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DHS behavioral health office says it has closed most audit recommendations, flags staffing and system limits
Summary
Department of Human Services officials told a legislative committee they have implemented processes to improve grant and contract oversight in the new Behavioral Health Administration but acknowledged remaining gaps in staffing, data systems and mandatory training.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services told the Legislature’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee on March 17 that its newly formed Behavioral Health Administration has implemented many of the Office of the Legislative Auditor’s recommendations and is continuing to strengthen grant and contract controls.
Assistant Commissioner Teresa Steinmetz and Temporary Commissioner Shereen Gandhi said the administration has reorganized leadership, hired a contracts and compliance unit manager, launched staff training and implemented quality-control steps in the department’s contract integration system.
Those process changes followed audits the department cited to the committee. Steinmetz said 26 of 32 recommendations from OLA reports dating to 2019 and 2021 had been closed as of February 2025, and the six remaining items from a March 2021 audit were in the final stages of remediation. "We've put some kind of safeguards in place to make sure that things get uploaded," Steinmetz said, describing new upload requirements and standardized templates for requests for proposals…
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