The Center for Immigration Studies reported this week on an audit conducted by the Dept. of Justice’s Office of Inspector General of possible improper use by Catholic Charities, a major refugee resettlement contractor in San Antonio, TX, of federal grant money.
Before I get to what Dan Cadman at CIS says about this revelation, readers should know that these government contractors are virtually never audited financially.
I was told when I first began investigating the Refugee Program that they were subjected to “program” audits only, but not financial ones you would expect when this many tax dollars are involved. What that means is that the non-profit contractor has to report on how well they are doing with their various projects and programs, but not how they spend the money (your money) or where exactly it goes!
It seems to me that a quick and easy amendment to Refugee law would be for Congress to mandate FINANCIAL auditing on a regular basis.
Here is Cadman at CIS:
The Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (DOJ OIG) released a report this month entitled “Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Awarded to Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of San Antonio, Inc., Texas”. The grant was for a substantial amount of money, $810,000, of which $730,491 has already been disbursed, and was intended to further the work of the South Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking and Slavery (STCAHTS).
According to DOJ OIG, “The objective of this audit was to determine whether costs claimed under the grant were allowable, supported, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and terms and conditions.” That’s pretty straightforward and seems like a basic requirement given the amount of taxpayer dollars involved.
The DOJ OIG staff found that Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio (CCAOSA) pretty much failed the audit on all counts:
Specifically, CCAOSA: (1) did not follow procedures for identification and procurement of contractors and there were no procedures for monitoring contractors, (2) had unsupported expenditures and drawdowns of $20,363, (3) submitted inaccurate financial reports, and (4) did not maintain supporting documentation for progress reports.
Perhaps such an examination should have occurred before more than 90 percent of the money had been provided, but that’s water under the bridge.
[….]
No amount of cross-checking by subject matter or division (ORR is a part of HHS’s Administration for Children and Families) revealed any audit work done by HHS OIG despite the tens of millions of dollars apportioned, and not just to Catholic Charities, but to a number of both secular and religiously affiliated charities. One wonders at this lapse.
New readers: See our three-part series on Texas from earlier this week, beginning with Part I here. Eight of the nine major federal contractors are operating in Texas, the top resettlement state in the nation.
See our previous post this morning on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops migration committee chairman calling for 65,000 Syrians (mostly Muslims to be selected by the UN) to be admitted to the US by President Obama before he leaves office.