WMass agency accused of misuse of $1M

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - State Auditor Suzanne Bump says that an Easthampton-based agency misused more than $1 million in public funds.

Speaking in Chicopee Thursday, Bump released details of an audit of the Northeast Center for Youth and Families (NCYF), which provides foster care and treatment for more than 600 emotionally disturbed or mentally ill Massachusetts children.

The Auditor says that NCYF overbilled the state Department of Youth Services some $651,000. She says that additionally, NCYF misused $406,360 to pay for treatment programs they operate in Connecticut, which is not allowed.

In a news release sent to 22News, Bump said that they are looking into whether this is a common practice with other agencies. “Our auditors are creating a data program that will help us quickly determine whether others among the nearly 1,200 service vendors may be using our tax dollars to operate out-of-state programs,” Bump said.

According to Bump, the state increased payments to two NCYF foster care programs after the state’s foster care population dropped. She says the state was concerned that the programs could suffer financial losses, but NCYF failed to provide proper documentation of the cost of running the programs. The Department of Youth Services admitted to not verifying the information against NCYF’s yearly financial statements, causing the $651,000 overpayment.

Bump is calling for restitution from the organization.

In addition to her criticisms over the use of public funds, Bump criticized NCYF for nearly $1 million in bonuses that the company paid out to its employees. She says that this is an apparent violation of a state-mandated “pay-for-performance” policy.

NCYF released a statement Thursday saying that they have cooperated with the State Auditor's Office for the last two years as they have been looking through their financial records. NCYF says that it disagreed with with many of the findings listed in a draft report, and that they will be reviewing the final report now that it has been released.

NCYF says that it followed-up on all recommendations the state made during the audit. "We worked diligently to resolve any and all policy issues when they arose, and we are pleased to say that before the audit was finished, we were in total compliance with state requirements and with standards for best practices among organizations like NCYF," the statement read.

The complete audit report is available from the Office of the State Auditor's website.