TRENTON – The issue of recouping more than a half million dollars in overpayments to halfway house vendors going back nearly seven years is in the hands of lawyers and being worked on, the state Corrections commissioner told the Assembly Budget Committee today.
In response to questions from Assemblyman John Burzichelli, (D-3), West Deptford, Commissioner Gary Lanigan said that per-diem rate overpayments of approximately $587,000 disclosed in a Comptroller’s review going back to 2004 is an issue that has been turned over to the Attorney General’s Office.
Burzichelli said he wanted to ensure those parties are still within the state’s reach, and Lanigan assured him they were.
“They are not off our radar screen at all,” Lanigan said.
Burzichelli, acknowledging that the problem did not orginate on Lanigan’s watch, said that access to another half million dollars might allow more participation in such programs.
The Comptroller’s Office found in a review issued last June that over a six-year period, the state overpaid 10 private halfway house providers $587,000 due to miscalculations involving the per-diem rates providers charged.
Regarding this $64 million program, Comptroller Matthew Boxer said in a release at the time that “As a state we have done a poor job of monitoring the program.’’
Lanigan told the lawmakers today that while possible repayment is being pursued aggressively, Corrections maintains a working relationship with vendors and that the miscalculations have been addressed so that the problem does not recur.
