nothin Head Start Probed | New Haven Independent

Head Start Probed

Lucy Gellman File Photo

Rosales-Alban.

LULAC Head Start put its executive director on administrative leave following accusations of mismanagement at the early childhood education program.

A federal agency in mid-December investigated an anonymous complaint accusing the executive director, Magdalena Rosales-Alban, of mismanaging the agency that runs the Head Start program for New Haven schools, including allegations of misuse of federal and state funds, according to Superintendent of Schools Garth Harries.

The investigation — by the federal Administration of Children and Families (ACF) — concluded Rosales-Alban had allegedly inappropriately enrolled family members in School Readiness programs she was overseeing and facilitated a contract with a company formed by her family members.

As a direct result of the investigation, ACF designated LULAC high risk” because of concerns about the adequacy and implementation of LULAC’s management systems and program oversight,” according to Claudia McNeil, the school district’s Head Start director. Click here to read McNeil’s letter to the Board of Ed.

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Superintendent Harries updated the Board of Education on the matter in an email Thursday.

LULAC’s board put Rosales-Alban on administrative leave and is independently investigating any fiscal and programmatic issues,” Harries wrote in the email. We are and will all work together to maintain the services to New Haven students and ensure appropriate systems and leadership are in place at LULAC.”

The federal investigation also found significant staff turnover” at LULAC, another concern in the anonymous letter, Harries told the Independent inn an interview Thursday. Further investigation will reveal the exact cause of that turnover, he said.

The district regularly monitors Head Start programming and finances; the program’s money comes form the state and federal governments. Harries said his concerns include: “‘Are these things we should’ve known about?’” But the federal agencies said the specific misbehaviors are not things we could’ve or should’ve known about,” he said.

The district will enhance” its monitoring of LULAC based on the results of the final federal and LULAC board investigation, he said.

Noel Grant, director of the LULAC board, sent a statement to the Independent Friday afternoon: Our executive director is on administrative leave and the board has appointed acting codirectors to assure the uninterrupted continuation of the services and programs we provide in the community. The board will make no further comment until such time as there is appropriate information to share.”

He refused to release the names of the acting co-directors to the public.

A separate ACF monitoring review of Head Start and Early Head Start’s School Readiness programs in November and December found no area of noncompliance.” Click here to read that report.

Head Start was born in New Haven back in the 1960s. Its more recent history here at home has at times been rocky. In 2010, for instance, a federal audit found that New Haven’s Head Start Program misallocated $510,000, failed to provide health screenings for all children, and violated federal law in 16 different ways.

Rosales-Alban could not be reached for comment. She recently spoke about her work in an interview at WNHH Community Radio. Click below to hear the interview.

Tags:

Sign up for our morning newsletter

Don't want to miss a single Independent article? Sign up for our daily email newsletter! Click here for more info.


Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments