Audit at DSS Finds More Serious Problems
       State Auditor Joseph DeNucci announced yesterday that the Department of Social Services had serious discrepancies and infractions in its procedures in its 2005 audit, including some which put children at serious risk.
       Auditors found that sixty-eight foster care providers were found with overdue or blank Criminal Offender Record Information records in fiscal 2005, and that 340 children were placed in foster homes prior to the home being licensed.
       DSS has come under fire recently for the “systematic failure” which led to the beating of Haleigh Poutre (Read Story).
       With regard to the timeliness of hearings, department regulations call for appeals of its decisions to be scheduled within 90 days, the audit found that the overwhelming majority (3,910 of the 5,009) of the open hearing requests had not met that standard.  That may mean families broken apart for excessively long periods of time while DSS tries to navigate through its own “red tape”.
       Oddly enough, DeNucci said that the “response of DSS in my latest audit is very encouraging” based on the fact that despite the poor performance of DSS overall in 2005, it was actually improved from the year before.
Related MassNews Stories:
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS Social Workers Must Be Accountable