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Audit faults child
By Leila Fujimori
support agency
Star-BulletinIf you send a document to the Child Support Enforcement Agency, it may take seven weeks for it to reach the intended person. If you try calling, there's a one in six chance you'll reach a representative.
That's what the state auditor reported after a follow-up management audit on the agency that collects support payments from noncustodial parents and disburses the money.
The audit also found the agency failed to address financial management problems, not implementing the recommendations of a previous audit.
But the attorney general and the agency's administrator don't agree.
"The report takes a narrow view and focuses on numerous, relatively minor operational problems," said Attorney General Earl Anzai, whose department oversees the agency.
"In the big picture, the CSEA staff is collecting and disbursing more money to children and families, and servicing more clients, with essentially the same number of workers," he added.
Michael Meaney, CSEA administrator, said his agency has hired a new chief financial officer to develop a program to reconcile all accounts.
Meaney said CSEA has already revised practices and procedures to safeguard assets, including installing safe storage for cash and checks awaiting transfer and spot checks of transactions by supervisors.
The auditor's report said the agency failed to maintain its automated systems. Erroneous data stored in computer records led to the new computer system generating duplicate records or mistakenly starting or suspending activities, which frustrated clients.
CSEA's administrator said it is developing a solution to return unidentified payments in less than 90 days until multiple identification numbers have been eliminated, and correct data errors that cause unidentified payment reports.
Meaney said the auditor's comments demoralize the hardworking staff by "painting a picture that ignores the agency's responses."
