OLA Performance Audit — DHS Behavioral Health Administration Grants ($425M, 12 Findings) (January 2026)

Source: Office of the Legislative Auditor, Minnesota · Document date: 2026-01-15 · Type: Audit Report

70-page OLA Financial Audit Division performance audit of the DHS Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grants program — 830 grant agreements totaling $425 million. The report issued 12 findings, including evidence of document tampering and a grant manager (Dana Nelson) approving $672,648 to Zion Baptist Church's Wellness Collaborative before leaving DHS to consult for the same grantee.

Significance: Central evidence in the grants-to-fraud, revolving-door, and dhs-grant-provider-overlap investigations. The 12-finding scope and document-tampering evidence underlie the project's grants-pipeline analyses and provide the documented basis for the Promise Act cross-reference work.

Tags: OLA, audit, BHA grants, $425M, Dana Nelson, Zion Baptist, revolving door, document tampering