WHO: Maryland’s Social Services Administration
WHAT: The SSA paid $68 million for a computer program to log their cases – and then didn’t implement it correctly nor keep appropriate records, leaving children vulnerable to abusers because their cases weren’t entered into the system and the state short millions of federal dollars, according to a recent audit.
WHY IT’S A BAD IDEA: Aside from the children left hanging in the wind? Well there’s the fact that the administration essentially wasted $68 million of our money and now needs to spend $4 million more to improve its system.
WHY THEY ARE DOING IT: The administration says it is understaffed. Undersupervised might be the better term. The SSA says 90 percent of children are entered into the database – but what about the other 10 percent? That’s about 1,000 children we’re not adequately watching.
WHERE TO VENT: dhr.state.md.us/ssa/
DIM BULB: Financial fracas
Not only did Maryland’s governor spend the state into $1 billion worth of debt, he also encouraged legislators to tax the pants off of business owners, sending the state from the 24th most friendly state for business to the 45th most friendly, according to a recent Tax Foundation study. If we can’t attract new business to the state, how are we going to get out of debt? You have to allow taxpayers to make money before you take it.
Quote of the day
“Honestly, I’m shocked at what I’m finding. … We’re looking into misuse of petty cash and other situations where city employees have been misusing city money.” — Baltimore City Inspector General Hilton Green
