Audit of the Department of Housing and Community Development
August 28, 2019 · Department of Housing and Community Development · Read the full official report on mass.gov ↗
Published August 28, 2019 Audit covers July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2018 Under Suzanne M. Bump · 2011–2023
source
“Our audit identified several significant deficiencies in DHCD’s administration of its EA program.”
Read the plain-English breakdown
This is a Massachusetts State Auditor performance audit of the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Emergency Housing Assistance program for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.
“This report details the audit objectives, scope, methodology, findings, and recommendations for the audit period, July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.”
The auditor reviewed whether DHCD was properly running the Emergency Housing Assistance program.
“Does DHCD properly administer its Emergency Housing Assistance (EA) program?”
The program serves families and pregnant women who are homeless, so weak oversight can affect people who need safe temporary housing and help finding permanent housing.
“The Commonwealth established the EA program to shelter families and pregnant women who are homeless and to help them find stable, permanent housing.”
The auditor concluded DHCD did not properly administer the program in the areas reviewed.
“Our audit identified several problems with how DHCD monitors the conditions of its EA program shelters.”
The report recommends stronger policies, better tracking, more consistent inspections, and clearer monitoring of contractor work; DHCD said it was taking steps to address some concerns.
“Based on its response, DHCD is taking measures to address our concerns in this area.”
The biggest concern is that vulnerable families may not have been consistently protected from avoidable risks or consistently helped toward permanent housing because oversight was incomplete.
“Without effectively monitoring these shelters, DHCD cannot ensure that pregnant women and families in the EA program consistently live in safe and sanitary conditions.”
DHCD is the housing agency; EA means Emergency Housing Assistance; SORB is the Sex Offender Registry Board; HomeBASE is an alternative program that can help families get into apartments instead of shelters.
“The pregnant woman or family is offered a choice of either accommodation in a shelter or placement in a DHCD household assistance program, HomeBASE.”
What the Auditor checked
- Did not comply Does DHCD properly administer its Emergency Housing Assistance (EA) program?
What the Auditor found
Why it matters: Pregnant women and families may not know to take steps to protect family members, and shelter residents may face unnecessary risks.
Standard: DHCD Field Operations Memo 2006-9B and Section 178F of Chapter 6 of the Massachusetts General Laws ( Section 178F of Chapter 6 of the Massachusetts General Laws; DHCD Field Operations Memo 2006-9B )
2 recommendations
- DHCD should notify shelters when an individual in the EA program is a registered sex offender so that the shelters can notify pregnant women and families in the EA program at the same address.agency: disagreed
- DHCD should adopt a policy that requires it to annually, at a minimum, compare the addresses of the shelters to those of registered sex offenders listed with SORB.agency: partially agreed
Agency response & Auditor reply
Agency: "DHCD respectfully disagrees with the blanket conclusion that the EA program is not properly administered."
Auditor: "Our audit identified several significant deficiencies in DHCD’s administration of its EA program."
Why it matters: DHCD could not ensure that pregnant women and families consistently lived in safe and sanitary shelter conditions.
Standard: The contract between DHCD and the shelter contractors and DHCD’s practice of visiting each shelter at least once every three years ( Contract between DHCD and the shelter contractors )
4 recommendations
- DHCD should establish written policies and procedures that require a periodic (at least triennial) inspection of EA program shelters.agency: agreed
- DHCD should establish a process to collect, analyze, and store shelter inspection information in a central database and use this information to manage this process better.agency: agreed
- DHCD should establish a policy that requires supervisors to review and sign off on all inspection reports and submit them to DHCD to be entered in this central database before they are delivered to shelter contractors.agency: agreed
- DHCD should take the measures necessary to make this process as efficient as possible and then determine whether more staff resources are necessary to perform the inspections within the prescribed timeline.agency: partially agreed
Agency response & Auditor reply
Agency: "DHCD agrees that it is important to make its inspection process as efficient as possible."
Auditor: "Our audit identified several problems with how DHCD monitors the conditions of its EA program shelters."
Why it matters: Pregnant women and families may not receive critical contracted services, including case management services needed to obtain permanent and sustainable housing in a timely manner.
Standard: The contract between DHCD and the shelter contractors requires periodic onsite evaluations, including evaluation of contractually required case management services. ( Contract between DHCD and the shelter contractors )
2 recommendations
- DHCD should establish written policies and procedures that assign a person to coordinate and monitor the work of contract specialists in evaluating the contracted services performed by shelter contractor caseworkers.agency: partially agreed
- There should be a standard evaluation report that all contract specialists use in evaluating shelter contractor services.agency: already implemented
Agency response & Auditor reply
Agency: "The standardized program evaluation has been put in place and is in use by all Contract Specialists and will be signed by the Director of Contracts and Compliance."
Auditor: "As noted above, the contract between DHCD and its EA shelter contractors states that DHCD will monitor contract compliance periodically through scheduled onsite evaluations, including an evaluation of whether the contractually required case management services are performed."