Legislative auditor and DHS outline gaps and proposals to curb waste, fraud and abuse in human services

Saint Paul — The Minnesota House Committee on Human Services heard a series of audits and briefings on Jan. 22 that described widespread weaknesses in how state human‑services dollars are awarded, monitored and recovered, and that proposed a mix of policy, technology and staffing changes to strengthen program integrity.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor told the committee that state grantmaking and oversight show persistent gaps, the Minnesota Board on Aging lacks required monitoring of the senior nutrition program, and the Department of Human Services has not actively collected tens of millions in Medicaid provider overpayments. Department leaders described current enforcement work and a governor-backed anti‑fraud package that would expand data sharing, add surveillance tools and strengthen authority to withhold payments.

The audits matter because the state spends large sums through grants and fee‑for‑service programs, and failures in controls can reduce services to people the programs are intended to help, auditors said.

Miss Randall, a presenter from the Office of the Legislative Auditor, told the committee the OLA focused on three areas: grants management, oversight of grantees, and recovery of overpayments. “We focus a lot on internal controls, which I really think are the — it’s just the foundation,” she said, noting the work spans awarding through closeout.

Jody Munson Rodriguez, Deputy Legislative Auditor for the program evaluation division, summarized findings from a 2023 report on front-end grant award processes. She said reviewers’ conflict‑of‑interest forms were missing or incomplete in several instances and that required pre‑award financial reviews were not documented for many grants. “At the time…