Monday, May 30, 2011

Bill Would Prohibit States from Keeping Children’s Social Security Benefits

States not only keep children's Social Security Benefits, they also bill Medicaid and Title IV-E for it and taxpayers allow it to happen.

Bill Would Prohibit States from Keeping Children’s Social Security BenefitsA U.S. Senate bill (S. 961) introduced May 12 by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would prohibit states from keeping foster children’s Social Security benefits. 

A recent report, The Fleecing of Foster Children: How We Confiscate Their Assets and Undermine Their Financial Security, decries the practice of keeping benefits as being unfair to children by robbing them of a possible means of support.

The report, issued by the Children’s Advocacy Institute, First Star, and the University of San Diego School of Law, argues that allowing foster children to keep their Social Security benefits would give them the financial safety net they need as they transition to adult life.

Estimates show that about 30,000 children in foster care receive Social Security benefits, either because they qualify as disabled, or because they have a parent that is disabled, retired, or deceased.
It is widely believed many more are qualified but have not applied.

Typically, states are appointed to act as representative payees for foster children and place the Social Security funds in a general account used to pay for foster care maintenance.

In 2003, children’s advocates challenged that widespread practice, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court in Washington State Department of Social and Health Services v. Keffeler.

The report alleges that when states act as representative payee, the law is not followed. For example, before appointing a representative payee, the U.S. Social Security Administration must conduct a meaningful inquiry and choose the most appropriate representative payee, rather than automatically appointing the state. Also, the representative payee must determine use of funds on an individual case-by-case basis, which does not happen when benefits are placed in a state account.

Some have argued against restrictions on the states, saying that if states are not allowed to keep Social Security funds, they will have no incentive to screen foster children for eligibility and assist with obtaining benefits. The process of applying for Social Security can be cumbersome, involving detailed documentation and a lengthy appeals process.

The Senate bill would require child welfare agencies to:
  • Screen children for Social Security eligibility
  • Assist with the application and apply to be representative payee if no other suitable party exists
  • Provide notice to the child if the child is over 14 years, or to the child’s attorney or guardian ad litem, of a determination to pay benefits to a representative payee
  • Create an individualized benefit management plan, which includes necessary items such as housing, educational opportunities, and the purchase of a vehicle
If requested by the child or his or her advocate, the plan could be reviewed at a permanency or administrative review hearing.

The bill also would eliminate for foster children the $2,000 income limitation for Social Security recipients, allowing youth to accumulate funds that could be used to meet needs while in foster care, or upon leaving the foster care system.

The report says that the average American young adult who is not in foster care receives from his or her parents approximately $50,000 after age 18 to help him or her become self-sufficient. That kind of support for foster children could prevent negative outcomes, such as dropping out of school, homelessness, and poverty.

The Urban Institute has issued a report saying households of disabled individuals with at least $2,000 in assets can better fend off short-term hardship and are less likely to make choices such as forgoing medical care and not paying utility bills.

The new requirements would raise implementation issues for states, not all of which currently seek Social Security payments on behalf of children. States would have to establish procedures for eligibility screening and assisting children with obtaining benefits. They also would have to assist youth in setting up a plan for managing their funds. The legislation does provide for technical assistance to the states.

While there would be administrative costs in helping children receive and manage benefits, some of the funds captured could be returned to the foster care system. Under the legislation, 50 percent of Social Security benefits for children under 14 could be applied to foster care maintenance.
A bill addressing state use of children’s Social Security benefits was introduced in the last session by Representative Pete Stark (D-Calif.). He is expected to introduce a bill similar to the Senate version in the coming months.

U.S. Senate Bill 961 To Prevent States From Taking Foster Care Youth Social Security Benefits

Palm Beach Post Exclusive: Jailed juveniles' doctors draw Medicaid inquiry

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi

The state Attorney General's Office is looking into whether doctors who have contracted with Florida's Juvenile Justice Department committed Medicaid fraud while working for the state.
Attorney General Pam Bondi's office is contacting Juvenile Justice and other agencies to gather information, Bondi spokeswoman Jennifer Krell Davis said Tuesday. She stressed that the effort has just begun, and it was uncertain what the review might turn up.
"If any information comes to light that would indicate Medicaid fraud, then we would certainly investigate any of those activities," Davis said.
DJJ Secretary Wansley Walthers
The scrutiny follows publication of a Palm Beach Post investigation, which found that Florida has medicated children in state custody with heavy doses of antipsychotic pills. Published Sunday and Monday, the stories also showed that doctors who diagnose and prescribe drugs for kids in custody have taken huge speaker fees from companies that make anti­psychotic pills.
DJJ pays for drugs prescribed to children in the department's 25 jails statewide, and in state-operated residential programs that house high- and maximum­-risk offenders. But psychiatrists hired to work in programs for low- and moderate-risk kids can bill Medicaid or private insurance for prescriptions.
One in three of the psychiatrists who have worked for DJJ in the past five years took speaker fees or gifts from drug firms that make anti-psychotics, The Post found.
The payments totaled more than $250,000 over two years.
"I'm sure there will be some eyes opened and some attention donated to that," said state Sen. Greg Evers, R-Crestview, chairman of the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee. "This is extremely upsetting, from a parent, from a taxpayer, from a member of the legislature, on all accounts."
Proving Medicaid fraud can be tough, said Ryan Stump­hauzer, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted health care fraud. In general, to make such a case, the government has to show that doctors billed providers for drugs that weren't medically necessary.
"A fundamental concept of Medicare and Medicaid is that they only pay for medical items and services that are reasonable and necessary for the health of the patient," said Stumphauzer, now in private practice in Miami. "If very heavy psychiatric medications were not medically necessary for the health of the patient and were submitted with some fraudulent intent, then that would be fraud."
Reacting to The Post's findings this month, DJJ Secretary Wansley Walters ordered a wide-ranging investigation into the department's use of anti-psychotic medications. DJJ's chief medical director, Dr. Lisa Johnson, issued a strongly worded memo urging doctors to weigh risks before prescribing medications.
As the state probe continues, and the attorney general asks questions, lawmakers, including Evers, said they are paying close attention.
"I'm appalled at the situation. We should not be medicating for conven­ience," said Evers, who said his office is in close contact with Walters. "I'm very upset to find this situation as it is today. But it will be changed."

SAMHSA Liability Disclaimer Explains Child Welfare Fraud

I have a problem with this report.

Here is a basic list of why:
  1. Weaknesses:  Whenever you list what the "Strengths" are, you always list the "weaknesses.  The purpose of this is to proceed to improve.  Guess they do not believe there is room for any.  They do include "Challenges", but challenges are obstacles or barriers, not weaknesses;
  2. Missing Data: There is no mention of missing data.  Many states do not report properly regarding their child welfare systems.  In far too great of occurrences, there are problems with late reporting, false reporting, duplicate reporting, incomplete reporting, fraudulent reporting, much is just not reported.  The technical term for this coding is "99".  Guess there are no errors over here.  Even though it has been identified that, in most of the listed systems, not all states report, missing data still deals with the data that are submitted, or rather omitted because it is voluntary;
  3. Biases: Certainly, if these child welfare systems maintained and imputed reported data which are reflective of the levels of abuse, neglect, torture and deaths within the child welfare system, then, and only then would these systems become credible.  Let us not be remiss in observing that these systems do not make any mention of litigation (i.e. civil and criminal) and the federal reported findings of severe failures of the federal and state grant management systems which have found multiple instances of fraud, waste and abuse.  As poverty is codified as abuse and neglect, it is non-existent in these data systems to report the lack of medical insurance, quality and affordable housing and poor community infrastructure as an identifiable category worth documenting and reporting.

This is nothing more than a public introduction to child welfare propaganda.  I want to see data maintained on:

Children who have been abused and neglected in foster care;

Children who have died in foster care;

Children who have been sexually abused in foster care;

Children who have been improperly placed in foster care.


The most entertaining part of this report was the disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and content of this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of SAMHSA or HHS.  Resources listed in this document are not all-inclusive and inclusion in the list does not constitute an endorsement by SAMHSA or HHS.
If this is the case, then why did it put its name on the publication and pay for it?????  These are just some of the many questions I get a kick out of posing and watching the blood drain from the faces of administrators.  Duh.
GAO Most States Are Developing Statewide Information Systems, but the Reliability of Child Welfare Data Cou...

George Sheldon joins Obama administration

Congrats, George!  We shall do lunch, very soon.  We have lots of fraud to talk about ending.

George Sheldon joins Obama administration

That job we said George Sheldon was getting with the Obama administration ... it's official now.
This afternoon Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that Sheldon would join the Administration for Children and Families. (Her note to staff is in the jump.)
Sheldon, who was head of Florida's Department of Children and Families under Gov. Charlie Crist, will get a sendoff from friends at Clyde's in Tallahassee beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
To: ACF Staff and HHS Senior Leadership
From: Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
I am very pleased to announce that George Sheldon will be joining HHS in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).  He will serve as Senior Advisor to David Hansell until David’s departure on June 17th when he will become the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary at ACF.  

George comes to us with over 35 years of national, state, and local government experience, having served most recently as Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).  Prior to that, he served as that Department’s Assistant Secretary for Operations.  During his time in Florida, George oversaw the state’s child welfare programs, fostering a 36% reduction in children in out-of-home care, focusing closely on integrating mental health and domestic violence services throughout the Department. He also helped the state dramatically reduce their SNAP error rate to become a national leader.

In early 2010, George worked closely with federal partners at HHS and ACF in the aftermath of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake.  Together, Florida and ACF met the needs of over 27,000 American citizens, 700 medical evacuees, and 600 Haitian children moving through the adoption process with American families.  Before his service at DCF, George was Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Services at St. Thomas University School of Law.  In 1975, George was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, where he built an eight-year record focusing on the environment and children. 

Born in Wildwood, New Jersey, George received both his B.A. and J.D. from Florida State University. 

Please join me in welcoming George to the Department.  We look forward to his leadership.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

How Not To Hide A Secret Love Child - Baby LK Report For May 29th 2011

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child protection industry.

God Practically Begging Michelle Bachmann to Run for President

God Practically Begging Michelle Bachmann to Run for President

God Practically Begging Michelle Bachmann to Run for President
Photo: Getty Images
Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann has long been toying with the idea of running for president, saying she'll run "if she felt that's what the Lord was calling her to do." Sounds like the Lord's come calling: "Bachmann made it clear Friday that she was leaning toward a presidential run," the AP reports. "I have this calling, this tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do," Bachmann said. She plans to announce her run next month in Iowa, as per God's request.

She heard me!  
Run, baby, run... you are my poster child for Medicaid fraud in child welfare!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

CCHR: Drugging Our Children—Side Effects



There is one more side effect to drugging children.  It's called Medicaid fraud.

Utah Seroquel Risperdal Complaint

Detroit Fraud in Child Welfare

Fired Detroit official defends $200K furniture buy

Shenetta Coleman


Detroit — A fired director at the center of the latest City Hall corruption probe admits her staff used federal funds for the poor to buy $200,000 in office furniture — and makes no apologies for it.

"It is legal to purchase furniture. I fail to understand the hype about the furniture," said Shenetta Coleman, who was removed last week from her $124,999 job as director of the city's Department of Human Services.

Coleman spoke about the accusations for the first time Thursday, since she was fired and four staffers were suspended without pay and Mayor Dave Bing announced an internal and police probe. Even as she defended herself, new allegations about her office emerged.

Police are investigating the disappearance of two flat screen televisions and other electronic equipment that her department bought with federal funds.

Bing's office also is concerned that Coleman's brother was hired by an agency funded with grants through her department.

Coleman welcomed the investigation but said she's not responsible for any misspending that is uncovered.

The furniture money came from a $1.1 million federally funded contract to Clark & Associates, a nonprofit that acts as a fiduciary, to provide a food pantry and clothing boutique for low-income residents. Coleman said she didn't know anything about missing televisions.
"Just because I am the director doesn't make me responsible for everything in the department," said Coleman, whose department provides anti-poverty programs, Head Start efforts and home weatherization services.

"I, Shenetta Lynn Coleman, do not order furniture. I do not order equipment. That was not my job. I have a staff person who was responsible for that."

"If I don't know about it, then there's nothing I can do about it. I cannot be in 29,000 places at once."

When asked if she was ultimately responsible as director, she said her job isn't to "hold someone's hand."

Despite her protests, Coleman is responsible for her staff, countered Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Bing, who added ignorance is "no excuse for poor judgment."

"All directors are charged with managing and held responsible for every aspect of their department including operations, personnel and performance," Lijana said.

Bing fired Coleman as director of the department, but because she had been a manager prior to her appointment, civil service rules allowed her to return to that post. After that, Bing suspended her for 30 days without pay. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, she could retain that job, Lijana said. Coleman said she is recovering from surgery and hasn't paid attention to media accounts of the controversy. But she said she's shocked by the outcry over last year's purchase of cherry wood desks, book shelves and conference table. She said her office needed an upgrade.

"My desk alone was being held up by a metal pipe," Coleman said.

Coleman said the furniture was permitted under the grant and represented a small percentage of what she said was $18 million in federal funds that went to services for the poor in Detroit. She also indicated state officials signed off on the purchase.

Greg Murray, vice president of the union, Senior Accountants, Analysts and Appraisers, that represents about 20 department staffers, bristled when told that Coleman defended the furniture expense.

He said some of the replaced furniture was only 2 years old: "$200,000 for furniture in a city department that was reluctant to open a warming center is heartless."

This winter, Coleman was at the center of a controversy because the city's warming center didn't open until the end of February. A longstanding policy mandated its operation, but Coleman said it couldn't open because of budget constraints and called a center a "nice extra to have." The city eventually released $150,000 in emergency federal funds to open the center two months into the season.

Bing's office also is concerned that Coleman never disclosed that a contractor working for her department had hired her brother, Lijana said. It's wasn't clear late Thursday if city executives are required to make such disclosures. The brother, Hyshon Coleman, is still employed and was hired more than five years ago by the Detroit Urban League to do home weatherization work for the Human Services Department, his sister and city officials confirmed. His salary wasn't available.

He was listed as a staffer on the internal department phone list and has a city phone number.
Shenetta Coleman said she was a deputy director at the time and had no involvement in the hire. But she did say a city employee under her — the weatherization director — brought him aboard.

Words of advice:  When there is an investigation, and we shall assume this is a federal investigation from the report findings I am including below, one should keep their mouths shut.  In this case, Shanetta Coleman's arrogance is only exceed by her ignorance in allowing for this interview.

Time to get legal counsel, my dear.
U.S. DHHS OIG City of Detroit Department of Human Services Audit 2009

State Medicaid Fraud Control Units 2010 Performance Sucks

For the Fiscal Year 2010, State Medicaid Fraud Control Units performance sucks.  They only brought in $1.8 billion in recoveries of fraud, waste and abuse.

The reason I say they suck, and I shall say it again, suck, is because they should have done better.  There were no cases to recover Medicaid fraud in child welfare.  Each unit contains a handful of attorneys to cover the entire state.  There are always more recoveries in the civil division than the criminal because States do not have the manpower, and in many instances, do not have the statutory power in the criminal sector.

Compile the lack of statutory resources with very little, if any, access to representation for the indigent, and you have a formula that will prevent these units from doing what they should, and that is ending Medicaid fraud in child welfare.

And now, with the new Kirk ruling, totals for next fiscal year will be even smaller.  Thanks, SCOTUS!

State Medicaid Fraud Control Units
Fiscal Year 2010 Grant Expenditures And Statistics
Statistics


In fiscal year (FY) 2010, the combined Federal and State grant expenditures for the State Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU) totaled $205.5 million, of which Federal funds represented $153.8 million. The 50 MFCUs employed 1,827 individuals.
Collectively, in FY 2010, the MFCUs reported conducting 13,210 investigations, of which 9,710 were related to Medicaid fraud and 3,500 were related to patient abuse and neglect, including patient funds cases.1Investigations resulted in 1,603 individuals' being indicted or criminally charged: 1,048 for fraud and 555 for patient abuse and neglect. In total, 1,329 convictions were reported in FY 2010, of which 839 were related to Medicaid fraud and 490 were related to patient abuse and neglect.
In FY 2010, States reported $1.8 billion in recoveries for both civil and criminal cases handled by the 50 MFCUs.2 In addition to other significant accomplishments of the MFCUs in prosecuting patient abuse and detecting and deterring fraud, this translates to a return on investment (ROI) of $8.98 per $1 expended by the Federal and State governments for operation of the MFCUs.3 The total number of civil judgments and settlements for the fiscal year was 1,077.
The MFCUs refer to OIG a significant number of cases for possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs. In FY 2010, 942 of the 3,340 OIG exclusions were based on referrals made to OIG by MFCUs.
With the exception of the MFCU grant expenditures and exclusion information, which are maintained by OIG, these totals are based on information supplied by the MFCUs and have not been independently verified by OIG.
1 For FY 2010, total investigations are defined as the total number of open investigations at the end of the fiscal year. For FY 2009, total investigations were defined as the total number of investigations that were opened over the course of the entire fiscal year.
2 Recoveries are defined as the amount of money that defendants are required to pay as a result of a settlement, judgment, or prefiling settlement in criminal and civil cases and may not reflect actual collections. Recoveries may involve cases that include participation by other Federal and State law enforcement agencies.
3 For FY 2010, ROI is calculated as the total dollar amount of recoveries in both civil and criminal cases divided by the total amount of grant expenditures by Federal and State governments. For FY 2009, the denominator for calculating ROI was based on funds awarded, rather than actual grant expenditures.

State Medicaid Fraud Control Units Fiscal Year 2010 Grant Expenditures And Statistics

Friday, May 27, 2011

SCOTUS Thumbs Its Nose At Congress

Basically SCOTUS is thumbing its nose at Congress. 
Call to Action
Allowing disclosure to competent government officials to substitute for disclosure to the public at large is tantamount to reviving the government knowledge bar Congress removed in 1986
The Supreme Court's recent ruling in Kirk undermines Congress' overhaul of the FCA in 1986 and reverts the Act to its pre-1986 "government knowledge" state.
Below are some notable decisions from Circuit Courts holding that documents submitted to the Federal government does not bar a relator action as to hold as such is tantamount to reviving the government knowledge bar Congress removed in 1986.
Under the current Supreme Court ruling these cases may have well been dismissed.
The federal court in the Western District of Tennessee, a court in the Sixth Circuit, held as a matter of first impression that self-reporting to the government of failures to comply with federal law does not constitute a “public disclosure” which could bar a lawsuit brought by a relator under the False Claims Act.  See United States ex rel. Cox v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., No. 08-2832, 2010 WL 4365467 (W.D. Tenn. Nov. 4, 2010).  In so holding, the Tennessee court rejected the Seventh Circuit rule and purportedly joined the First, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits.
The Public Disclosure Bar of the False Claims Act can preclude lawsuits where the allegations in the relator’s complaint had been publicly disclosed and where the relator is not an original source of information. 
In Cox, the defendant, Smith & Nephew disclosed to the federal government that it sold products to the VA and Department of Defense manufactured in Malaysia, China and Thailand without identifying these countries of manufacture; thus, Smith & Nephew failed to comply with the federal procurement law.  Smith & Nephew argued that these self-disclosures constituted public disclosures, thereby barring the lawsuit since the relator was admittedly not an original source.  The court disagreed, and instead found that allowing disclosure to competent government officials to substitute for disclosure to the public at large would be tantamount to reviving the government knowledge bar Congress removed in 1986. persuasive the First Circuit case, United States ex rel. Rost v. Pfizer, Inc., 507 F.3d 720 (1st Cir. 2007). 
History and Background of FCA And Amendments Thereto: The conflict between the Supreme Court'sKirk Decision and the 1986 Congressional FCA Amendments
In interpreting a statute, the court should look to the old law, the mischief and the remedy. A recognized rule of construction of statutes is to look to the law when the statute was enacted in order to see for what it was intended as a substitute, and the defects in the old law sought to be remedied by the new statute. 

The False Claims Act (“FCA”) is "the government’s primary litigative tool for the recovery of losses sustained as the result of fraud against the government.” Avco Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 884 F.2d 621, 622, (D.C. Cir. 1989) (citing S. Rep. at 5266).

The FCA’s modern incarnation resulted from amendments in 1986 and the clarifications and amendments enacted in 2009 as part of the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act (“FERA”). When the 1986 amendments were enacted fraud against [the] government was so rampant and difficult to identify that the government needed all [the] help it could get from private citizens. Accordingly, in an attempt to encourage the filing of more qui tam suits and to make the FCA a ‘more useful tool against fraud in modern times, Congress extensively overhauled the statute.
            In particular, the 1986 amendments provided that if there had already been a "public disclosure" of the pertinent allegations or transactions -- i.e., the false claims -- from certain enumerated sources, then only an "original source" of the information regarding the alleged fraud could bring suit. If there was no "public disclosure," however, then anyone who became aware of the fraud could sue to recover the ill-gotten gains.
Kirk turns the "public disclosure" bar on its head holding that any document received by an administrative agency including those created by a third party and merely produced in response to a freedom of information act (FOIA) request, where the relator is the but for cause (i.e. but for the relator's FOIA request, the documents would not be made public) of the disclosure, could trigger the public disclosure bar. 
Under the recent Supreme Court ruling in Kirk, once false claims are submitted to the government for reimbursement, they are public documents and cannot be used to demonstrate the legitimacy of the fraud claims.We request clarification from Congress that production of a FOIA request does not transform a document into a "report".

As held by at least six Circuit Courts (first, second, sixth, ninth, tenth and eleventh) disclosure to competent government officials to substitute for disclosure to the public at large is tantamount to reviving the government knowledge bar Congress removed in 1986.

Allowing disclosure to competent government officials to substitute for disclosure to the public at large would be tantamount to reviving the government knowledge bar Congress removed in 1986
This release is a call to action for Congress to clarify what constitutes a "report" under FCA and reject the Supreme Court's attempt to revert the FCA back to the government knowledge test specifically overhauled by Congress in 1986.

Detroit Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Fraud

Out of the darkest of Detroit comes a light.  I have found a blogger of power within the confines of Detroit child welfare which I strongly encourage everyone, throughout the world, to take the time and visit to taste the reality of child welfare fraud.

The details of the documented information are very well packaged in a timeline fashion to allow the reader to experience each, unbelievable event of fraud, unfold.

What gives his site credibility is that I formally endorse it.  I know these people and this blogger speaks the truth.


Child welfare fraud extends further than foster care and child support.  It treacherous tentacles are far reaching, deep into the bowels of all federally funded grant programs as there is no oversight, and now, with the recent ruling of SCOTUS, the ability to stop this type of harm against children would be wiped clean from the play books, allowing more "charitable" organizations to profit off the lives of children.

I have argued this for years.  Lyke Thompson does not like me.  He has endorsed and advocated for these lead abatement programs in Detroit for decades despite the fact that fraud runs rampant.

One of the little schemes goes like this:

A city does not ensure federal grant funding is being used for lead programs for children.  As a result, there is little done to assist the targeted population, children in lead contained living.  Children physically react to lead presenting high levels of cognitive and emotional developmental challenges, high rates of autism, and illiteracy.

Then, you have prominent researchers and organizations support the city's position with absolutely suspect and corrupt data, literally.

Poverty, being to root cause of lead poisoning in children, opens the doors for child protective services as lead poisoning and lead contained environments are classified as failure to protect and failure to provide the necessary needs of the child, which are legal definitions of child abuse and neglect.

Pharmaceutical Companies swoop in to promote the mental health component, encouraging more psychotic medication to be provided to children.  Children, under the auspices of the state are legal lab rats and Medicaid is billed, falsely and fraudulently, drugging children.

Child welfare agencies will launch child abuse awareness fundraising campaigns and the pervasive cycle of fraud will pick up more steam with the child abuse propaganda.

The model can be transposed to any city.  This just so happens to be Detroit.

Go get 'em!

Qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur!

Detroit Lead Czar Whistleblower Lawsuit

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Detroit health chief quits amid spending probe

Detroit health chief quits amid spending probe


Darren A. Nichols/ The Detroit News

Detroit —The city's health director resigned Wednesday amid an internal investigation over misspending, city officials said.
Health & Wellness Promotion Director Yvonne Anthony informed her staff she was resigning earlier Wednesday, spokesman Dan Lijana said. An internal investigation is ongoing into spending in the department, he said.
"There is an internal investigation at Health, similar to the one being conducted at DHS," said Lijana, referring to the Department of Human Services.
"Police were on site (Wednesday). Yvonne Anthony chose to resign her position (Wednesday) and related that info to her staff. She is in the process of being escorted out of the building."
Last week, Bing suspended Shenetta Coleman, the director of the city's Human Services Department, and several other staff members over the alleged misuse of the agency's assets and resources.
It is alleged Coleman used $200,000 in federal funding intended for low-income residents to buy furniture for the Human Services Department. The money came from a $1.1 million contract to nonprofit Clark & Associates to provide a food pantry and clothing boutique for low-income residents.
Bing said he will recommend firings pending the results of an investigation.