Part 3/11:
The audit criticizes the department for responding to the spending surge by "reducing barriers", contracting with numerous organizations lacking adequate experience in government contracting. This approach, meant to foster flexibility, inadvertently created a Pandora’s box of oversight challenges.
The department employed a hybrid payment model, basing payments on monthly budgets, which resulted in millions of dollars floating back and forth with little regard for proper documentation or verification. For instance, one grantee received $80,000 more than they had spent on youth services before payments were paused—raising questions about the integrity of the financial controls.
Auditors identified numerous instances where funds were mishandled: