Audit of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (June 23, 2023)

This is a state performance audit of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities and their families.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC) for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.”

Auditors checked whether MDDC had the required long-term plan, monitored its goals, provided access for people with limited English proficiency, handled COVID-related internal controls, and ensured certain staff completed cybersecurity training.

“In this performance audit, we examined whether MDDC developed a five-year state plan in accordance with Executive Order 512c and whether MDDC reviewed and monitored the state plan’s goals and activities.”

MDDC uses public grant funding to help people with developmental disabilities access training, advocacy, leadership, community inclusion, and employment supports, so the public needs to know whether it is managing those responsibilities properly.

“Under Subtitle B of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, MDDC is responsible for developing a five-year state plan that outlines its goals and planned activities (e.g., trainings and meetings).”

If you or someone in your family has a developmental disability, this audit says MDDC had systems in place to plan and monitor programs meant to build advocacy, leadership, inclusion, and employment skills.

“MDDC, in an effort to accomplish its goals, contracts with external organizations to set up and provide trainings for individuals with disabilities and their families.”

The auditors answered “Yes” to every audit question and did not report any significant problems.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

The report does not list corrective actions or recommendations because the audit did not find significant reportable noncompliance.

“Conclusion”

The key significance is that the audited programs met the requirements reviewed, including the state plan, goal monitoring, limited-English access, COVID internal controls, and cybersecurity training for staff handling COVID funds.

“Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance that must be reported under generally accepted government auditing standards.”

A “performance audit” means auditors checked whether an agency carried out specific duties and followed required rules, rather than only checking financial statements.

“We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.”