A frequent federal grant recipient with ties to both major political parties couldn’t document how its local affiliates spent most of a $2.5 million Department of Justice grant it got to help keep troubled students from dropping out of high schools.
Communities in Schools Inc. — a nonprofit — received the grant in 2011, according to the Department of Justice inspector general.
Through its 12 local affiliates — organizations that operate independently but carry the “Communities in Schools” name — the Arlington-based nonprofit claimed to have worked with over 1,400 mentors who helped an estimated 2,300 at-risk youth.
But Communities in Schools, founded in 1977, didn’t perform a basic function of grant management, documenting how $1.8 million of the $2.5 million grant funds were spent.
Communities in Schools officials told investigators “that, as a general rule, they did not request, review or maintain supporting documents” from local affiliates “before reimbursing them.” In other words, the organization didn’t collect and review documents such as time-sheets before giving out federal funds.
“Due to its financial monitoring shortcoming,” Communities in Schools officials couldn’t prove local affiliates “adequately tracked and safeguarded grant funds” or even show how funds were spent, the inspector general said.
When grant recipients don’t carefully monitor affiliates, “funds are at risk for fraud, waste and abuse,” the inspector general said.
Communities in Schools leaders told the Washington Examiner that they served disadvantaged kids and completed all the work. They also pointed out that the nonprofit won an award from the Better Business Bureau for “financial accountability/transparency and sound business practices.”
Government investigators also found weaknesses in the nonprofit’s background check policies. For example, Communities in Schools only checked the dates, not the results of mentors’ background checks.
Also, the nonprofit’s policy allowed mentors to work with students before passing a screening, and didn’t specify how frequently mentors must receive background checks.
“We found that some school policies have permitted individuals to work with children on a temporary basis until background checks are cleared,” the inspector general said.
One affiliate couldn’t provide its mentors’ background check dates, and three other affiliates were unable to provide the results of their checks.
Though Communities in Schools developed a plan to correct such oversights and to collect necessary documents from affiliates, the Justice Department designated the nonprofit as a high-risk grantee.
Communities in Schools received more than $13 million in government grants between 2010 and 2012, according to its latest publicly available tax returns.
The nonprofit also paid Cornerstone, a lobbying firm, more than $150,000 in 2013 and similar amounts in prior years. Communities in Schools officials told the Examiner that the money was used to lobby for an education law to help failing students.
“We also work to ensure that federal funds flow to programs proven to work as demonstrated by independent evidence or evaluations,” leaders said. “We believe this protects both taxpayers and students.”
They said no government money was used for lobbying.
The group’s political ties include influential Democrats and Republicans.
Founder and board of directors vice chairman Bill Milliken, for example, served Presidents Carter, Bush and Clinton in various education-related roles.
Another board member, Rhoda Joyce Glickman, currently works for New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and has served him on and off for years.
Her husband, Daniel Glickman, formerly served on the Communities in Schools’ board of directors. He was also the secretary of agriculture under Clinton and represented Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat.
The wife of former Texas Democratic Governor Mark White, Linda Gale White, is another board member.
Another director is venture capitalist Jillian Manus, who has been described as a Republican activist and is known for her eccentric fundraising parties that include live elephants and beer bongs with multiple hoses attached.
Billionaire Elaine Wynn, who built her fortune from Las Vegas casinos as co-founder with her former husband, Steve Wynn, of Wynn Resorts, is Communities in Schools’ board chairman.
