NEW CITY – The Rockland County Department
of Social Services did not follow its own procurement policy and seek
competition for some contracted services, an audit by the state comptroller’s
office found.
The study for the period of January 1, 2013 through August 12, 2014 also
found that service providers did not always submit performance and financial
reports and records and department officials did not always verify the
information in the performance and financial reports.
The comptroller’s recommendations included requiring that service
providers submit all performance and financial reports with supporting
documentation of actual costs, as stipulated in their contracts, and do
not process payments until required reports are received.
It also said the county should implement procedures to verify that service
providers are meeting contractual performance targets and establish penalties
if contractual agreements are not met, and that the county should use
a competitive process when procuring professional services.
County Executive Edwin Day wrote the comptroller’s office that the
county is using “this experience as a ‘call to change’
to identify opportunities to make our evaluation of services provided
by contact agencies more efficient and to ensure the proper use of public
funds.”
