Follow-Up Audit of Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) Liberty Pass Program, December 2017

6 | A u d i t o f S C A T L i b e r t y P a s s P r o g r a m S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6 1. Compliance by third party agencies Observation Third party agencies wishing to sell Liberty Passes sign an Enrollment Form, which states that, “Agency agrees that the Liberty Pass is only for use by eligible riders and agrees to screen clients requesting a Liberty Pass for eligibility before selling or distributing passes to clients.” The Enrollment Form specifies the eligibility requirements as:  Client’s residency status is homeless; or  Client is residing in a shelter; or  Client’s total household income is no more than 150% of federal poverty level. Currently, the third party agencies are required to determine eligibility based on the criteria stated above for new Liberty Pass riders and enter this data into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website, the HMIS is an electronic database used by agencies serving the homeless to collect information on individuals and families at risk of homelessness or already homeless. When a client makes a request from a third party agency to purchase a Liberty Pass, the agency is expected to validate via the HMIS that determination of eligibility has occurred within the last 12 months. If not, then eligibility must be determined or re-determined. Data was provided from HMIS by the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness for individuals that were provided Liberty Passes that included the time period of October 1, 2015 through June 8, 2016. The data indicates that of the 5,022 Liberty Pass distributions that occurred, there were 367 instances where none of the three eligibility requirements listed in the Enrollment Form were met. Recommendation To ensure compliance with the intent of the Liberty Pass program, the County should mandate third party agencies abide by the requirements as stated in the Enrollment Form . Management Response The following new procedures will be implemented by October 1, 2016, due to the approval of the Liberty Pass program changes approved by the BCC at the Public Hearing on September 7, 2016:  Agencies will no longer be required to use HMIS database to validate eligibility.  SCAT’s IT Professional has created a database spreadsheet containing all current Liberty Pass holders, which will potentially be shared with all third party agencies selling our Liberty Pass. Third Party agencies would agree to only sell the Liberty Pass to those