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Audit finds gaps in MOHS HOPWA controls; director says new QC and reconciliation steps are in place
Summary
A performance audit of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services found inconsistent eligibility files, weak independent quality control and late federal reports for HOPWA grants; MOHS said it has implemented independent program compliance reviews, increased sampling, and monthly reconciliations to HUD’s IDIS.
The Board of Estimates received a performance audit of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services (MOHS) on March 4 that focused on the HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS) program. City Auditor Josh Pash said testing found incomplete enrollment and re‑certification files, lack of independent quality control over eligibility reviews, late federal financial reports, and reconciliation gaps between the city general ledger (Workday) and HUD’s IDIS billing system.
Auditors sampled initial enrollments and recertifications and found missing tenant rent recalculations and absent evidence of program‑manager approvals in a substantial share of files. The audit recommended written procedures to require independent QC reviews, consistent documentation of rent calculations, and quarterly reconciliation processes tying Workday to HUD billing before submission of federal financial reports.
MOHS Director Ernestina Simmons told the board her office has already implemented several of the recommended changes. She said MOHS established an independent program compliance team in late 2025 to perform separate quality control reviews, increased monitoring sample sizes (from the prior 10% to 30% in some monitors), launched updated internal workflow approvals, and instituted a monthly reconciliation process between Workday and HUD’s IDIS to close previously outstanding FFRs. Simmons also noted the program’s complexity — HOPWA grants run on multi‑year performance cycles and serve clients across multiple jurisdictions — and said MOHS does not currently have any open HUD findings for the items cited.
Auditors recommended formalizing the updated policies in the MOHS grant administration compliance and fiscal manual and maintaining pre‑closeout reconciliation checklists to avoid underspent grant draws. MOHS said it will continue collaboration with the auditors and the Department of Finance and expects the revised reconciliation workflows and checklists to reduce future findings and ensure timely federal reporting.
