Audit says senior services grants lack oversight

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Division of Aging Services has failed to adequately monitor its grant programs for senior citizens to ensure they are receiving all the services they are entitled to, a legislative audit says.

The audit, released Wednesday, said it examined 62 grants and discovered that 22 of them did not receive a timely review.

"Grant monitoring is necessary to ensure problems are resolved quickly, payments are accurate and grantees comply with grant requirements and service specifications," the legislative examination said.

"It is also an effective way for the division to ensure Nevada's seniors are receiving the quality of services described in grant award documents," said the audit performed by Deputy Legislative Auditor Michael Noel and Audit Supervisor Paul Townsend.

Mary Liveratti, administrator of the aging division, said the recommendations by the auditors will help strengthen the grant management functions, even though the agency doesn't interpret all of the findings in the same way as the auditors.

Liveratti said the division is working to refine the grant applications, awarding, reporting and monitoring process as it gets ready to receive an extra $4.8 million a year from the Nevada tobacco settlement.

The auditors said grant award decisions are not always documented. They cited an award to one organization of $6,835 without the competitive process.

The legislative examination also said the division's process for awarding grants "does not ensure freedom from conflict or undue biased."

"Three of the five division employees doing the technical review scored grant applications for grantees they are responsible for monitoring," the auditors said. "This can be seen as a conflict of interest."

The Division of Aging Services in fiscal year 1999 awarded $5.2 million in 187 grants to 55 organizations for such things as adult day care, transportation, home-delivered meals, homemaker, legal services and senior employment. About half of that money goes to programs in Clark County.