The city of Denver's approach to managing grants under the Caring for Denver initiative has once again come under scrutiny, this time in a follow-up report that reveals a string of unimplemented recommendations intended to guide the disbursement of voter-approved funds. Auditor Timothy M. O'Brien flagged the city’s sporadic oversight of the management of these grants, particularly those funding behavioral health services according to the City and County of Denver.

"When third-party organizations get involved with awarding tax dollars through grants or when they spend the money to provide services, the city should be taking extra care to ensure the dollars are used as the voters intended," said O'Brien, as per City and County of Denver. In total, the city has fully implemented 10 out of 24 recommendations from the original audit in 2022, partially implemented five, and left nine completely untouched. This suggests a concerning lack of action toward tightening the reins on grant management, per the follow-up findings released today.

Denver voters had, in 2018, agreed upon a 0.25% sales and use tax increase to prop up behavioral health services in the area. The collection and allocation of these funds rest in the hands of the Caring for Denver Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to guide this mission. By 2020, the Denver Police Department had been awarded funds to advance its Co-Responder Program, aimed at pairing mental health clinicians with police officers on relevant service calls.

Despite steps being taken, over half of the recommended actions from the preceding audit seem to fall on deaf ears within the intertwined offices of the Denver Police Department and the Department of Public Safety. Even further, the departments have stoutly disagreed with one recommendation concerning the calculation and payment of overdue interest to WellPower, sparking debate over the city's commitment to transparency and third-party collaboration. "So we assume they took no action to address that risk, either," O'Brien said, as noted by the City and County of Denver, casting a spotlight on the unaddressed gaps within the system's current state of oversight.