CUYAHOGA COUNTY Mayor wants review of Head Start finances
High executive pay and low enrollment are raising red flags.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ohio's largest Head Start agency is too generous with some executives and sometimes fails to enroll the number of children it has been paid to serve, according to a newspaper's review of financial statements.
Mayor Jane Campbell has asked for an accounting of all executive compensation.
"The bottom line is clearly the board members have got to take a much more vigorous role around the financial matters," Campbell told The Plain Dealer for a story Sunday.
Jacqueline Middleton, the top administrator at the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland, was paid $243,929 in 2004, the newspaper said. New federal compensation guidelines include a cap of $162,100 for the job, according to the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, which oversees Head Start.
Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan wants to know how the agency's board, which approved Middleton's compensation, justified such pay for an executive director of a nonprofit agency that receives nearly all its money from taxpayers.
List sought
He has asked for a list of salaries paid to all top executives of nonprofit agencies that receive county money.
"We're sending a very clear message to every one of them that they're going to be held accountable to taxpayers," he said.
In 2002, the agency received about $32 million in federal Head Start grants to enroll more than 4,700 children.
Besides Head Start, the agency oversees day care, nutrition and fuel-assistance programs for low-income families in Cuyahoga County. These programs receive public money separate from Head Start.
The agency received $1.13 million from the county to provide day care in 2004.
Congress is closely examining the financial management of Head Start agencies as it considers changes to legislation for the popular program that helps poor children prepare for school. The recent review of Head Start executive salaries by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is part of that effort.
The Cleveland agency was one of nine nationwide selected for closer scrutiny because of concerns about executive compensation. About 1,600 Head Start agencies serve 900,000 children across the country using nearly $7 billion a year in public money.
The Cleveland agency sometimes fell short of federal requirements that 90 percent of Head Start openings be filled with children who meet certain low-income guidelines, the newspaper reported.
Also, in each year from 2000 through 2002, the agency did not reach full enrollment by October, although federal law requires Head Start agencies to reach full enrollment within 30 days of the beginning of the school year.
Common problem
Windy Hill, associate commissioner of the national Head Start Bureau, a department within Health and Human Services, said underenrollment is a common problem. There is greater concern when the problem becomes chronic and no system is in place to improve it, she said.
Hill said errors in determining eligibility are more serious than underenrollment because an agency may be receiving payment for children who do not qualify.
"We're giving them money to do X," she said. "If you do Y ... you should repay these funds," she said.
It's unclear from the audits if the agency has been asked to do that.
With the establishment of the federal compensation cap, Middleton will see her pay cut, although she was still trying to clarify what fringe benefits the government included in the cap.
Once she does, "we will be in compliance with the law," Middleton said.