Federal auditors found that 70 of 101 critical incidents involving people receiving individualized home supports in Connecticut were not reported or recorded the way the state's Medicaid waiver requires. The findings come from an HHS Office of Inspector General audit of the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and its providers, issued Sept. 18 and posted Sept. 22, 2026.
OIG reviewed the state fiscal year from July 2023 to June 2024, when 677 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities received about $24 million in individualized home support under the Comprehensive Supports waiver. Of those, 290 people used self-directed services. Auditors visited five provider offices in November 2025.
What OIG found
| Area | Finding |
|---|---|
| Critical incidents (from hospital claims) | 48 not reported by providers, 11 reported late, 7 at the wrong severity, 11 not entered by DDS |
| Provider certification | 32 of 81 providers without timely certification letters; one letter issued about 7 years late |
| Individual plans | 6 of 124 not reviewed within 12 months |
| State criminal background checks | missing or late for 23 of 132 staff |
| DDS abuse and neglect registry checks | missing or late for 29 of 132 staff |
| Required training | not finished on time for 106 of 132 staff |
Under DDS rules, a severe injury, meaning one that needs emergency room treatment or a hospital stay, is a critical incident that staff must report right away. DDS told auditors its incident monitoring system was not fully in place during the audit period and that it still entered reports by hand. It is building a dashboard that flags emergency room visits for severe injuries with no matching report, and is moving to an online incident platform.
Providers blamed missing personnel files and vendor record-retention policies for the screening gaps. One provider ran citywide rather than statewide background checks. OIG said the five providers had written policies that would have prevented most of the problems if they had been followed. The Department of Social Services agreed with all four recommendations.
Why this matters for providers and DSPs
This is the kind of record federal and state auditors pull. For DSPs, the lesson is the reporting rule: an ER trip for a serious injury is reportable, and the report goes in immediately, not after a shift change. For HR teams at provider agencies, the registry check through the DDS online inquiry system and the statewide criminal check both have to be done before hire and kept on file. The audit is part of a federal series on supported living, which already flagged 182 violations in North Dakota.