Berkshire Regional Transit Authority - Finding 2

The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Did Not Follow Required Procedures, or Have a Segregation of Duties, for Processing Americans With Disabilities Act Paratransit Complaints.

Overview

We examined the one ADA paratransit complaint that BRTA received during the audit period and found the following issues:

• BRTA did not maintain a log of all complaints, investigation dates, and actions taken to resolve the complaints.¹¹
• BRTA’s contracted paratransit provider did not send an acknowledgement receipt regarding the complaint to the complainant.
• BRTA’s civil rights officer did not notify the complainant of their complaint resolution.
• BRTA does not have a segregation of duties by allowing its contracted paratransit provider to receive, investigate, and validate complaints, which could potentially be about or against the provider.

By not ensuring that it follows required procedures for its ADA paratransit complaint process, BRTA may not resolve significant issues regarding its transportation services in a timely manner or at all. This could have a negative impact on the quality of services that BRTA provides to its ADA-required paratransit riders. If BRTA allows its contracted paratransit provider to receive, investigate, and validate ADA paratransit complaints, which could potentially be about or against the provider, then BRTA cannot ensure that it is aware of all complaints and that there are no conflicts of interest.

Authoritative Guidance

Section 27.13(b)(1–3) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations states, “The recipient must promptly communicate its response to the complaint allegations, including its reasons for the response, to the complainant by a means that will result in documentation of the response.”

BRTA’s “ADA Policy Policies and Procedures” states, “Complaints received by Berkshire Regional Transit Authority will be logged and numbered.”

BRTA’s ADA Concern/Complaint Policy, according to its website, states, “Upon receiving a concern notice, the complainant will receive an acknowledgement receipt. . . . The Civil Rights Officer will notify the complainant in writing of BRTA’s decision regarding the concern typically within seven (7) calendar days after the investigation has been completed.”

Section 10.04 of Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth’s Internal Control Guide from June 2015 states,

Management should divide or segregate key duties and responsibilities among different people to reduce the risk of error, misuse, or fraud. This includes separating the responsibilities . . . so that no one individual controls all key aspects of a transaction or event.

Though BRTA is not required to follow this guide, we believe it is a best practice.

Reasons for Issue

BRTA did not have established monitoring controls to ensure that its employees and its contracted paratransit provider follow its complaint policies and procedures. It also did not have policies and procedures for segregating duties related to ADA paratransit complaint processing. 

Recommendations

1. BRTA should maintain a log of all complaints, investigation dates, and actions taken to resolve the complaints.
2. BRTA should segregate duties related to ADA paratransit complaint processing, such as receiving, investigating, and validating complaints.
3. BRTA should establish monitoring controls to ensure that its employees and its contracted paratransit provider follow its ADA paratransit complaint policies and procedures.

Auditee’s Response

The [complaint selected was] actually not an ADA [paratransit complaint]. The [customer feedback form was] incorrectly labeled by staff who selected two boxes. The ADA box signifies the type of passenger, not the type of complaint. BRTA agrees that increased tracking and monitoring of any complaint, including paratransit, is judicious and BRTA has updated our website and complaint tracking procedures.

Following your input, BRTA has updated our complaint procedures. The follow up conversation on August 14, 2024 outlined the internal and external documents that need to flow cohesively. BRTA will initiate this project on September 3, 2024 with an expected completion date of 90 days or November 4, 2024.

Auditor’s Reply

In its response, BRTA indicates that the complaint reviewed was a general service complaint that was improperly classified as an ADA paratransit complaint by BRTA’s contracted paratransit provider. This information was not provided to us during this audit. We reiterate our recommendation that BRTA should establish monitoring controls to ensure that its contracted paratransit provider follows its ADA paratransit complaint policies and procedures, which would include accurately classifying complaints that it receives.

BRTA also states that the ADA box selected on the customer feedback form signifies the type of passenger, not the type of complaint. As pictured below, BRTA’s customer feedback form has a section called “Type” with the following six options: schedule, operator, late bus, general, ADA, and Title VI.

We believe these six options more accurately reflect types of complaints rather than types of passengers. However, if the expectation is that these options represent passenger types, BRTA should revise its complaint procedures, including its customer feedback form, to clearly reflect this.

Based on its response, BRTA is taking measures to address our concerns on this matter.

11.    While the auditee did not maintain sufficient information regarding complaints, investigations, and complaint resolution, we were able to conduct our audit work by reviewing other information as explained above in the “Data Reliability Assessment” section of this report.

Date published:	October 4, 2024