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OIG Follow-Up Report on Audit of DFSS Homeless Services

OIG Follow-Up Report on Audit of DFSS Homeless Services

A City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) follow-up report concludes that the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) continues to make improvements to its process for selecting and monitoring homeless service providers.

Among the original August 2015 audit findings, OIG reported,

  • inaccuracies in the scoring and ranking of delegate agencies’ applications including incorrect calculation of some agencies’ total scores;
  • a flaw in the Department’s program monitoring audit tool may allow some negative findings to go unrecorded; and
  • if DFSS auditors identified errors in an agency’s quarterly report varying by over 20%, the errors were fixed; however, the Department did not hold such agencies accountable for misreporting performance data.

In its response to OIG’s recent follow-up inquiry, DFSS reported that it moved to a more automated system for application scoring and has begun staggering Requests for Proposals in order to reduce spikes in the number of applications requiring review. It has also revised its audit procedures and trained its staff to record all potential findings. Finally, it is continuing to test mechanisms to better hold delegate agencies accountable to misreporting performance data, including upgrading the categorization of a misreporting as a “Finding” that has the potential to count against the agency in future awards rather than a “Concern.”

“While its corrective actions in response to OIG’s 2015 audit are still a work in progress,” said Inspector General Joe Ferguson. “DFSS’s efforts show that it is committed to improving accountability and efficiency in its oversight of City funded homeless services and more generally are reflective of an agency seeking to improve and embrace best practices in program management.”

The full report including the City’s response to OIG’s inquiry, can be found online on the OIG website.

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The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government. If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.

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