Review of the Kansas City Health Department's Administration of the Kansas City Eligible Metropolitan Area Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act Grant Award From the Health Resources and Services Administration During the Three Fisca...

The objective of this review was to determine whether Ryan White Title I funds awarded to the Kansas City Health Department (KCHD) for fiscal years (FY) 1998, 1999, and 2000 were administered in accordance with federal guidelines. During calendar year 2001, the KCHD encountered many significant issues, including a restriction of its ability to draw funds by the HRSA and a task force organized by the Mayor of Kansas City to rectify Ryan White Title I administration concerns. The KCHD did not perform required programmatic reviews on certain service categories. As a result, the Kansas City EMA may not have been able to assess the quality of care administered by the contractors to the Ryan White beneficiaries, including such critical categories as primary and dental care. Also, the KCHD provided inaccurate information on annual applications to HSRA, which may have resulted in an unfair advantage for the KCHD when competing with other EMAs for funding. In addition, KCHD did not always follow certain technical requirements in the operation of the program. Specifically, we found one instance where the KCHD had: (1) allocated and prioritized funding, which is a function required of the Planning Council and (2) charged administrative costs inappropriately to program cost categories.