City Shelters Follow-Up

The Department of Housing Stability did not fully implement any recommendations made in the original audit report. The department partially implemented five recommendations and it has not taken steps to fully address the risks 10 other recommendations had sought to resolve.

Remaining Risks

The recommendations the Department of Housing Stability did not fully implement — including the one recommendation it did not agree to implement — present several lingering risks. Among them:

• Housing Stability cannot ensure shelter providers have the necessary security measures in place when a shelter begins operating. And despite enhanced directions to shelter providers on grievance policy requirements, some provider’s policies do not meet expectations.
• Housing Stability accounting staff also continue to operate without centralized and comprehensive guidance on reviewing and uploading appropriate supporting documentation to Workday, the city’s system of record, and making sure shelter guests’ sensitive information is redacted. The lack of documented processes on worktag usage and tracking of shelter-related expenses could lead to institutional knowledge loss and the inability to assess taxpayer money spent for each shelter. It may also impact department staff’s ability to effectively perform their duties.
• The department cannot assess the accounting staff’s capacity to review information shelter providers submitted to support their use of city funds.

All risks associated with shelter guest safety, guest complaint processes, and shelter-provider use of city funds we identified in the original audit remain.

Auditor's Letter

May 7, 2026

In keeping with generally accepted government auditing standards and Auditor’s Office policy, as authorized by city ordinance, we have a responsibility to monitor and follow up on audit recommendations to ensure city agencies address audit findings through appropriate corrective action and to aid us in planning future audits.

In November 2024, we audited City Shelters and found risks involving shelter security, policies and procedures, monitoring of shelter-provider spending, and employee access to shelter guests’ personally identifiable information. The Department of Housing Stability agreed to implement 14 of our 15 recommendations.

We recently followed up and found the department partially implemented only five recommendations.

Although the Department of Housing Stability has made some progress, it did not fully address all the risks associated with our original findings. Consequently, we may revisit these risk areas in future audits to ensure the city takes appropriate corrective action.

We did not update the status of the one recommendation the department did not agree to implement, as we presume it took no action toward implementing that. We include the recommendation in this report as a reference.

We appreciate the leaders and team members in the Department of Housing Stability who shared their time and knowledge with us throughout the audit and the follow-up process. Please contact me at 720-913-5000 with any questions.

Denver Auditor's Office


Timothy O'Brien, CPA

AUDITOR TIMOTHY O'BRIEN, CPA
Denver Auditor

Denver Auditor's Office

201 W. Colfax Ave. #705 Denver, CO 80202
Email: auditor@denvergov.org
Call: 720-913-5000
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