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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued an audit today finding that Samaritan Village was in general compliance with its contract to operate the Rikers Island Discharge Enhancement (RIDE) Program, which assists inmates during incarceration and after release.

The Department of Corrections (DOC) has a contract with Samaritan Village and five other vendors to operate RIDE, which was implemented in 2004. Through RIDE, inmates are referred to aftercare programs that provide family, employment, housing and substance abuse treatment services.

Under the terms of its contract, DOC agreed to pay Samaritan an amount not to exceed $965,017 for providing transportation services for released inmates and for meeting six specified milestones in Fiscal Year 2006.

The audit can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

“Samaritan provided pre- and post-release services to its clients to aid in their transition from Rikers to the community, offered clients access to a comprehensive range of aftercare services, provided case-management services upon release, and monitored clients’ progress towards achieving defined goals,” Thompson said.

Nevertheless, the audit did uncover a number of weaknesses. The review found that Samaritan did not consistently comply with provisions related to obtaining client signatures and providing milestone-completion dates to support reimbursement claims.

Additionally, Samaritan twice billed DOC for 31 deliverables relating to 19 clients who were re-incarcerated.

Auditors found that DOC’s monitoring of Samaritan’s performance needed to be improved, and pointed out that DOC did not consistently apply its milestone verification standards in relation to obtaining client signatures and milestone-completion dates.

Further, DOC did not consistently ensure that Samaritan’s monthly statements of deliverables were properly reviewed, that claim disallowances were properly applied to related claims, or that percentage disallowances were applied to an entire audit period.

The Comptroller recommended that Samaritan Village: ensure that supporting documentation for its claims contains client signatures confirming arrival at and continued participation in after care programs, as well as the dates of milestone completions; and, track its milestones claims to ensure that in case of a client’s re-incarceration, it does not bill for milestones relating to the client’s prior incarceration for which Samaritan has already received payment.

Additionally, Thompson made a number of recommendations to DOC, including that it: ensure that Samaritan consistently requires its clients to sign confirmation forms verifying arrival at and continued participation in an after-care program; and, ensure that Samaritan consistently requires its aftercare programs to document the date of milestones completion.

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