Dunn introduces legislation to address likely fraud and waste in DCHS contracts

August 26, 2025

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn on Tuesday introduced legislation to strengthen financial responsibility and increase transparency of taxpayer funded contracts at the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS). The legislation comes in response to a King County Auditor’s report released Tuesday morning at the Council’s Committee of the Whole. The blistering report exposed serious failures in oversight of contracts for four youth programs including Restorative Community Pathways (RCP), revealing millions in taxpayer dollars at risk of misuse.

“King County has an obligation to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, transparently, and effectively,” Dunn said. “This audit unfortunately confirms what I have been warning about for years – inadequate oversight of community-based organizations’ contracts has left the door wide open for waste, fraud, and abuse. With affordability an urgent concern for families all across King County, it is simply unacceptable push such large amounts of taxpayer dollars out the door without the oversight needed to ensure the funds are actually helping those in need.”

The Auditor’s report paints a troubling picture. As DCHS’s contracting budget rapidly expanded from just $22 million in 2019 to more than $1.5 billion in 2023 and 2024, the department failed to keep pace with basic safeguards. While nearly half of all organizations receiving county money in 2024 were flagged as “high risk,” monitoring remained lax. Investigators uncovered improper payments and likely fraud — including cases where grantees altered invoices to inflate reimbursement requests, documentation was allegedly falsified, and the distribution of prepaid debit cards and thousands of dollars in stipends were distributed with little or no tracking. In some cases, subcontractors were even paid hundreds of thousands of dollars outside the scope of their approved contracts.

The report stems from repeated requests by Councilmember Dunn for transparency regarding contracting. In 2023, he wrote to the State Auditor requesting a review of DCHS’s Restorative Community Pathways program due to a troubled history of lack of oversight and minimal success. Then, in 2024, he wrote to the King County Auditor requesting an audit of RCP, which was formally adopted by the Council in the 2025 auditor workplan. During the planning process, the audit was quickly expanded to other DCHS agencies.

Dunn’s new legislation introduced today would require DCHS to develop, document, implement, and adhere to best practices regarding contract management and compliance monitoring. This includes adhering to the department's own current contract policies. It also requires the department to perform annual risk assessments of all contractors and conduct regular on-site visits to ensure the proper use of funds. The department must report back to the County Council on its progress no later than March 31, 2026.

The full report will be made available at the King County Auditor’s website by the conclusion of the Council of the Whole’s meeting today.