Federal officials warn EOB of loss of money for programs

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 | 11:21 a.m.

Federal officials told board members from the Las Vegas Valley's largest nonprofit agency Tuesday that the agency needs to show them its early childhood programs are being well-run or could lose millions of dollars in funding.

The regional office of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, called the San Francisco meeting with board members of the Economic Opportunity Board to "remind them that they are ... responsible for the conduct of their employees and what's happening with the agency," said Windy Hill, associate commissioner of the Head Start bureau, in an interview before the meeting.

The meeting was in advance of an April 5 inquiry by the bureau into the EOB's Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The inquiry was prompted by problems found in those programs ranging from an inability to demonstrate compliance with changes required by a 2003 review to allegations of possible fraud.

"This was a face-to-face review of everything that was expected of us," said EOB board member Chester Richardson, shortly before boarding a plane back to Las Vegas.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, a board member and EOB spokesman, said he would not comment on the meeting.

"I will leave that up to the chairman to issue a statement." He said an EOB board meeting on March 31 is open to the public.

Calls to Hill were not returned.

In her invitation to Tuesday's meeting addressed to board chairman Claude Logan, HHS Regional Administrator Sharon M. Fujii said "oversight of federal Head Start and Child Care (sic) funds ... internal fiscal controls, and management of Head Start funds" would be addressed.

Richardson said eight of 14 board members attended the meeting, with Neal being the only elected official of four on the board. The other three are Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who is the board's vice chairman, Henderson Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers and North Las Vegas Councilman William E. Robinson.

With more than $12 million in federal funds, the early childhood programs are the $60 million nonprofit agency's second biggest budget item, topped only by a $20 million child-care assistance program, also under scrutiny in recent weeks due to $2.1 million in unaccounted-for funds. The EOB runs about 30 programs, ranging from child care, Head Start and senior day care to alcohol and drug addiction treatment.

Almost a year after the federal government's 2003 Head Start review, the EOB still hasn't demonstrated that it is abiding by federal requirements, including the 15 percent administrative expense limit and use of the funds only for Head Start and not other programs, Hill has said in recent days. Less than 10 percent of Head Start programs nationwide require follow-up visits due to dragging out responses to triennial reviews, such as EOB has done, Hill said.