REPORT DIGEST

GUARDIANSHIP AND ADVOCACY COMMISSION

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2021

Release Date:  Aug. 30, 2022

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  6

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 2:  1 -- 1 -- 6
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  1 -- 5 -- 6

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 14

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or
a qualification on compliance with
State laws and regulations (material
noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are
significant deficiencies in internal
control and noncompliance with State
laws and regulations.
Category 3: Findings that have no
internal control issues but are in
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the
Auditor General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report
contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles
Park Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street,
Springfield, IL 62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are
also available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

SYNOPSIS

• (21-01) The Commission did not
exercise adequate controls over Agency
Workforce Reports.
• (21-03) The Commission did not
comply with the required number of
members and did not always conduct
quarterly meetings.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE CONTROL OVER AGENCY
WORKFORCE REPORTS

The Commission did not exercise
adequate control over the preparation
of its annual Agency Workforce Report
(Report).

During testing, we noted,

• The number of individuals and
statistical percentages were
mathematically inaccurate on both the
Fiscal Year 2019 (submitted in Fiscal
Year 2020) and Fiscal Year 2020
(submitted in Fiscal Year 2021)
Reports.

• The support provided by the
Commission did not agree with the
Fiscal Year 2019 Report for multiple
categories and did not trace to the
Fiscal Year 2020 Report for one
category.

• The Fiscal Year 2020 Report was
filed 39 days late. (Finding 1, pages
11-12). This finding has been reported
since 2017.

We recommended the Commission maintain
proper documentation to support its
annual Report. In addition, we
recommended the Commission strengthen
internal controls to ensure timely and
accurate submission of required
reports.

The Commission agreed with the
recommendation.

NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THE GUARDIANSHIP
AND ADVOCACY ACT

The Commission did not comply with the
required number of members and did not
always conduct quarterly meetings.

During testing, we noted,

• The Commission had five serving
members and six vacancies and only one
of the five serving members served the
full Fiscal Year 2020 term. While in
Fiscal Year 2021, the Commission had
eight serving members and three
vacancies. Of the eight serving
members, only five served the full
fiscal year cycle.

• The Commission did not meet at least
once every three months during the
examination period. The Commission did
not meet during five of the eight
quarters in our examination period,
there were no meetings in Fiscal Year
2020 and the Commission only met three
times during Fiscal Year 2021.
(Finding 3, pages 15-16) This finding
has been reported since 2009.

We recommended the Commission work
with the Governor’s Office to fill
vacancies and to make appointments to
address the required number of
members. Further, we recommended the
Commission’s Chair schedule and
conduct a meeting at least once every
three months.

The Commission agreed with the
recommendation.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to
inadequate controls over voucher
processing and review of internal
controls for service providers, and
weaknesses regarding electronic data
processing procedures and
cybersecurity programs and practices.
We will review the Commission’s
progress towards the implementation of
our recommendations in our next State
compliance examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State
compliance examination of the
Commission for the two years ended
June 30, 2021, as required by the
Illinois State Auditing Act.  The
accountants stated the Commission
complied, in all material respects,
with the requirements described in the
report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by Adelfia, LLC.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in
accordance with Section 3-14 of the
Illinois State Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

FJM:JDP