A recent audit by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) has found that employees within Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) engaged in mismanagement and attempted to conceal their actions related to the Behavioral Health Administration’s (BHA) grant programs. The audit examined how approximately $200 million in annual grants were distributed to mental health and addiction service providers.
According to Auditor Judy Randall, there was evidence that DHS staff fabricated or backdated documents during the audit process. “Frankly, in the 27-plus years I’ve been with the OLA, I’ve never seen this before. I will say we’ve had suspicions periodically, but we’ve never been able to prove it, to document it, and we did in this case. And it’s very troubling,” Randall told members of Minnesota’s Legislative Audit Commission.
The findings revealed that BHA awarded grants without a competitive bidding process and did not provide explanations for selecting certain organizations. In one highlighted case, a company received $672,000 for a month’s work but could not produce documentation on how those funds were used. The BHA grant manager who approved this payment left her position shortly after and became a consultant for the same company.
During her presentation, Randall listed several concerns regarding BHA operations:
– Intentionally misleading the Auditor
– Falsification of records
– Backdating records
– Non-compliance
– Inappropriately accepting grant applications
She also shared a statement from a BHA staff member: “Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news.”
The report suggests these issues are not isolated incidents but reflect broader systemic problems within DHS over multiple administrations.
