The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion of the fiscal operations of the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration attached to the Department of Labor and Human Resources. A qualified opinion is issued when the noncompliance, individually or in the aggregate, is significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the auditors found no evidence that health professionals had certified that the equipment acquired by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration met the specifications. These professionals recommend assistive technology equipment such as wheelchairs, motorized equipment or hearing aids, which beneficiaries need to obtain or retain a job. Before delivering the equipment, it must also be verified by the assistant receiver and the rehabilitation counselor. From July 1, 2019 to June 8, 2022, 1,801 authorizations for rehabilitation services were issued for $2,533,001.
The two-finding audit notes that, in the Purchase Registry, the spaces corresponding to the buyer's information, description, or the date and number of the order were not filled in. In addition, the purchasing agents did not follow a uniform format to record the order date. These deficiencies did not allow Vocational Rehabilitation to have up-to-date and reliable accounting information for decision-making.
On the other hand, the lack of documents related to the payment of maintenance, transportation and lodging of the beneficiaries made it impossible to verify the accuracy of the disbursements. Normative Communication 2023-7 regulates the payment processes, in accordance with the Plan established by the vocational rehabilitation counselors to prepare the beneficiaries to be economically independent. Of the files examined, 93% did not have the Follow-up Sheet, 20% did not have the lodging lease contract, and signatures were missing in the disbursement documents. From January 14, 2019 to December 28, 2022, 148,524 checks were issued for $16,662.019.
The management of the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration accepted these findings and commented on the corrective actions.
Vocational Rehabilitation's budget comes from federal funds, state funds, special allocations, its own revenues generated by the Industry for the Blind Program, and other revenues. From 2020 to 2023, it received allocations of $270,126,780, and made disbursements of $207,113,312, for a net balance of $63,013,468.
The Report recommends that the Secretary of Labor ensure that the administrator of the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration complies with the recommendations of the Audit Report. This report OC-24-46 covers the period from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023, and is available at www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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