Investigation Into Allegations of Wrongdoing by Cascade County Housing for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc.

GAO audited the Cascade County (Montana) Housing for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc. (CCHDD), because of alleged program abuses. Allegations included that CCHDD failed to meet its clients' basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, and medical care; falsified client data for Government records; mismanaged clients' funds; used improper and illegal training programs on clients; and hired unsuitable staff. CCHDD is a nonprofit corporation providing services to developmentally disabled persons. It provides teaching daily living skills to clients in a community group home setting, in a semi-independent living environment, and through day service programs. It also transports clients to various activities and day programs. The services are intended to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of the developmentally disabled. The program received State funds and Social Security Administration funds used to pay for clients' shelter, food, and clothing.

GAO found that the clients' basic needs were being met, client data had not been falsified for Government records, and training programs for clients were not improper or illegal. On the other hand, client funds had been misused and were not adequately accounted for, and applicants seeking employment were not investigated to screen out those who could pose a risk to the welfare and safety of the developmentally disabled clients. While some of the allegations made against CCHDD were valid, they involved incidents and conditions that existed more than a year ago. CCHDD owed clients varying amounts of money because some employees had misused clients' personal funds. Although CCHDD recognized this debt, it lacked the resources to repay it. Because the employees who misused the funds were not bonded, the clients may never be fully repaid. The group home staff used the clients' allowances to supplement the grocery funds. Inadequate accounting for these allowances prevented GAO from determining the correct balance for any individual client.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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