The chair of the Marion County Board of Commissioners had harsh criticism for the Marion County Homeless Council (MCHC) during Tuesday’s board meeting, accusing the council of bad accounting practices and recommending the county assume some of the council’s responsibilities.
During the meeting, District 5 Commissioner Michelle Stone suggested that MCHC lacked the ability to accurately track and report financial information, citing multiple requests that allegedly went unanswered.
“For two plus years, I’ve asked for a breakdown: What is the Continuum of Care budget and what are the expenses? And I’ve asked for the lead agency, what is the lead agency budget, and their revenue stream and expenses,” said Stone.
Stone, who has sat on the board for the Continuum of Care Program (CoC) under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for over two years, suggested that it was unusual to not have received a complete financial breakdown during her time on the board.
“I can tell you as an individual who has talked to other nonprofits, and asked ‘if I asked for an income statement and a profit and loss, can you give that to me within an hour,’ the answer is yes,” said Stone.
According to HUD, the CoC program is designed to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness.
Stone elaborated that the financials shared by representatives from MCHC were not organized in a way that lended credibility and that it was difficult to understand the breakdown in income and expenses across the CoC and MCHC.
“This is not in a format that I would have expected to see. I would have expected to see a sheet that says here are all of our income streams, here are the grants, here are the expenses and where the monies go,” said Stone.
As a result of the lack of financial accountability, Stone suggested that MCHC could not make legitimate strides towards its ultimate goal.
“I do not believe the lead agency has the ability to continue to allow us to move forward with making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring with today’s setup,” said Stone.
Stone continued by alluding to a conflict of interest, suggesting the MCHC could not manage funds from the CoC as the lead agency because it was also bidding on those funds as a direct service provider.
“[MCHC] cannot allocate from a lead agency standpoint because the lead agency also is a direct service provider in addition to managing the funds. As the lead agency, they sit on a rank and review committee that also determines where the funds go to the other agencies. They are competing for those funds that they are also attempting to distribute out to other agencies,” said Stone.
She explained that over 50% of these CoC funds have been distributed to MCHC.
Stone went on to suggest that the county should replace MCHC as the lead agency, citing the county’s current accounting practices and the way it handles grants.
“We already get the funds, we have competent people. We’ve got great accounting processes,” said Stone.
In visiting other counties, Stone suggested that this process was made more transparent and that dollars were more accountable whenever the county was the lead agency.
“I think it would be very easy and very transparent with great accountability for us to be that lead agency going forward,” added Stone.
The proposal will now be reviewed by CoC membership, who have developed a committee to decide whether or not to implement the city and county as lead agency.