Davis Mental Health and Substance Abuse Center has shored up deficient administrative practices that contributed earlier to the misuse of $80,000 in public funds, uncovered in a 1997 legislative audit.
The center has made "substantial progress" in implementing recommended controls and policies, according to an update released Wednesday by Utah Legislative Auditor General Wayne L. Welsh. They included better bookkeeping, improved control of finances, credit cards and equipment and increased oversight of the center's operations.Such quasi-public centers receive the majority of their funding from the state and federal governments through contracts with counties.
The audit revealed that the center's former executive director Russell A.
Williams was earning $29,000 more a year than peers at similar-size mental health centers. Auditors also discovered Williams received $30,000 in bonuses over three years and accused him of overstating travel expenses on a trip to Latvia by nearly $7,000.
Since 1993, he reportedly charged the center for more than $6,000 in travel expenses for his wife. Williams resigned December 1997 after the Davis Board of Trustees launched disciplinary proceedings.
After a national search, a new director has been appointed.
Most members of the Davis Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board of Trustees who were responsible for oversight during the initial audit have left as their terms expired. The board of trustees has since been increased from nine to 11 members.
In a letter to auditors, the board pledged its "collective resolve to complete the implementation of all recommendations contained in the audit report."
The issue was addressed by the 1999 Legislature, which passed HB102. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Nora Stephens, R-Sunset, provided $117,000 to the Department of Human Services to hire two auditors who will monitor mental health and substance abuse contracts. The bill spells out oversight responsibilities.
The legislation also clarifies the definition of "public funds."
"One of the things we learned going through the Davis County audit was, there was a question in a lot of people's minds what public funds meant," said Robin Arnold-Williams, executive director of the Department of Human Services.
As the Department of Human Services contracted with counties for services and they in turn contracted out the services to private entitites, it was unclear in some people's minds whose money was being spent.
"It's always been clear in my mind that once a public dollar always a public dollar, but it was not clear in the statute," Arnold-Williams said.
Nearly half of the Department of Human Services budget -- about $291 million -- is spent on contracts with local providers. The department spends about $52 million a year on mental health and substance abuse contracts alone.
"I have no tolerance for misuse of public funds. Public funds are too scarce and the needs are too great for us to have the potential that those funds be used for personal gain or any other inappropriate use," Arnold-Williams said.
The state department requested and received repayment of $68,700 from Davis County for questionable expenditures for recreational opportunities and funds spent in support of the former center director and his family. Williams has repaid the county for some airfare and other overpayment, according to the report.