Comments (14) | Add a comment
Homeless youth charity can keep grant, commissioners say
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 22, 2012 | 8:42 a.m.
The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth will keep all $214,000 of its county grant funds, the County Commission concluded Tuesday.
The decision came about after half of that funding was being considered for a proposed summer swim program for low-income families. Charity officials said the loss of the funding would devastate the nonprofit's services.
As the embattled nonprofit distances itself from co-founder and former Executive Director Kathleen Vermillion, who left amid allegations she misused the group's money, some charity workers have said they felt the proposal was punishment for the alleged actions of previous leadership. And now charity finances are under investigation as a result.
John Simmons, vice chairman of the charity's board, thanked commissioners for their patience and support.
"We have never thought that this was in a mean-spirited way toward the agency," Simmons said. "We cannot fix what happened in the past, but we can certainly fix it going forward. And that's what we plan on doing."
During the discussion, commissioners brought up their concerns about how requests to use outside agency grant dollars, which come from the county's general fund, are examined. Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who sponsored the swim program proposal, asked the head of the charity's board to review the grant request because it was identical to what was submitted the previous year. She and other commissioners were concerned about how the money was handled.
Giunchigliani said she reviewed requests from 11 agencies on the agenda that were awarded similar funding and found at least six that used the "exact same verbiage and numbers and goals."
"To me, that's offensive," Giunchigliani said. "You're not proving what you're doing. You're just asking us for money. A majority of that goes to salaries, not to actual programming. That's the balancing act we have."
As grant dollars become more scarce, competition among groups is intensifying, so the requests should be scrutinized more and based on collaborative efforts, she said.
Giunchigliani said the homeless youth charity has received double the amount of money since 2008 while caseloads have declined.
"That called into my mind questions and legitimately so," she said. "Never at any point did we try to just raid one group for another."
About 300 youngsters take advantage of the charity's resources, which offers youth ages 12 to 18 living on the street access to food, clothes, showers, health care, counseling, tutors and an independent living program.
Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, who co-sponsored the swim program proposal, said there was never any intention of hurting the organization.
"All of this personal stuff, at the end of the day, has nothing to do with the kids who come there, and it has nothing to do with any of us here," Weekly said. "What I'm mainly concerned about is that you guys are doing what you're supposed to be doing with your dollars, and that they're being spent and not tied up in bureaucracy and red tape."
Weekly defended Vermillion's work in forming the charity, which has helped many homeless youth rebound in life.
A county audit performed in January found that funding provided by the county to the nonprofit was not subject to financial mismanagement under Vermillion's leadership. That audit focused on reviewing county funds, not funds provided by other community partners or private donors. The charity has hired its own forensic auditor and is conducting its own separate internal audit. The results of those audits will be made public.
The commission voted 6-0 to approve the funding. Commissioner Steve Sisolak, who is Vermillion's ex-boyfriend and one of the nonprofit's largest donors, abstained.
Vermillion has since dropped a lawsuit alleging Sisolak engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her 15-year-old daughter and released to county employees results of a failed drug test requested by the charity. Sisolak filed a report with the Metropolitan Police Department accusing Vermillion and her former legal team of criminal extortion. Police are still investigating.
The Nevada attorney general and the FBI have their own investigations into the charity. Neither department would confirm or deny such an investigation exists per each department's policy.
Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@review journal.com or 702-455-4519.
Trending topics:
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
RSC5691: I completely agree with you. I meant $100,000 /year for EACH of several DIRECTORS! Like you, and commissioner G., stated, they are too busy in computing their money and they don't work full time. When these organizations get rid of these money asking directors, MGM and other organizations will be back to donation mood.
becaritabletoothers: If you saw the annual salaries and fringes for the top five officers of several charities operating in Clark County, you would be astounded by the number of salaries well into six figures and high in five figures. You would further be astounded to know how many gave themselves substatnial pay raises over the course of the last three years. How much does an organizations spend on administrative (salaries, facilities, office operations) and fundraising? If these costs amount to over 20% of their total program, the organization isn't efficiently getting the donated/granted funds to the cause the charity was set up to address. There are organizations that rely on volunteer efforts and very effectively provide relief for their cause. And there are organizations with employees who pull a salary commensurate to their efforts and in line with making a decent living. But, unfortunately, there are top level executives that have taken advantage of peoples' benevolence and have ensured they receive a very lucrative income all in the interest of providing managerial oversight and fundraising panache for the cause. JapaneseLady, well over $100,000/year is what several top executives pull down; private sector is driven by profit...charitable organizations are "non-profit". If a profit-driven business can afford to pay over $100,000/year, that's one thing. But should top executives at charitable organizations be compensating themselves on par with private industry? I think not.
Is $100,000 a year for several directors who don't work full time cheaper than private sector employees?
Giunchigliani obviously knows nothing about how charitable programs work. Charities aren't like companies where they can continually grow their programs (or "product lines") year after year. It takes time to grow a program and thus sometimes the numbers remain the same. And as far as salaries go, how are you supposed to operate programs without paying people? Sure you could have some volunteers. But it takes way more than that to run a homeless youth organization. I'd like to know how many of the people who gave their 2 cents on this board even volunteer. And just for the record, most people employed by the nonprofits in our community do not make large salaries as everyone on this board thinks. They make less than most of us make and do it because they love the kids and the groups they work for to make our neighborhoods better.
They did the right thing, now the agency needs to prove what they say they do. Let us be clear this is the only game in town for these kids, there are not duplicate efforts anywhere so this non-profit needs to move forward. If they continue to help these kids become tax paying citizens then they should be supported.
Ms. Chris GIUNCHGIANI stated..... "You're not proving what you're doing. You're just asking us for money. Majority of that goes to salaries. not to actual programming. That's the balancing act we have."..... I SALUTE her. She is going to make changes.
Go ahead and keep it. Times are tough and the taxpayers dont mind. VOTE OUT THE INCUMBENT BUMS!!!
Her ex-boyfriend will just have to sit on his hand and later call it a stranger when it is numb.
214,000 bucks will pay a couple of Administrative Staff Salaries for the charity. But, they need more money to be able to divert something to the Cause.
Those responsible with stewardship of taxpayer funds must carefully consider how those funds are ultimately expended. Wrapping an organization with a good cause and paying top executives six figure salaries is how many people enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer. Are there noble causes? Yes. Are the expenses associated with serving the noble cause held in check? A good organization will ensure the preponderance of the donations fund the cause and not the overhead. How transparent are these organizations? Does the organization divulge the salaries of upper management? Did they give themselves substantial pay raises over the past three years while the majority of the economy received no raise or saw a pay cut? I understand those who devote themselves to service deserve a salary commensurate with their level of service. But to take home salaries in six figures or in the high five figure range, plus fringes and benefits??? When the organization is more interested in providing top dollar to their upper management staff, I'm not so sure they really are in it for the cause. Does a charity that benefits itself before funneling the money to its cause deserve to receive even more taxpayer funds? Only those that stand up to the highest level of scrutiny should continue to receive taxpayer funds.