New Haven Independent

Click on the play arrow to watch the feds at work.

If not for the “federal agent” police jackets worn by the men continually moving in and out with loaded arms, it would have looked like a heist taking place amid the sleet and snow in the rush-hour darkness outside the antipoverty agency’s Whalley Avenue headquarters.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed that agents were executing a search warrant Wednesday at the agency, which has been plagued for years by continual corruption and incompetence. CAA receives both state and federal money for its programs.

HHS OIG spokesman Don White declined to provide details of what exactly the agents were looking for or what CAA programs were under investigation. CAA provides, among other services, meals on wheels for seniors and energy assistance to the poor.

One clue came in the boxes the agents carted to the U-Haul. Out of the first 20 or so, most were marked “2005-2006 ENERGY,” along with names of different individuals.

CAA has come under criticism from, among others, Republican state lawmakers and anti-immigration activists for allegedly providing heating assistance to undocumented immigrants.

Another of the boxes carted away Wednesday was marked “2003 2004 Staff Files.”

The U-Haul pulled up in front of CAA around 4:45 p.m. Shortly before, three agents left in a Chevy Uplander van also filled with boxes removed from CAA.

The agency itself closed to the public at 2:45. HHS OIG’s Don White stressed Wednesday evening that CAA officials, not the feds, made the call to close up.

“We made provisions that people could come in and get emergency supplies like heating oil,” he said. “I certainly hope it opens up for business tomorrow, because I hear it’s snowing like crazy up there.”

Some of the agents participating in the raids wore HUD jackets, not HHS jackets. HUD stands for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. White confirmed that HUD agents participated in the raid, but said the majority of agents came from HHS.

City Hall had no comment on the raid.

Nor did CAA’s chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, the state’s social services chief expressed confidence in CAA’s current leadership — while also revealing that his agency is conducting a separate probe of double-billing in CAA’s meals on wheels program.

As he taped an “agency closed” sign written on yellow legal paper to the front door on Whalley Avenue Wednesday, the finance director, Bob Podeswa, said the agents had been going through “records.”

Asked which records, Podeswa responded, “You can come back tomorrow. We’ll answer all your questions.”

“They’re just checking some records,” he said.

The agents conducting the raid referred reporters to the D.C. office of HHS for comment. Click on the play arrow to watch their initial response as the office closed to the public Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re an investigative agency. We do not have prosecutorial powers,” spokesman Don White said. “OIG is here to ensure that money for the programs [funded by] the Department of Health and Human Services … is being used efficiently and the public’s money is not being wasted.” OIG examines all of HHS’s over 350 programs, he said.

This is at least the third time federal agents have swooped into town in investigations this year. In March, the FBI made arrests at the police department’s narcotics unit as part of a corruption probe. In June immigration agents swept up undocumented workers. (Stories here and here.)

For previous stories on CAA’s woes, click here, here, here and here.

State Probe, Too

The Department of Social Services released the following statement:

“State Oversight Team at New Haven Community Action Agency; Statewide Review of Meal Program to Begin

“Launching a statewide review of taxpayer-funded meal delivery services, the Connecticut Department of Social Services has sent financial and program monitors to the Community Action Agency of New Haven after being notified that the agency double-billed another non-profit organization for delivering meals to homebound elders and people with disabilities.

“Social Services Commissioner Michael P. Starkowski last week assigned a six-person oversight team to review and approve expenditures of state and federal funds by the Community Action Agency of New Haven. In a larger initiative also authorized by Governor M. Jodi Rell, Starkowski directed DSS auditors to conduct a statewide review of meal delivery
programs operated by other non-profit service providers.

“The state action follows notification to DSS by New Haven community action executive director Amos Smith that he had discovered his agency has been double-billing the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut for meal delivery services to clients of state- and federally-funded programs. The Agency on Aging paid the Community Action Agency of New
Haven twice for the same meals from two different funding sources.

“No dollar amount was immediately available, but Starkowski said it appears the double-billing has been occurring for some clients for the past several years.

“‘This news is the latest in a series of problems at CAANH dating back many years and which resulted in DSS requiring a corrective action plan regarding the governance and administration of the agency,” Starkowski wrote in a letter to Smith last week. “It is understood that CAANH is a private, non-profit organization and, as such, has a large degree of autonomy and independence. However, because a huge portion of CAANH’s funding is derived from federal and state appropriations under the auspices of DSS, this agency has a responsibility to require
accountability, provide financial oversight and, if necessary, take whatever action is required to ensure the integrity of these funding streams.”

“Starkowski acknowledged in his letter that Mr. Smith is a relatively new executive director who inherited certain problems. ‘I appreciate your notification to DSS of the double-billing problem,’ the Commissioner wrote. ‘I know that you, as a professional in the field, will understand and support the rationale for this action and the critical importance of its success in resolving the financial and programmatic issues at hand.’

“In addition to stationing the quality assurance oversight team at Community Action Agency of New Haven, DSS auditors will visit that agency and the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut to audit and identify the double-billing overpayment amount. The funding sources in question are the state-funded Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the mainly federally-funded Elderly Nutrition Program under Title III of the Older Americans Act.

“Next, DSS will audit all meals-on-wheels elderly nutrition contractors and sub-contractors to determine if there have been other cases of double-billing for the same meals delivered to low-income clients.

“The Elderly Nutrition Program, funded at $11.2 million to 13 non-profit contractors, serves about 15,400 clients with meals in community settings and about 8,100 clients with home-delivered meals. The Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders serves additional clients with home-delivered meals as part of its role in helping senior citizens avoid institutionalization.

“Commissioner Starkowski stressed that DSS has no reason to suspect at this time that other meal delivery programs are tainted by double-billing or other financial irregularities. A statewide review is necessary, however, to ensure that fiscal missteps are not occurring elsewhere, he said.

“Members of the new DSS quality assurance oversight team began working at the Community Action Agency of New Haven last week. Starkowski said they will be there indefinitely as part of the overall effort to help the agency rebound from its continuing operational problems.”