An internal audit at the Minnesota Department of Human Services has found several violations of laws designed to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the branch responsible for a recent series of improper payments.
The agency's behavioral health division, which was responsible for $29 million in overpayments to two Indian bands and $70 million in improper payments to chemical dependency providers, skirted state laws on contracting and conflicts of interest, according to the report, which was released Tuesday.
None of the violations involved multimillion dollar payment errors, but most revealed failures to follow rules designed to prevent bigger problems from happening. The audit was conducted in response to several complaints lodged internally. Agency auditors substantiated five of the nine alleged violations.
"We want people to see that we are listening and we are taking action," Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said in an interview Tuesday. "I am grateful to anyone who came forward to report things."
State Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, chairwoman of the health and human services finance and policy committee, said the report pointed to the need for a broader, "organizational transformation" at the DHS, which she said could take years.
"This is like the tennis shoe-buying stage of running a marathon," Benson said of the report. "It's going to take a long time, and it will take dedication, to make sure things are put in the right order."
The audit appeared to substantiate some concerns raised by an internal whistleblower about the division prior to the investigation.
Last July, Faye K. Bernstein, an attorney and lead contract specialist at the DHS, alleged she was retaliated against and eventually prevented from doing her job after she raised alarms about contracting practices. A short time later, she was escorted out of the central DHS office in St. Paul after she wrote an e-mail encouraging division employees to speak out about problems. Bernstein was allowed to return to the building but she alleged that she was sidelined to the point where she was no longer able to do her job.