DC Misspent Millions in AIDS Money: Post
Updated 5:30 PM EST, Sun, Oct 18, 2009
WASHINGTON -- The city with the highest AIDS rate in the nation isn't likely to curb that problem if the findings of a Washington Post investigation aren't addressed.
The 10-month investigation found that from 2004 to 2008 the D.C. Department of Health's HIV/AIDS Administration gave more than $25 million to nonprofits with questionable spending practices, few clients, poor recordkeeping and poor care.
From 2004 to 2008, about $16 million a year was divided among 90 small nonprofit groups.
More than 20 failed to file tax returns or secure a city business license, The Post found. Some groups submitted employee résumés and consulting contracts with false information, including fake addresses and credentials. Others had a history of financial problems or had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel or executive pay. One Northeast nonprofit group paid its executive director $357,000 in salary and benefits at a time when it was cutting back services.
The Post report mentions hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for a housing group with alleged ghost employees that left patients without power or food and a still unopened job training center promised by an organization started by an alleged drug kingpin, among other deficient agencies getting city funds.
Things to consider the next time the city holds a public launch of an awareness campaign, prevention education or treatment plan.
First Published: Oct 18, 2009 4:11 PM EST
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