State audit faults two county departments

Two Snohomish County departments were deemed to be deficient in a state audit done for 2002, according to documents released Friday.

The Juvenile Services Department did not comply with time and effort requirements to support payroll costs charged to a block grant, the audit says.

And controls at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center were inadequate to ensure accuracy of reporting of juveniles participating in the national school lunch program, it adds.

The audit goes on to say that the county has addressed and rectified the problems, which had to do with a lack of documentation rather than any other type of abuse.

Regarding the $172,040 spent on the block grant, the audit says documentation showed only that employees were paid based on a percentage of the budget rather than actual time spent on activities related to the grant.

At Denney, the audit says center management was unaware of the monitoring requirements of the $114,105 grant. Meal counts were inaccurate, and all those participating may not have been eligible. So the center may not have been reimbursed adequately.

In both cases, measures have been taken to make sure documentation is more accurate, the audit says.