Brent Daum says that since the misappropriation of over $1 million came to light in January, clients of AIDS Saskatoon who also receive assistance have faced increased scrutiny.
Social workers have been increasingly demanding of documentation -- from receipts to new reports from clients' doctors to verify they are too sick to work.
"They're making them jump through hoops 10 times more than what they did before to make sure that nobody is taking advantage of the system," he says.
And:
"It's basically resulting in people being unable to access some services because the requirements in terms of documentation may be too great or the length of time it takes to get approval is too long. And when people are in immediate need, time is obviously of the essence," says (the executive director of AIDS Saskatoon).
The NDP government does recognize the problem, and is working to find a way around the provincial auditor's recommendation that all expenditures be backed up by a receipt:
"In actual fact, the department is being asked to fulfil the requirements of the auditor to have appropriate documentation to approve payments. One of the things we're working through with the auditor is how we can have this not have an impact like that on the clients. There's no question social workers had more flexibility until the auditor's report which required that every single receipt be in the files...The department is moving in fact more to an income approach because just the cost of administering this receipt-gathering makes it very difficult to provide a decent level of service."
Who wants to bet that the receipt requirement itself was based on a perception that the program would run more efficiently and accountably if it funded only immediate expenses rather than providing block sums?
Just a friendly reminder that while accountability is important, there are good reasons why auditors aren't actually in charge, and why sometimes their recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt.
(Edit: typo.)
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