Sheltered Inc. director Elaina Bradley said the organization denies any allegations in the report, and the nonprofit looks forward to proving its position.
In February, the Clark County commission terminated a $700,000 sub-grant agreement with Sheltered Inc., citing breach of contract. A memo sent to Sheltered Inc. by the JFS on Feb. 23 said the termination of the contract occurred after a review by staff from the state’s monitoring team.
Sheltered Inc. and other funding recipients that are classified by the CCDJFS as “low risk” are monitored for one month on a yearly basis. State monitors chose April of 2022 as the monitoring month for the nonprofit. Internal monitoring from the county’s job and family service department also used April of 2022.
An initial review by the county job and family services department in July of 2022 found that invoices from the Executive Inn, used as a shelter space, had occupant lists that did not correspond to the Prevention, Retention and Contingency (PRC) participant list, according to the report.
PRC is a program through Ohio DJFS that provides work support and other services to low-income families. This program is funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
People eligible for assistance through PRC include parents of children younger than 18 and pregnant women and teens. Services covered through PRC are the following: clothing and shelter, domestic violence housing relocation assistance, disaster assistance, transportation, employment and training.
Items invoiced by Sheltered, Inc. that were deemed “unallowable” include staff salaries, utilities, rent, insurances, office supplies, gasoline, facility maintenance and repairs, contracted personnel, hotels, gas cards, bus passes, meals and birth records, according to the report.
The monitoring also identified a potential conflict of interest with a vendor used for food services, a typo in paperwork that resulted in a higher reimbursement amount than what was spent, and some possible inaccuracies in documents, according to the report.
The total amount reimbursed to Sheltered Inc. was $495,290.86. The report indicated this money may need “reconciled.”
CCDJFS is also awarded incentives by the Ohio DJFS for TANF money that is expended. Removing the “unallowable” payments means the county’s department will need to repay the state approximately $60,000, according to the report.
The findings have been forwarded to the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office to determine next steps, according to the report.
Bradley said that in the coming weeks, the nonprofit faces difficult decisions, including scaling back on its services by converting a shelter space into a 12-hour, nightly shelter instead of a 24-hour facility. The nonprofit’s board has not reached a decision on that matter as of this week, however.
The nonprofit is also looking into other funding sources and working with community partners to continue providing assistance.
“We want to ensure that there is a resource for individuals and families that are faced with homelessness and have immediate needs,” she said.
The pandemic cast light on the prevalence of homelessness in Springfield and across the nation. Bradley said in the past two years, Sheltered Inc. provided shelter to more than 3,200 people who were in “immediate crisis.” Roughly 80% of those people served transitioned into housing.
“We’re continuing to try to stay focused on our mission,” she said.
By the numbers
495,290: The amount reimbursed to Sheltered Inc. in the monitoring report
700,000: The amount of the subgrant agreement terminated in February
3,200: Number of people sheltered by Sheltered Inc. in 2021 and 2022
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