LRC Questions DHS Spending on Long-Term Care Information Service

A new report from the LRC’s Division of Fiscal and Program Analysis finds the Department of Hunan Services “Dakota at Home” program, which helps South Dakotans get information about long-term care options, performing suboptimally:

1. The Department of Human Services does not track or report costs specifically for the Dakota at Home program;
2. The Department of Human Services does not use Medicaid Administrative Federal Financial Participation (FFP) for Dakota at Home/ADRC, which provides a 50% federal match rate for eligible ADRC services and activities
3. The Department of Human Services is utilizing outdated policies and procedures and does not have a formalized training plan in place for Dakota at Home staff;
4. The Department of Human Services does not utilize surveys to gauge consumer satisfaction with Dakota at Home services; and
5. The Department of Human Services has limited access to the data collected by their Dakota at Home IT system [LRC, “Dakota at Home: Program Evaluation Report,” 2018.11.09, p. 1].

Insight Marketing Design of Sioux Falls got a nice contract in 2017, extended this year from $319,980 to $487,031, to rebrand and logoize the program. The new program name they came up with is certainly snappier than the original “Aging and Disability Resource Center.” IMD also came up with a snappy turtle logo. But DHS isn’t exactly squeezing their money’s worth out of this marketing contract:

Insight Marketing Design provides monthly reports to DHS regarding marketing activities and outreach. These reports have not been used by DHS to make any changes to the marketing approach. No additional tools have been implemented to gauge whether the marketing plan and outreach have been effective.

…While Dakota at Home has taken essential steps to provide a public outreach and marketing campaign that reaches the target audience, the assessment tools at their disposal have not been fully utilized to make potential changes to the marketing plan or materials. [LRC, 2018.11.09, pp. 13–14].

The program also appears to be lacking financial oversight:

Costs for Dakota at Home could not be estimated. Since the inception of Dakota at Home, DHS has not tracked personal services or operating expenses specifically for the program [LRC, 2018.11.09, p. 18].

A majority of the money that can be accounted for flowing into the program came from—you guessed it—federal funds.

DHS Secretary Gloria Pearson rejects the recommendation that DHS track the Dakota at Home money more clearly:

Expenditures are not tracked specifically to Dakota at Home because it is funded by many funding sources which must be tracked and reported individually in accordance with the Department of Human Services cost allocation plan. Dakota at Home is the brand name for the process by which the department provides a single point of contact to make it easier for people wanting information and/or referral to any of the department’s disability programs and services. Costs are divided among the various funding sources by cost allocation of staff time. The DHS disagrees with the recommendation to create a budget center specifically for Dakota at Home [Secretary Gloria Pearson, Department of Human Services, memo to Legislative Executive Board, attached to LRC report, 2018.11.02].

Maybe before she works on her plan to turn Hot Springs into a vacation mecca for veterans, Governor-Elect Noem should read this report and make sure the Department of Human Services is properly taking care of folks who can’t get out for a nice vacation.