Forensic audit, federal scrutiny and $10 million reallocation mark crisis at Idaho Vocational Rehabilitation

Brooke Dupree, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Feb. 24 about financial problems and federal scrutiny at the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR). Dupree said the division received a $10 million reallocated federal award and that spending the award requires state matching dollars.

Dupree described a pattern of rising trustee-and-benefit payments, an increase in clients served, and a growing backlog of commitments and invoices that complicated year-end reporting. “The money came from the Rehabilitation Services Administration… when it's getting close to the end of the federal fiscal year, they look at all the grants that they've given to states and they see who isn't going to spend their full grant and that money comes back and gets re‑allotted to states that they do expect to be able to spend that grant,” Dupree said of the $10 million non‑cognizable adjustment the governor recognized in September.

April Renfro of the Legislative Services Office audits division updated the committee on a fiscal monitoring review and an accountability report issued Jan. 13, 2025. Renfro said auditors found the division “did not establish procedures and control activities to ensure compliance with appropriation laws applicable to fiscal year 2024” and described failures in…