cherry, Bekaert, & Holland L.L.P stated that management's responses to the audit findings were appropriate and sufficient in strengthening controls and addressing inconsistent and insufficient supervision.
From the auditors' report, the ARC reached the following conclusions:
- The audits of DSS indicate insufficient internal controls to properly manage public funds. County Finance now has implemented steps to ensure that funds are properly accounted for and dispersed.
- The audits of DSS indicate inconsistent and insufficient supervision of and use of internal controls. County Finance now oversees the disbursement of funds, and DSS has retrained employees to properly account for funds.
- It is unclear why or how these lack of controls developed and for how long they have existed.
- The ARC believes management's responses to the audit findings are appropriate and sufficient in strengthening internal controls.
The ARC agreed that additional follow-up may be needed to determine and address accountability for the inconsistent and insufficient supervision in the control environment. They also concluded that County and DSS management may need to further examine several additional questions and considerations related to:
- The Giving Tree
- Use of credit cards
- Frequency of internal audits
- Vendor charges
- Additional review of Good Friends
- Structure and reporting for proper fiscal administration
County Manager Harry Jones said staff is meeting next week to develop a scope of work and timetable for the follow-up items identified by the ARC, and will schedule a subsequent ARC meeting on this topic.
Click on the links below for a complete set of documents related to the Department of Social Services' audit.
Watch the Audit Review Committee's report to the Board of County Commissioners on July 7, 2009.
