Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (281 kb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Federal regulations require states to pursue Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) overpayments made prior to October 1, 1996, and make appropriate refunds to the Federal Government.  This follow-up report points out that the State agency refunded to the Federal Government the estimated Federal share of AFDC overpayments totaling $33.6 million recovered by the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) during the period December 1, 1996, through September 30, 2001, as recommended in our prior report (A-02-01-02000).  However, the State agency did not implement our recommendation to take appropriate steps to refund the Federal share of AFDC overpayments recoveries collected by HRA subsequent to September 30, 2001.  As a result, the State agency did not refund the estimated Federal share of AFDC overpayments totaling $896,711 recovered by HRA during the period October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2006.  State agency officials concurred with our recommendation that the State refund the $896,711 to the Federal Government but objected to our second recommendation that the State agency ensure that AFDC overpayment recoveries collected after September 30, 2006, are refunded to the Federal Government in a timely manner.