An Audit Report on the Workforce Commission's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Choices Program
October 2007
Report Number 08-002
Overall Conclusion
The Workforce Commission (Commission) adequately monitors its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Choices program at the 28 local workforce development boards to identify noncompliance with program requirements. However, the Commission should improve its efforts to identify and correct the causes of noncompliance. These efforts should include sanctioning local workforce development boards for repeated noncompliance with Choices program requirements.
During on-site visits to six local workforce development boards, auditors identified several recurring Choices program noncompliance issues related to case management. Those issues were similar to noncompliance issues routinely cited in the Commission's monitoring reports. For example, one issue the Commission frequently cites when it monitors local workforce development boards is the entry of inaccurate or unsupported hours of Choices client participation into The Workforce Information System of Texas (TWIST). Auditors determined that local workforce development boards made data entry errors in the number of hours of client participation for 34 percent of case files tested. Entering these hours correctly is critical because this data affects a federal performance measure that drives federal TANF funding.
Improving its oversight of how local workforce development boards use Choices program funds also would enable the Commission to (1) better distinguish administrative expenditures from direct client service expenditures to ensure compliance with state and federal requirements and (2) provide more meaningful technical assistance to local workforce development boards that are not meeting performance expectations. This is especially important given the long-term decrease in the Choices program caseload and the fact that local workforce development boards are spending significantly more dollars per client served.
With the increase in available funds per client, the Commission has an opportunity to work with the local workforce development boards to provide additional services and potentially improve the employment outcomes for Choices program clients. Average wages for Choices program clients who enter employment are still below the federal poverty level, and the Choices program recidivism rate is more than 60 percent. This indicates that the Commission could improve its efforts to achieve the Choices program's objective of ending needy parents' dependence on government benefits by promoting job preparation and work.
The Commission reported reliable results for three of four fiscal year 2006 Choices program performance measures audited. A performance measure result is considered reliable if it is certified or certified with qualification. Case file omissions and errors were the primary reasons that two measures were certified with qualification and another measure was determined to be inaccurate.
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