Turn up the temp: The auditor general finds more flaws in heating aid
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For the second time, the office of state Auditor General Jack Wagner has taken a hard look at the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps needy Pennsylvanians stay warm during cold-weather months, and found oversight by the Department of Public Welfare to be lacking.
That's a shame because more than 400,000 Pennsylvania households rely on heating assistance each year, and the $257 million program's annual funding is always under threat of cuts.
A 2007 report had identified assorted waste, abuse and potential fraud in LIHEAP, but a subsequent performance audit covering the period of July 1, 2006, through June 29, 2011, found many of the same problems.
Among the latest findings were the awarding of benefits to ineligible applicants -- people who were dead, imprisoned or who had applied twice using two different Social Security numbers and were approved twice. In some cases, the errors weren't even a near-miss; a person who died in 1999 was OK'd for $1,000 in benefits 11 years later.
The new report faulted DPW, under former Gov. Ed Rendell, for wasting $800,000 in LIHEAP funds on contracts with private companies for work that could have been done by state workers. Auditors said a $203,500 no-bid contract went to a Philadelphia law firm to monitor county assistance offices through on-site visits, but that its work was not properly documented, visits were seldom made and the firm's billings were potentially excessive.
Fewer than six months of the 60-month auditing period fell under Gov. Tom Corbett's administration, yet the auditor general believes DPW is "mounting a campaign of denial" instead of fixing the problems.
DPW issued a statement Aug. 10 saying that Secretary Gary Alexander, who has been in office for only about half a year, doesn't agree with all of the findings, but that the agency "is looking into the report and is continuing to find ways to stop fraud as well as ensure the LIHEAP program serves the citizens it is intended to help."
We can only hope.
Home heating assistance is necessary for too many Pennsylvanians, and the program can't afford to squander precious dollars due to poor oversight. LIHEAP won't help those in need if waste continues on phony applicants and unnecessary contractors.
First Published August 17, 2011 12:00 am
