Reports

On September 1, 2021, the Legislative Audit Commission adopted Resolution Number 158 requiring a performance audit of the unemployment programs administered by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) during the period of March 1, 2020, to September 6, 2021. The audit found that overpayments (which include fraud, non-fraud, and identity theft) were an issue in both the regular UI and PUA programs. IDES reported overpayments for FY20 to FY22 that totaled $5.24 billion; regular UI accounted for $2.04 billion and PUA accounted for $3.20 billion. Considering gross benefits associated...

The audit of the accompanying financial statements of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security Department was performed by RSM US LLP as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022. Based on their audit, the auditors expressed a qualified opinion on the Department's Statement of Net Position and a disclaimer of opinion on the Department's Statements of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position and Cash Flows. Among their other findings was material weakness and noncompliance regarding the failure to maintain accurate and complete...

The Illinois Auditor General, conducted a performance audit of the Business Interruption Grant (BIG) program, which was developed under the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to provide $585 million in economic relief for small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19. Among their findings the Auditor General noted that DCEO allowed, without verification, BIG small business grant applicants to self-certify that they complied with all laws as well as reporting other pandemic funding. The office's analysis found 196 ineligible applicants received $3.42 million in the first...

The audit of the accompanying financial statements of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund was performed by RSM US LLP for the year ended June 30, 2021. Based on their audit, the auditors expressed a disclaimer of opinion on the Department's Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund financial statements. The auditors identified three matters involving the Department's internal controls over financial reporting that they considered to be material weaknesses. Further, the auditors identified three noncompliance matters.

In this performance audit of the State of Illinois's response to the management of the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans' Home, the Illinois Office of the Auditor General identified that while the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) was notified of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home beginning on November 1, 2020, they did not identify and respond to the seriousness of the outbreak despite it being a responsibility of the department to provide guidance and monitoring to protect the residents at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.

We found that the Department failed to implement general Information Technology controls over the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance System, The Department failed to ensure Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants met eligibility requirements, The Department did not have sufficient internal control over the determination of accruals for payments related to both the Unemployment Insurance program and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund (Trust Fund), an individual nonshared proprietary fund of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security, as of and for the year ended June 30, 2020. We found that the Department outsourced unemployment benefit claims processing to a service organization for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and the corresponding Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits. The system processing these claims had material weaknesses in the design and operation of internal controls and...

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the data privacy and cybersecurity of the Chicago Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) COVID-19 contact tracing program. The objective of the audit was to determine if CDPH managed privacy and cybersecurity risks associated with the collection, storage, and transmittal of COVID-19 contact tracing data in accordance with the City of Chicago’s Information Security and Technology Policies (ISTP) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.