Fed report: EOB not doing job

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 11:29 a.m.

The Economic Opportunity Board could not show it was helping the chronically homeless in two taxpayer-funded Las Vegas housing projects and kept sloppy books on the program, according to a federal review.

In a report from the review, the Housing and Urban Development Department lays out 30-day deadlines for correcting a series of problems, including the lack of proof that the program is doing what it is supposed to do -- "a serious finding," according to Kenneth LoBene, state coordinator for the federal agency.

Another finding: The EOB spent nearly $5,000 a month for office space to run the program and couldn't demonstrate how employee salaries and benefits were charged to specific grants, including the HUD grant for the housing.

If the problems aren't corrected, the EOB may have to return money to the agency, according to the report, which said that HUD gave the organization $368,358 in fiscal year 2001 and $104,556 in fiscal 2003.

The $368,358 covered 2002 and 2003 program costs and the $104,556 will cover 2004 and 2005 costs, Sagert said.

When asked if that might happen, Brian Sagert, named by the EOB to oversee all its housing projects only three months ago, said, "That very well may be."

For now, Sagert's staff is seeking information that would refute HUD's findings. A letter was sent to the EOB's acting executive director April 29, meaning the deadline of 30 days after delivery is at hand, but LoBene said his staff gave the organization an extension of " a couple of weeks" in a May 19 meeting.

But a leading homeless advocate in the Las Vegas Valley -- and former director of a homeless shelter that a decade ago received millions in public dollars -- said federal oversight of such programs should be tighter to keep nonprofit programs from misusing taxpayer money in the first place.

"The federal agencies are sort of like enablers with these programs," said Linda Lera-Randle El, who directs a nonprofit organization that receives no government support called Straight from the Streets. In 1995, she was interim director for MASH Village, a downtown shelter that has since closed.

"The government puts out rules that they don't appear able to enforce, either because they are lax or don't have manpower," she said.

The report was based on a review done in March and early April and covers 2002 and 2003. It indicates it was the first on-site, in-depth review of the program since July, 2001. LoBene said such reviews of programs that HUD directly funds occur approximately every three years.

"Anytime anyone uses public funds they place trust in us to they're properly handled," he said.

EOB housing administrator Sagert said more frequent reviews could be useful -- "to make sure we're on track and doing what we're supposed to."

The lack of documents proving that the EOB's housing projects were helping the homeless was "previously identified as a concern during our ... 2001 monitoring review," the report said.

LoBene said a "concern" is a technical term that is not as serious as a "finding," the term used in this year's report. "Concerns are areas in which improvement could be beneficial to the program, and if not addressed could be the subject of findings in future program reviews," the report said.

Lera-Randle El said the use of such terms, together with the infrequency of program monitoring, leads to many organizations doing less than they are supposed to with public dollars.

"Jumping through these hoops would be fine if it was effective ... but it does nothing for guaranteeing that the money is where it is supposed to be," she said.

The EOB has seen a few hoops in recent months, as the HUD report is based on the second inquiry into problems with the EOB's board, management and programs. A third report, based on a visit from the federal Head Start bureau, has yet to be issued.

The EOB is the valley's largest nonprofit organization, with a 2003 budget approaching $60 million in mostly federal funds that pay for programs meant to help the poor.

The housing projects HUD reviewed are at 415 Adams Ave. and 618 W. Washington Ave., and include a total of nine apartments in two run-down single-story rows.

The Adams Avenue row has a yard attached to it, full of garbage and overgrown weeds.

The EOB apartments are supposed to house what the government calls "chronically homeless" persons, or those who have been without a place to live for more than a year or at least three times in the last four years. Additionally, the program is targeted at people who have what are called "dual diagnoses," meaning the homeless who suffer from mental illness along with addictions to drugs or alcohol.

After they are housed, the EOB is supposed to help the chronically homeless become self-sufficient, with jobs and a permanent place to live.

But the report says HUD was "unable to determine that clients assisted at EOB were homeless." Elsewhere, it says, "(e)ach file we reviewed lacked sufficient documentation to support ... the nature and quality of the services received."

Sagert said that the problems noted in the report took place before he was hired. Angela Quinn, currently president of the Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas, was Sagert's predecessor. Quinn declined to comment on the report's findings.

Sagert said he was "trying to respond to their findings" by reviewing information from previous years. He hoped a new intake system would provide more complete documentation on any future participants in the program. One finding -- the cost of office space -- has already been changed, since his office has been moved to a cheaper location, he said. A complete response to the report should be ready by next week.

"If we can't (respond), I don't know what will happen," he said. "Maybe the program won't survive."