About this time last year, the state’s Department of Labor, Division of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) was processing unemployment claims smoothly—and more-or-less efficiently—despite its antiquated, but reliable, computer software.
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Oversight of Kirwan’s education reforms is expected to come from an Accountability and Implementation Board, whose responsibilities would include governance and accountability during the board’s limited 10-year life. The board’s design casts significant doubt that $32 billion of additional education spending to implement Kirwan’s goals over the next 10 years will lead to durable and significant improvements to Maryland students’ “College and Career Readiness” by the end of high school.
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In Maryland, compromise provisions of the law “The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” establishing (among other things) an independent Inspector General (IG) for Education, have created a weak auditing office—a tired, toothless canine. The new IG will be statutorily much weaker than his or her counterparts within the U.S. GAO, federal IG offices, Maryland’s Office of Legislative Audits (OLA), and IGs in the state’s executive-branch agencies.
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This is the second of two parts by career government auditor Charlie Hayward addressing the “Mess at UMMS,” and the legislative reaction to it. The first part detailed many red flags that trained auditors look for to assess the seriousness of problems, so they can create audit steps designed to fully address them. In this Part II Hayward : Argues that proposed emergency legislation is unlikely to be fully responsive to red flags; Describes why American Hospital Association guidance UMMS proposes using as best practices can be improved; Lists some of the elements of a credible audit.
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In this first installment of a two-part series, contributor Charlie Hayward, a career government auditor, describes the numerous red flags uncovered to date at the University of Maryland Medical System. In the second installment, he will cover: (1) why the proposed emergency legislation is unlikely to be fully responsive to these red flags; (2) why American Hospital Association guidance and best practices will not be the best benchmarks for assessing UMMS’ conflict of interest and related policies; (3) some of the objectives that must be met for designing a credible audit.
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