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

10 | 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 4. Duplicate Liberty Passes Observation Third party agencies use HMIS to record and track Liberty Passes distributed to clients while SCAT Administration and the Downtown Transfer Station (DTTS) use a separate database to record and track distributions. Data from the two sources is not compared, making it possible for a client to purchase two Liberty Passes (duplicate passes) each month, one from a third party agency and one from SCAT or the DTTS. Per the Enrollment Form, third party agencies agree to, “distribute only one pass per client listed in HMIS every 25-30 days, regardless of which agency distributed the client’s last pass.” SCAT management advised that the same guidelines apply to Liberty Passes sold at SCAT Administration and the DTTS locations, which use the SCAT database for tracking. The Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness provided data indicating that 5,022 Liberty Passes were distributed to individuals for the period of October 1, 2015 through June 8, 2016. Data from the SCAT database indicated that 8,787 Liberty Passes were distributed by SCAT Administration and the DTTS for the same time period. Internal Audit evaluated the data, observing that there appears to have been 56 instances where an individual obtained a Liberty Pass from a third party agency and from SCAT Administration or the DTTS for the same month. Additionally, the data indicates that there appears to have been duplicate Liberty Passes sold within SCAT Administration and the DTTS 80 times and within third party agencies 148 times. Recommendation To ensure compliance with the intent of the Liberty Pass program, SCAT should develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent and/or detect duplicate Liberty Pass distributions. Management Response The utilization of the above referenced spreadsheet will minimize duplicate pass distribution. When rider is purchasing Liberty Pass, date is entered into spreadsheet allowing other agencies to see if client has already received a pass in the last 30 days. Pass sales information, obtained from spreadsheet, will be monitored quarterly to detect any instances of duplicate pass distribution. The expected date of implementation is October 1, 2016.