Draft County Audit Report: Hamilton County-Ohio

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) audited Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services (HCDJFS). HCDJFS operations had not been audited for ten years.

 The draft audit, which covered state fiscal years 2002 through 2004, identified a total of $223.8 million in findings for recovery. Many of these findings for recovery are related to the improper charging of child welfare expenditures to other programs which enabled the county to obtain federal and state funding it was not entitled to receive including:

• $35.6 million for costs involving five county-run child-serving agencies
   
• $57.9 million for costs involving a contract with Magellan Public Solutions
   
• $42.8 million for costs involving the Hillcrest Training School and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center
   
• $60 million in child welfare administration and training costs
   

The draft audit identified a total of more than $1.7 billion in questioned costs. As a result of these findings, ODJFS requested that the Ohio Auditor of State's (OAS) office conduct a special audit to determine if HCDJFS had used funding as intended by the local, state, and federal funding sources. The OAS was also asked to determine if HCDJFS maintained proper documentation for expenditures.