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Audit of States' Administration of SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Funding

Announced on  | Last Modified on  | Project Number: A-09-21-01001
Status
Completed
Agency
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

OBJECTIVE

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) program is the largest Federal program dedicated to improving publicly funded substance abuse prevention and treatment systems. The program provides funds to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories to prevent and treat substance abuse. Federal requirements for the SABG program state that fiscal control and accounting procedures must permit the tracing of funds to a level of expenditure adequate to establish that such funds were not used in violation of block-grant restrictions and statutory prohibitions (45 CFR § 96.30). We will determine whether the States' SABG expenditures for subrecipients, including expenditures for contracted transitional housing providers, complied with Federal and State requirements.

TIMELINE

  • June 28, 2021
    Announced
  • November 17, 2023
    Complete

    Audit of States' Administration of SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Funding has been marked as complete. This audit resulted in 5 recommendations.

REPORT PUBLISHED

Some of California's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Expenditures for Los Angeles County Did Not Comply With Federal and State Requirements (A-09-21-01001)

Some of California's SABG expenditures for LA County, including expenditures for transitional housing providers, did not comply with Federal and State requirements. Specifically, LA County submitted for reimbursement approximately $1.7 million in expenditures for transitional housing services that had been previously reimbursed. In addition, LA County providers submitted for reimbursement unallowable claims for transitional housing and treatment services. Finally, an LA County provider submitted for reimbursement invoices that included certain unallowable expenditures for prevention activities.

In addition, LA County may not have properly allocated certain SABG expenditures. Specifically, we identified a weakness in LA County's procedures that allocated all costs of the county's well-being centers to the SABG when they may not have been directly related to substance use disorders.

24-A-09-016.01 to SAMHSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/16/2026
We recommend that the California Department of Health Care Services recover from Los Angeles County $1,681,964 for transitional housing expenditures when closing out the SABG award for our audit period and establish a process to review whether counties, including LA County, were reimbursed for expenditures that had been previously reimbursed.

24-A-09-016.02 to SAMHSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/16/2026
We recommend that the California Department of Health Care Services instruct Los Angeles County to develop a cost allocation plan for its well-being centers, determine the portion of the $1,820,224 that should not have been allocated to the SABG, and recover any overpayment.

24-A-09-016.03 to SAMHSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/16/2026
We also recommend that the California Department of Health Care Services work with Los Angeles County to develop a process to ensure that LA County's claims processing system does not pay transitional housing claims after an individual has been discharged from outpatient treatment.

24-A-09-016.04 to SAMHSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/16/2026
We also recommend that the California Department of Health Care Services provide clear guidance to providers on claiming and documenting treatment services.

24-A-09-016.05 to SAMHSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/16/2026
We also recommend that the California Department of Health Care Services develop procedures for LA County's monitoring activities to identify whether providers are submitting invoices for reimbursement based on actual costs incurred.

View in Recommendation Tracker
Work Plan Type
Office of Audit Services
HHS Agencies
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Issue Areas
Financial Stewardship Mental Health
Target Groups
-
Financial Groups
-