Review of Georgia's Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Costs

Our review found that Georgia claimed $23.8 million ($14.7 million Federal share) in unallowable adoption assistance payments for 1,026 children in fiscal years (FY) 2006 through 2008. We estimated that unallowable payments for the 1,026 children for FYs 2009 and 2010 totaled $10.4 million ($7.4 million Federal share). We also estimated that the savings associated with no longer claiming payments for these children in FY 2011 would be $4.3 million ($2.8 million Federal share). In addition, we set aside for Administration for Children and Families (ACF) resolution payments totaling about $96,000 ($59,000 Federal share) for six children for FYs 2006 through 2008 because of conflicting ACF guidance on the timing of judicial determinations that remaining in the home would be contrary to the children's welfare. The adoption assistance program provides Federal funds to States to facilitate the timely placement of children whose special needs or circumstances would otherwise make them difficult to place with adoptive families.

These unallowable payments occurred because the State misinterpreted record retention requirements, did not always follow Federal requirements for determining adoption assistance eligibility, did not have an adequate process for stopping payments after a child reached the age of 18, and did not have adequate controls to prevent duplicate payments.

We recommended that the State (1) make a financial adjustment of $23.8 million ($14.7 million Federal share) on its next quarterly expenditure report for the unallowable payments we identified for periods before FY 2009; (2) review adoption assistance payments claimed for FYs 2009 and 2010 for the ineligible children we identified and make a financial adjustment estimated at $10.4 million ($7.4 million Federal share) on its next quarterly expenditure report; (3) ensure compliance with Federal eligibility requirements, thus saving an estimated $4.3 million ($2.8 million Federal share) for FY 2011; and (4) work with ACF to resolve payments for six children affected by conflicting ACF guidance. The State partially agreed with our recommendations.