CINCINNATI (AP) — The state’s government watchdog says
$255,000 in federal stimulus money for training Ohio workers might have
been improperly spent.
Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer’s
report released Tuesday questioned expenditures including wages and
benefits that weren’t documented as required and items such as cellphone
bills and gift cards that weren’t shown to be related to approved grant
activities.
A release from the inspector general’s office says
the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Office of Workforce
Development "failed to adequately oversee the $1 million federal grant
for the Constructing Futures" jobs-training initiative for southwest
Ohio.
Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for Job and Family Services,
which oversees federal stimulus spending, said Wednesday the agency is
reviewing the report.
"In some cases there may be additional
documentation that the local area has that justifies the costs," Johnson
said. "And in some cases, questioned costs may turn out to be
unallowable and we would look to recoup the money from the local area
and return the money to the federal government."
Job and Family Services has 60 days to respond, Ohio Deputy Inspector General Carl
Enslen said.
The
report was the last of a series of three on investigations by the
inspector general focusing on the Constructing Futures initiative. The
other two reports focused on central Ohio and northwest Ohio. The
initiative was established in 2009 to create pre-apprenticeship
programs, including education and work training with an emphasis on
minorities and women.
Meyer found potential misspending of almost
$467,000 of the $2.8 million in federal stimulus money spent on
Constructing Futures initiatives in central, northwest and southwest
Ohio, Enslen said.
The review of the program, which included
several organizations in southwest Ohio, found that a total of more than
$138,000 of the questionable expenses were for staff wages and
benefits.
Some of the specific agencies referred to in the report
included the Cincinnati Labor Agency for Social Services and the
Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency. The report said they
didn’t provide enough documentation regarding stipends paid to people
attending training classes, and the inspector general couldn’t determine
whether $82,557 in charges met grant requirements.
Cathy Metcalf,
director of the labor agency, said she couldn’t comment because she had
not seen the report. The community action agency did not immediately
return calls.
Other questioned spending included Allied
Construction Industries and Straight 2 the Heart, both in Cincinnati.
The report noted they were reimbursed thousands of dollars for
expenditures including cellphones, land lines and Internet services
without fully documenting that those bills were paid in keeping with the
grant.
Allied Construction also bought gift cards for door prizes
at training events, but the report said those purchases aren’t approved
under the grant. Terry Phillips, executive director of the nonprofit
trade organization, said it will review the report but is comfortable
with the work it did on the program.
A recording said a phone number listed for the nonprofit Straight 2 the Heart may
have been disconnected.
The
report also said the Easter Seals Work Resource Center in Cincinnati
didn’t provide documentation for more than $7,000 it received for staff
wages and administrative costs. Officials at the center, now known as
Easter Seals TriState, did not immediately return calls Wednesday.
The report has been forwarded to federal and other state officials for their review.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.