Office of Children and Family Services

Education Programs at Residential Facilities (Follow-Up Report)

The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) operates residential and day treatment facilities for youths referred to its custody by family and criminal courts. OCFS offers education programs at most of these facilities to enable youths to pass the GED test and obtain a high school equivalency diploma if they are at risk of not completing high school.

In audit 2005-S-13, we examined OCFS’s administration of these education programs and found that certain improvements were needed. For example, OCFS had an inadequate system for collecting data about the programs and reported conflicting and unreliable program enrollment to the State Education Department. We also determined that GED passing rates at six sampled facilities varied considerably, ranging from 91 percent to 40 percent. We recommended that a number of improvements be made in OCFS’s administration of the education programs, and when we followed up on these matters with OCFS officials, we found that our recommendations had been implemented.

For a complete copy of Report 2007-F-25 click here.