State auditors are giving a thumbs-up to the amount of administrative staffing in a high-profile social service agency.
The auditors say administrative staffing appears reasonable at the Department of Child Safety, the agency that investigates child abuse and neglect and handles other child-welfare duties.
EXCLUSIVE: Former DES chief Tim Jeffries breaks silence about employee firings and politics
The department was created several years ago when it was split off from the Department of Economic Security and made a separate department.
A special report released by the Auditor General's Office examined the amount of staffing in the department assigned to administrative functions such as management, support and oversight.
The report says the 16 percent of the department's total staffing is devoted to central administration and that the percentage is reasonable when compared with those of similarly structured agencies, including Tennessee's children's services department.