Weaponized Bureaucrats Part 3

My vocal opposition to the DeSantis agenda has earned me a spot on the enemies list.

Okay, so Part II left off with a private meeting between the Senior Chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, the Director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Office of the Inspector General. Whatever was said in that meeting caused Senior Chancellor Eric Hall to pause contract negations with our organization for services to be delivered during the 2021-22 school year. If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, you’ll find them below.

Naturally, I was highly offended. What “troubling concerns” and why hadn’t I been made aware of any concerns, much less “troubling” ones? Moreover, why in the hell are FLDOE and VR having private conversations about an ongoing audit to which they are party? I registered my outrage. I registered it with the Senior Chancellor, the VR Director, the Inspector General, the Commissioner of Education, the FLDOE Chief of Staff, and the office of the Florida Inspector General. I repeatedly got some version of “let’s see how the audit plays out.”

But the problem is, they weren’t waiting until the audit played out. They were making decisions based on “troubling concerns” that had not been verified in any way. That meeting and the immediate aftermath is the reason why I stand firm in the belief that the Office of Inspector General should not be housed in or have any reporting relationship to the agency they audit.

The purpose of an IG office is to investigate and audit government agencies and programs to ensure that they are operating effectively, efficiently, and in compliance with the law. Reporting to a state agency could compromise the impartiality of their work. At a minimum, it gives the perception of compromised impartiality. The IG office should have the freedom to access all relevant information, conduct investigations, and report their findings without interference or fear of reprisal. When Senior Chancellor Eric Hall called for that private meeting, I believe he infringed upon the independence of the auditing team; all of whom fall well below him on the organizational chart.

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Auditors are front-line players in ferreting out fraud, waste, and abuse. They work on behalf of the taxpayer. Period. And while they have the authority to make recommendations for improvement, they don’t have the authority to force government employees to implement those recommendations. Leadership must do that. A review of every single audit since 2018, tells the story of “troubling concerns.” Without fail - every single audit - finds that the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation does not provide adequate oversight of taxpayer dollars sent to Florida by Congress to improve the professional lives of disabled Floridians.

But I hadn’t done my homework so on 3:42 PM on Friday, May 7, 2021, when Tiffany Hurst, in her capacity as lead auditor, sent an encrypted message with the auditing team’s initial items of concern; I shuttered. It made no sense. Holy shit. This just can’t be. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

ITEM OF CONCERN 1: DVR Monitoring -

ITEM OF CONCERN 2: Review and Approval of Invoices -

ITEM OF CONCERN 3: Calculation of Pre-ETS hours -

ITEM OF CONCERN 4: Contract Language was Inconsistent -

ITEM OF CONCERN 5: Students served were not VR clients at commencement of services -

ITEM OF CONCERN 6: Questionable Service Hours were Reported -

ITEM OF CONCERN 7: Teacher Certifications

I took the weekend to calm down. Then I dove into the words on the paper. I read and I re-read. With the exception of one person, my entire management team had been working with me since 2007. I knew there had to be justifications for all these items. I hoped. I hoped we hadn’t gotten lazy. I hoped this wasn’t the moment everything that we had built as team wasn’t about to go up in seven fiery balls of “concerns.”

Then, I realized, even if there was human error, we undergo independent, professional audits annually. We had never, ever received even a recommendation for improvement, much less an “item of concern.” We have robust data collection that is independently housed and verified for accuracy. We reported that data VR every single month. VR reviewed, certified, and approved those reports every single month. None of those reports had been rejected or even had their accuracy questioned. What happened? Where is this coming from?

I sent the document to my team on Monday morning confident that we would be able to satisfy every item listed. I also knew it would require hundreds of hours of detailed research. The information, we had. It was the staff hours we didn’t have. I knew I would have to be focused full-time on this with no other obligations so this didn’t swamp the rest of the team who were already buried alive in VR process and paperwork. From May to July. Hundreds of hours. Hundreds of documents.

After we responded to the auditor’s concerns in full, they issued their final report. It detailed “troubling concerns,” alright. Troubling concerns that the Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation continues to ignore.

Lies, Cover-Ups, and Scapegoating

The first document, detailing the “items of concern,” stated that “We held a preliminary meeting with DVR staff on January 6, 2021. DVR staff informed us that monitoring by the Contract Manager consists of desktop reviews, which did not yield any findings.” So, even after stressful weeks, I was feeling pretty damn confident.

In July 2021, the completed audit was released. When I read, “During this audit we noted that, in general, JFG is providing services in accordance with contractual terms; however, we noted instances where DVR and JFG could improve internal controls.” I had some mild hope that this would foster more collaborative with VR. I was wrong.

The final report concluded -

Finding 1: DVR did not provide effective monitoring in accordance with the monitoring plan and risk assessment.

Finding 2: DVR did not inspect and approve invoices timely.

Finding 3: Contractual Payment Terms and Financial Consequences did not align.

Finding 4: Students served were not in the VR or Student Transition Activities Record (STAR) system in an active status at commencement of services.

Finding 5: Internal controls to track service hours for students in non-credit classes need improvement.

Finding 6: Certain instructors provided Pre-ETS services without the required credentials.

In short, the auditors found that our contract manager was not reviewing reports and invoices despite his January statement to the auditing team that he was providing proper oversight “yielding no findings.” The same Contract Manager was also responsible for approving our invoices in a timely manner. He failed to do so 92% of the time. It was my organization that was asked to provide documentation of that because FLDOE did not produce requested documentation to the auditing team.

“Per DVR, the contract manager accepted a new position at the beginning of the contract term but continued to provide oversight and direction for the JFG contracts. The balance of duties led to a delay in the approval of payments.”

Finding 3 related to some clunky language in the VR-authored contract. Easy fix. Finding 5 was specific to one program in Ft. Lauderdale. The program is what’s known as a “pull-out” program, meaning that our services were extracurricular as opposed to a scheduled class. As such, official attendance records weren’t logged into the school attendance system. Easy fix. Finding 6 was a bigger problem. The contract required our teachers to “hold either a current Professional Educator’s Certificate or a current Temporary Certificate.” One of our teachers held a certification issued by the school district, which is allowed by Florida law and bestows full rights on the holder but it was not specifically allowed in the contract language. The auditors recommended that VR “question” the costs associated with that program. Meaning they could have forced us to repay the funds we were paid for serving those students. They did not and we agreed to produce teacher certifications with our reports.

Finding 4 gave way to an epic battle. The contract required that “Students must be found in the VR or STAR in an active case status at the commencement of services.”

“We noted JFG does not use or have access to the VR systems. The Pre-ETS referrals are made by each school using a specific JFG referral form developed by DVR. Per JFG, they actively participate in parental engagement and informally track the student referral process by confirming that the VR Youth Tech has everything he or she needs. JFG does not receive communication from DVR regarding “commencement of services” or “active case status.” The services commence once the referral form and supporting documents are provided to VR for processing and the contract manager has been provided with the names of the referred students. In addition, JFG produced email correspondence with the DVR contract manager dated September 10, 2019, in which JFG inquired whether they would be able to go back to the start of the school or the date the referral was submitted when they begin submitting monthly reports. The contract manager responded, “We will be able to go back to the start of the school year for the VR folks.” However, based on contract language, referrals to DVR do not constitute approval to commence services. By contract, the students must be active in the VR system. Per DVR, the contract manager did not review the active dates of the referred students upon receipt of the roster included in the first quarter report submittal.”

We contended that, given our lack of access to the VR systems, it was the responsibility of the VR Contract Manager to review those dates and communicate any unauthorized service hours. VR never really answered that fully. In fact, our former Contract Manager is still working for the State of Florida, earning over $60,000 per year.

The battle over Finding 4 would cost us $500,000. And it continues to rage on today.

Next Up?

The settlement agreement that nearly killed me. And not in the figurative way.