AUDIT CRITICIZES ALCOHOL-DRUG AGENCY

A Report Cites Misspent Money, Failure To Handle Treatment Programs
And Meeting Law Violations.

CARSON CITY -- The Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse has whirled out of
control, with supervisors exerting little control over employees or
spending, according to an audit released Wednes-day.

Legislative auditors said the agency has failed to develop a plan on
the administration of treatment programs as required by state law.
Auditors also found the agency broke the open meeting law, spent money
earmarked for alcohol abuse prevention programs on drug programs and
allowed employees to get away with making long-distance calls at state
expense.

The auditors found 19 areas where the agency broke laws or
regulations. The agency must report in six months on how it has
responded to the auditors' recommendations.

The audit was released during the meeting of the Legislature's audit
subcommittee.

"I'm surprised the feds haven't moved in on us," said state Sen. Dean
Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, the committee's chairman.

"There is a good chance they will after seeing this," Legislative
Auditor Gary Crews replied. "This will take some immediate action."

The federal government could fine the state or withhold
allocations.

About two-thirds of the agency's $12 million budget comes from federal
grants. The agency awards most of the money to nonprofit organizations
for the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse.

Among the auditors' findings are the following:

- --The agency does not always seek employee reimbursement for
long-distance personal calls. Employees have not reimbursed the state
for at least 75 calls.

- --The agency has not developed procedures for treatment programs for
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and tuberculosis. The agency has not
developed procedures for pregnancy services and has not publicized the
programs available to pregnant women.

- --Money from liquor tax money was not used solely for alcohol-related
programs as required by law. No liquor tax money was spent in Washoe
County on child protective programs though the county has the highest
incidence of alcohol abuse in the state.

- --Because the agency has not completed a state plan on the need for
its services as required by law, no way exists of determining whether
money goes to areas with the greatest need.

- --The agency did not require its service providers to check whether
patients had insurance and could pay for their own treatment.

- --The agency's Advisory Board on Certification closed public meetings
to discuss and make decisions on matters that were not confidential.
The board's subcommittee did not post an agenda or keep minutes of one
meeting.

After the Audit Subcommittee meeting, state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las
Vegas, said the agency audit was one of the worst he has seen.

"They functioned like they weren't an arm of state government," he
said. "It looks like they (employees) didn't have any direction."

Until July, the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse was under control of
Carol Jackson, the director of the Department of Employment, Training
and Rehabilitation. Then the Legislature moved the agency to the
Department of Human Resources because of problems such as the ones the
audit uncovered.

Now it falls under the direction of Yvonne Silva, the Health Division
administrator. Silva requested the audit when the agency was switched
to her control.

"There was no history, no documentation of anything," she said. "All
we can do now is move forward. We have the checks and balances which
will make a better BADA."

In a phone call, Jackson said she had not reviewed the audit
yet.

Silva blamed the agency's problems on the lack of stable management.
The agency had four bureau chiefs in a five-year period.

Now the agency is going through its "recovery period," she said.