Audit Confirms Delays in Foster Care Payments
The agency that protects neglected and abused children in Los Angeles County delayed payments on behalf of 8,000 foster children in order to make its financial position appear better, the county’s auditors have concluded.
The finding by the county auditor-controller’s office Friday confirms a report in The Times that checks totaling $4.6 million were delayed for as long as three weeks last summer because the Department of Children and Family Services anticipated a budget deficit.
Future payment delays should be reported in advance to the Board of Supervisors, the auditor recommended.
Supervisors and others sharply criticized the agency for withholding the checks, saying that payments to foster parents should be delayed only in dire circumstances.
Children’s Services Director Peter Digre disagreed sharply with the auditor’s conclusion, saying that a computer error caused substantial overpayments and that the June check delays were needed to correct them.
Although more than 6,000 foster parents got their checks late, Digre said that only two of them said it caused a hardship.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday.
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