REPORT HIGHLIGHTS SUMMARY REPORT: FOLLOW-UP TO PERFORMANCE AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS PERFORMANCE AUDIT Release Date: July 16, 2025 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, 400 West Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL 62704-9849 (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 BACKGROUND: The State Auditing Act empowers the Auditor General to conduct performance audits when directed by a resolution of the Legislative Audit Commission, House of Representatives, or Senate. A Public Act may also be enacted directing an audit. The Performance Audit Division of the Office of the Auditor General conducts the performance audits, making recommendations to improve program performance and operations. After the performance audits are released, the Office conducts follow-up audit work to determine whether the recommendations have been implemented. This report presents a compilation of the results of the follow-up work. Key Findings: • Following our audit follow-up work through June 30, 2023, there are 20 previously released performance audits with outstanding audit recommendations that have not yet been fully implemented. In many instances, follow-up on these audit recommendations has been conducted multiple times. For these 20 audits, there are 100 recommendations that have not yet been fully implemented; 24 recommendations are classified as not implemented while 76 are classified as partially implemented. • There are five agencies that have multiple audits with outstanding recommendations. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has the most outstanding recommendations: 32 recommendations not yet fully implemented from 4 different audits. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) has the second most outstanding recommendations: 23 recommendations not yet fully implemented from 2 different audits. • The management and program audit of the Illinois State Police’s Division of Forensic Services is the oldest audit with recommendations not yet fully implemented. The audit was released in March 2009 and contained 16 recommendations. Of the 16 recommendations, 2 were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2022, which was the 7th time that follow-up was conducted. • There were seven audits where follow-up work was conducted for the first time, either as of June 30, 2022, or June 30, 2023: – The performance audit of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO’s) Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit program was released in June 2020 and contained six recommendations. Of the six recommendations, five were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2022. – The performance audit of the Department of Children and Family Services’ compliance with its obligations to protect and affirm children and youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or queer (LGBTQ) was released in February 2021 and contained 16 recommendations. Of the 16 recommendations, 12 were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2022. – The performance audit of the Illinois renewable portfolio standard and the Illinois Power Agency’s management of the Renewable Energy Credit procurement process and Adjustable Block Program was released in May 2021 and contained one recommendation. The recommendation was not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2022. – The performance audit of the Vendor Payment Program was released in June 2021 and contained 11 recommendations directed to both the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) and the Illinois Office of the Comptroller (IOC). Of the nine recommendations directed to CMS, seven were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2023. Of the eight recommendations directed to the IOC, none were fully implemented as of June 30, 2022. – The performance audit of the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program was released in September 2021 and contained 11 recommendations directed to both the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Of the 11 recommendations directed to DHS, 7 were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2023. The single recommendation directed to IDPH was not repeated because the requirement was removed from statute. – The management audit of the Illinois State Police’s administration of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act (430 ILCS 65) and the Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66) was released in September 2021 and contained six recommendations. Of the six recommendations, four were not yet fully implemented as of June 30, 2022. – The performance audit of the State's response to the management of the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home was released in May 2022 and contained three recommendations directed to both the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA). The single recommendation directed to IDPH was implemented. For the two recommendations directed to IDVA, the initial follow up has not been conducted; it will be conducted as part of the FY24 IDVA compliance examination. Why we did this report: • Performance audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General contain recommendations designed to improve operations of State government. For our Office’s work to have the most benefit, agencies need to implement the recommendations. The more recommendations that are implemented, the more benefit will be derived from the audit work. Failure to implement recommendations can result in a number of negative consequences, including loss of funding, operational inefficiencies, potential legal actions, and, in the case of DCFS, putting children at risk. • After performance audits are released, the Office conducts follow-up audit work to determine whether recommendations have been implemented. The results of the follow-up work are presented as part of the Illinois Office of the Auditor General compliance examinations for each applicable agency. Compliance examinations are conducted in even numbered years for some agencies and odd numbered years for other agencies. Therefore, the most recent follow-up work for this report was conducted as of June 30, 2022, or June 30, 2023. This report presents a compilation of the results of the follow-up work. • This is the first compilation report issued by our Office of the follow-up audit work, which was previously conducted either by staff from our Office or our Special Assistant Auditors. The report shows the progress agencies have made in implementing performance audit recommendations and allows members of the General Assembly to track that progress over time.