Review of Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Payments in Florida for the Period October 1, 2004, Through September 30, 2007

We estimated that for the period October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2007, Florida claimed 35,323 unallowable adoption assistance payments totaling $4.4 million (Federal share). We found that 18 of the 200 payments in our sample were unallowable because State records did not demonstrate that the payments met Federal reimbursement requirements.

We recommended that the State refund $4.4 million to the Federal Government, review payments claimed after the audit period on behalf of the 18 children identified in our review to ensure compliance with Federal requirements and repay any unallowable amounts, and use the results of this audit in staff education and quality assurance reviews to ensure compliance with Federal requirements in the future. In its comments on our draft report, the State did not specifically address our first recommendation; however, it provided information on steps that it planned to take to implement our second and third recommendations.