Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on homeless audit:

Politics

Problems revealed in homeless audit may spark staff shakeup

By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff
Published: March 18, 2015

TAMPA — Hillsborough County’s Homeless Services program, which had rebounded after a scandal in 2013, failed to perform promised inspections at agencies that contract to house homeless people, according to an internal audit released this week.

The audit also found two agencies that contract with the county, the Agency for Community Treatment Services and Salvation Army, had not done criminal background checks of clients to check for felonies or sexual offenses as required under a federal Emergency Solutions Grant. Housing Services failed to catch the compliance failures through the department’s monitoring process, according to the audit.

“If monitoring compliance with all contract requirements is not performed, ineligible clients may be served and/or eligible homeless clients may not be receiving all services required by the contract,” auditors said in explaining the finding.

In two other, less-severe findings, auditors said Homeless Services did not consistently review invoices from the three agencies that contract with the county — ACTS, Salvation Army and Metropolitan Ministries, and did not make monthly program reports to the county’s Affordable Housing Services Department, the homeless program’s partner in the federal grant. Internal auditors reviewed a sample of nine invoices and found a total overpayment of $1,619.

The findings embarrassed County Administrator Mike Merrill, who apologized to county commissioners at their meeting Wednesday. In September 2013, Merrill fired managers and reorganized the former Homeless Recovery Program after it was disclosed the program paid Republican fund raiser William “Hoe” Brown $625,000 to house clients in substandard rooms and apartments.

“Even though no clients were put in harm’s way in this case … there is no excuse for not inspecting properties the way that we had promised that we would, that I had promised you and the community, and so I apologize for that,” Merrill said.

After the meeting, Merrill said he may restructure the homeless department once more. Merrill said he was angered more that his managers did not report the missteps to him than about the actual deeds themselves.

“The thing that really disturbed me was that the first time I found out we hadn’t met the commitment is when I got the audit,” Merrill said. “Tell me what the problem is. Don’t wait until it becomes a problem. That’s what I expect of all my staff.”

The findings were especially disappointing, Merrill said, because of the progress the county government has made in helping homeless clients since the Hoe Brown scandal. The Emergency Solutions Grant, which the county was awarded last June, provided $157,787 to rapidly find new housing for 56 families — 142 people — from June 3 through Sept. 28.

Then in November, the county partnered with the city of Tampa to address the plight of homeless veterans through Operation Reveille. In one day, the city and county were able to rehouse 52 homeless veterans in units furnished by Ashley Furniture. Each of the 11 families helped by the program got a case manager and 12 months assistance with rent and utilities.

“They’ve done so many good things,” Merrill said, speaking of Operation Reveille. “The problem is that all that gets overshadowed when something like this happens. It’s just stupid.”

Commissioner Sandra Murman, who has made helping homeless residents one of her missions on the board, called the audit findings a “blip in the screen” of an otherwise solid program.

“I’m not worried about it, overly concerned, because no one slipped through the cracks, no individuals,” Murman said. “But let’s just tighten up the ship, get it right, steer it forward and let’s do what we have to do again to get the job done.”