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Audit

Audit  Audit of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants

Our office conducted a performance audit of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.

Organization: Office of the State Auditor
Date published: November 14, 2024

Executive Summary

In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants (ORI) for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.

The purpose of this audit was to determine the following:

  • to what extent ORI monitored the Refugee Health Assessment Program (RHAP) as required by Section 207 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws and its fiscal year 2021 and 2022 interdepartmental service agreements with the Department of Public Health (DPH);
  • to what extent ORI ensured that health assessment services were available in languages that refugees and immigrants could understand as required by Section 207 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws; and
  • to what extent ORI monitored the Citizenship for New Americans Program (CNAP) as required by Section 207 of Chapter 6 of the General Laws.

Below is a summary of our findings, the effects of those findings, and our recommendations, with links to each page listed.

  
Finding 1
 		ORI did not perform required monitoring activities over the RHAP.
EffectIf ORI does not perform monitoring activities over the RHAP, then refugees may not receive important healthcare services or may not be screened for communicable diseases, which may place vulnerable populations at risk.
Recommendations
 
  1.  ORI should conduct formal site visits with all RHAP providers at least annually.
  2. ORI should conduct formal site visits with DPH to monitor DPH’s administration of the RHAP at least annually.
  3. ORI should document all its desk reviews of DPH’s Trimester and Annual Reports.
Finding 2
 		ORI did not monitor RHAP services to ensure that interpreter services were provided.
EffectWhen RHAP participants do not receive health assessments in a language that they can understand, there is a higher-than-acceptable risk that their healthcare needs may not be communicated and/or addressed.
Recommendations
 
  1. ORI should ensure that RHAP participants receive interpretation services when required.
  2.  ORI should ensure that health assessment forms have a field for RHAP participants to document their preferred languages.
Finding 3
 		ORI did not always monitor the CNAP.
EffectBy not performing monitoring activities over the CNAP, ORI risks funding providers that do not meet the goals of the program and further risks CNAP participants experiencing unnecessary delays in their paths to citizenship.
Recommendations
 
  1. ORI should hold kickoff conference calls with CNAP providers at the beginning of each fiscal year.
  2. ORI should document meeting minutes for its kickoff conference calls and fiscal year close conference calls with CNAP providers.
  3. ORI should hold site visits with all CNAP providers at least annually during the fiscal year under review.

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