Nonprofit Audit Raises Flags On Shelter Plan
State auditors found suspect spending by the non-profit group behind the proposed Glendale homeless shelter, and a local lawmaker has asked the city to indefinitely halt negotiations on the project.
In a letter sent on Monday, Mar. 3, to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi asked for “an indefinite suspension of contract negotiations” with Samaritan Village regarding its plan to develop a transitional shelter for up to 125 families at 78-16 Cooper Ave., a long-vacant industrial building.
Hevesi’s request came hours after State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit that questioned nearly $1 million in payments made to Samaritan Village by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). The state agency contracted the Jamaica-based non-profit to provide residential, outpatient and methadone treatment services across New York City.
According to the audit, Samaritan Village billed the OASAS nearly $1 million “for unallowable, inappropriate, questionable or undocumented expenses,” including $220,000 in unspent budgeted funds that were used to provide workers with one-time bonuses.
DiNapoli also questioned Samaritan Village spending over $406,000 on day trips and transportation for its clients, each of whom are provided with personal needs allowances to cover such expenses.
Another $34,295 was reported as a “bad debt expense,” which DiNapoli said was not allowable. The audit also found that the charity allegedly spent $55,000 for contractual services “with no identifiable benefit” and $35,158 for “unapproved high-end office equipment purchases.”
In a press release, DiNapoli criticized OASAS for allegedly failing to “effectively monitor this contractor’s expenses.”
Last August, Samaritan Village submitted a proposal to the DHS for the Glendale homeless shelter, which is projected to cost $27 million to operate over a five-year period. The DHS gave preliminary approval to the plan last December.
Community leaders joined Hevesi and other lawmakers in panning the proposal, charging that the project itself was costprohibitive. Reportedly, millions must be spent to clean up suspected contamination on the site and to convert the building for residential use.
Other opponents argued the shelter site is too far away from public transportation, and its development would put further strain on public services.
With the state’s top financial watchdog questioning Samaritan Village’s expenses, Hevesi told de Blasio and Taylor, he questioned the organizations’ ability to run a costefficient transitional housing shelter.
“These findings from the state’s top financial office deserve consideration from your administration when determining whether the City of New York should enter into a new extended contract with an organization that is currently being cited for potential operational deficiencies,” Hevesi wrote. “It is appropriate for the City of New York to suspend further consideration of new contracts with this entity until further investigation and analysis is complete with a full accounting by Samaritan Village for their actions.”
“Under your leadership, the new DHS commissioner and your administration have shown a willingness to look at the problem of homelessness and the delivery of homeless services through a new lens,” the assemblyman added. “It is my hope that you will continue this trend of reform by ensuring the integrity of all organizations that contract with the Department of Homeless Services.”
Taylor is scheduled to meet later this month with Hevesi and other local lawmakers regarding the proposed homeless shelter, a Department of Homeless Services spokesperson told the Times Newsweekly on Tuesday, Mar. 4.
The Times Newsweekly reached out to Samaritan Village for comment; as of press time, no response was provided.
