Pakachoag Acres Day Care Center, Inc.

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor performance audit of Pakachoag Acres Day Care Center, a nonprofit daycare in Auburn, for July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.

“I am pleased to provide this performance audit of Pakachoag Acres Day Care Center, Inc.”

The audit looked at whether the daycare’s board was properly set up and carrying out oversight duties required by rules, contracts, and guidance.

“The purpose of this audit was to assess whether PADCC’s board of directors was constituted, and performed various oversight functions, in a manner consistent with applicable regulations, contractual terms and conditions, and other guidance.”

The daycare received most of its 2014 revenue from state contracts, so taxpayers have an interest in whether its board is overseeing public money properly.

“PADCC’s total revenue for fiscal year 2014 was $3,469,042, of which $3,161,719 was from state contracts, primarily with the Department of Early Education and Care.”

If you are a taxpayer, parent, or community member, the audit gives some assurance that this state-funded daycare’s board oversight passed the specific checks the Auditor performed.

“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.”

For the topics the audit covered, the Auditor did not find significant deficiencies needing attention from the board or state oversight agencies.

“For the areas reviewed that were related to our audit objectives, we did not identify any significant deficiencies warranting attention by those responsible for governance and state oversight agencies.”

The report does not list corrective actions; it says the Auditor discussed the report with management and considered their comments before issuing it.

“My audit staff discussed the contents of this report with management of the organization, whose comments we considered in drafting this report.”

This audit was part of a broader state effort to monitor human-service contracts and promote accountability, transparency, and cost effectiveness.

“This audit was conducted as part of OSA’s ongoing efforts to audit human-service contract activity by state agencies and to promote accountability, transparency, and cost effectiveness in state contracting.”

The report’s references to board oversight mean checking things like board makeup, executive review and pay votes, fringe benefits, bonuses, and compliance with state contract rules.

“We determined that internal controls over the following areas were relevant to our audit objectives:”