Legislators hear audit: Idaho Vocational Rehabilitation given federal 'high‑risk' designation; $10M reallocation, $2.4M consultant contract scrutinized

At a Feb. 24 Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee hearing legislative auditors and agency leaders described a fiscal and compliance crisis at the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR) that prompted a federal “high-risk” designation, additional federal oversight and a large consultant contract to correct reporting and control weaknesses.

April Renfro, an auditor with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the audits division issued an accountability report on Jan. 13, 2025, finding that “the division did not establish procedures and control activities to ensure compliance with appropriation laws applicable to fiscal year 2024.” Renfro said the finding covered inadequate processes to monitor costs committed in individual plans for employment, failures in federal financial reporting, and weaknesses in accounting and obligations tracking.

Renfro described a complex federal grant environment for the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) vocational-rehabilitation grants: the grants operate on federal fiscal years, obligations may span multiple state fiscal years, and IDVR’s case-management system did not communicate with the state fiscal system, complicating period-of-performance accounting. The auditors reported the division failed to timely bill and had a backlog of invoices at the close of FY2024.

Renfro said RSA designated the division as a high‑risk grantee in a May letter, citing…