Perhaps Dennis Gallagher’s last hurrah as Denver’s three-term auditor will be his efforts to push legislation to make it easier to audit the city’s human services department.
Gallagher has been a vocal supporter of House Bill 1370, which would allow county auditors access to human services records.
That hasn’t been the case in .
Twice as auditor Gallagher has tried to conduct performance audits of Denver Human Services. Both times he was rebuffed, with the agency refusing to disclose documents.
The first time was for a 2009 audit of the agency’s child support enforcement. The last was in 2013 when Gallagher’s team tried to audit more specific functions — the distribution of gift cards to the needy, the efficiency of the call center, and customer service effectiveness.
It is galling the agency wouldn’t provide simple information to help auditors determine even whether the gift card program was being responsibly implemented.
In 2012, $166,000 in gift cards, paid for by taxpayers, were doled out. Questions about how they were used could not be scrutinized because human services officials said they were prohibited by law from releasing the confidential information.
The law should allow such audits and that is what HB 1370 would do.
The auditor serves an important function — to independently examine the city’s agencies and programs with a goal of improving them.
Denver Human Services also has an important job — protecting at-risk populations and our society’s most vulnerable citizens.
The agency has had a myriad of high-profile problems. Children under caseworkers’ watch have died or have been horrifically maltreated. In one case, a caseworker was arrested on charges that she falsified records about a 2-month-old child who was later beaten to death.
The state’s child ombudsman looked closely at the agency’s work and the state Department of Human Services also has conducted an evaluation and review of Denver’s case management.
The county’s auditor should also be allowed to review the agency’s performance. Yet the agency has claimed that it is prevented by state and federal confidentiality laws from disclosing information in reports and records about child abuse and neglect.
However, the information is available for state and federal audits, just not counties.
In 2013, by the lack of cooperation with what turned out to be his failed audit that he threatened to sue the agency.
Legislation is a far better solution.
HB 1370, sponsored by Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, has glided through the statehouse — so far — and could face final votes by Monday.
The bill prohibits a county auditor from disclosing any information, including personal identification, that is required to be kept confidential. And the state’s fiscal note observes that “since January 2012 there have been no reported filings for the unclassified misdemeanor offense related to the unauthorized release of confidential or personal” information from county documents.
There is no reason to believe county auditors would be any less careful regarding confidential information as they audit the agencies that serve our most vulnerable citizens.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit or check out our for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
