The OIG’s release of Georgia’s Title IV-E Adoption Assistance audit May 5, 2011 is the most recent in a series of audits conducted nationally on a state’s administration of Title IV-E Adoption Assistance benefits to eligible children. The audit findings are similar to those in the other eight state audits (in Tennessee, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, and Idaho) released in recent years: Title IV-E adoption assistance determinations incorrectly completed, children over age 18 being claimed, and insufficient or missing documentation to substantiate eligibility. In Georgia’s audit, 1,485 randomly selected children were reviewed for eligibility. Of the total sample, 939 children’s eligibility had either been claimed incorrectly or eligibility could not be established. The federal share owed by the State of Georgia is over $14.7 million, a significant amount for any state to have to return with state budgets continuing to decline.
The lengthy process for an OIG audit to be completed and finally published is sometimes years, so the number of outstanding audits on adoption assistance is unknown. The OIG Work Plan for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011 identified Title IV-E adoption assistance reviews as an ongoing task for the year without a specified number of state audits to be completed. Of the nine audits completed in recent years, more than $50 million federal share has been recommended to be paid back to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The range of compliance has been from a low of 31 percent (Georgia) to a high of 98 percent (Idaho). The key issues that reflect errors and impact adoption assistance eligibility include income eligibility – 77.8 percent; insufficient and missing documentation – 44.4 percent; voluntary placement agreements and judicial determinations bringing the child into care – 33.3 percent; lack of internal controls to properly claim adoption assistance – 22.2 percent; and children over the age of 18 being claimed for adoption assistance – 22.2 percent.
