The Jacksonville Office of Inspector General released a report Sept. 10 that found that some service providers with contracts with Kids Hope Alliance failed to meet liability insurance requirements in their contracts.
Kids Hope Alliance CEO Saralyn Grass said in an interview Sept. 16 she “doesn’t really agree” with the OIG report.
The alliance’s website says it is a funding agent for the city of Jacksonville. It invests millions annually in children’s and youth programs and services in Duval County, simultaneously managing their implementation and monitoring their outcomes.
The report was a review of the Kids Hope Alliance contracts with six local nonprofit service providers. The OIG’s investigation found that some of the contractors did not submit certificates of insurance promptly as required by their contracts and requests for proposal.
The report said that some failed to maintain the necessary insurance coverage during their contract periods and did not give the alliance 30 days’ written notice of any changes in insurance coverage, including cancellations and expirations, as specified in their contracts and request for proposals.
“Only three providers experienced a lapse in insurance coverage while delivering services. One of these providers was not reimbursed during the period of their coverage lapse. The other two had lapses in a nonliability type of insurance and submitted no-loss statements for the affected periods,” Grass said.
She also said two other providers were not actively providing services during the time their insurance coverage was not current. The other provider that was reviewed submitted an insurance certificate that was approved with no lapse in coverage.
Kids Hope Alliance has implemented a new system for contract compliance.
Grass said instead of conducting a single annual review at renewal time as was done previously, a contract tracking system, Agiloft, now allows providers to upload their certificates as they renew.
In addition, the system sends a notification email to the provider 90, 60 and 30 days before the expiration date of insurance. One employee is designated to be responsible for monitoring insurance expiration dates. When a certificate expires, the employee contacts the provider via email to request an updated certificate.
Going forward, Grass said, the employee will send providers a fourth reminder email 15 days before their insurance expiration date, prompting them to renew their coverage and upload an updated certificate of insurance before it expires.