A report by State Auditor David Vaudt says some of Iowa’s juvenile detention homes have received an unfair share of state funding. Deputy Auditor Tami Kusian says the audit found some problems with the way the money was distributed.
“We believe the allocation results in an inequitable distribution of funds to the centers, it basically allows centers that are incurring the most expense to get the most funding — without regard to the amount of services that are actually being rendered by that center,” according to Kusian.
For example, one center that provided about 19% of juvenile detention services in 2008 and received 28 -percent of the state funding. Another center that provided 14% of the services only got seven percent of the money in the fund. Kusian says the department should adjust its rules to make sure reimbursement is more closely tied to services provided.
“I think human service will need to look at their rules, take look at the method will provide the most equitable distribution. We of the things that we suggest is having them look at funding it based on actual bed days rather than expenditures,” Kusian says. D-H-S Spokesman Roger Munns says the department has worked with the state to make rule changes to make sure only appropriate expenses are being submitted for reimbursement.
Those new regulations take effect July 1. Kusian says the agency deserves credit for making those changes — but she’d still like to see more done to address inequities in the distribution of payments raised in the audit report.