[ad_1]
PITTSBURGH — They are “at-risk” children, often neglected or even delinquent in special programs working to give them a bright future. The need is so great, why are so many of these programs here in Southwest Pennsylvania denying federal funding from America’s relief plan when it’s needed most?
Eleven studies looked at billions of dollars in federal funding allocated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to help schools recover from the impact of COVID. There was so much money set aside that 2.5%, or about $20 million, was set aside for programs and institutions that help neglected and delinquent youth.
Surprisingly, Channel 11 found 21 of these programs that help troubled youth refuse to accept money. Even more surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of her 15 were from southwestern Pennsylvania.
money on the table
John Bukoback is president and founder of Alternative Living Solutions in Westmoreland County, which provides transitional living for troubled children, including those who have graduated from nursing homes.
ALS was one of the programs that turned down the money.
“We left the money on the table, yes,” Bukovak said.
“I don’t know if I dropped the ball, but I definitely didn’t catch it,” he said.
ALS has been allocated a total of approximately $120,000 for the program’s eight neighborhoods.
The facility was found to be refusing funding on a list provided by the DOE to 11 law enforcement agencies.
Bukovac initially didn’t remember receiving the money notice, but when he searched his email, he found one message and didn’t have much time.
“This was all happening at avalanche speed,” he said.
The email arrived on Friday afternoon, August 2021.
“(It said, ‘Hey, this money is available. It will take three days to meet our request,'” Bukovak said in a summary of the email.
This email was forwarded to ALS from an intermediary unit that ALS works with to raise funds for student residents.
The message at the top of the email reads, “This message is being sent on behalf of N and Ken Krawchuk, Program Manager, Federal Programs Division, Pennsylvania Department of Education.”
Bukovaci had until next Monday to accept or reject the funds, according to the email, and was only given three days, including two over the weekend.
“I don’t know how, what conditions were put on them, what they had to do for it, whether they would report on it, how they would do it,” Bukovac explained.
He just got a PPP loan that ALS had to partially repay and didn’t fully understand what the money could be used for so quickly without more information I was hesitant to accept additional funds.
“Who are you going to call in three days?” he said.
So he declined.
Reporter Angie Moreski asked, “Do you regret it now?”
Bukovac said, “I think it’s a matter of hindsight. Hindsight is always 20/20.”
Bukovac says he tries not to have any regrets, but wishes he had more time and information about the funding designated for his facility.
“We could have used that money to build a new furnace or refurbish the conference room,” he said. “It would have been exceptional.”
Bukovac wasn’t the only one who didn’t receive the money.
Several Southwest Pennsylvania Programs Denied Funding
As part of ARP funding, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has allocated $20 million to 179 programs for “neglected and delinquent” youth statewide.
Most accepted the funds, but 21 declined their share, according to the state. That’s 12%.
Surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of the reduced quota, 15, were from southwestern Pennsylvania.
Here are the rejected ones:
- $120,000 for ALS in Westmoreland County.
- $22,000 for Girls’ Hope of Pittsburgh in Coraopolis.
- Approximately $400,000 for outside-in schools in Westmoreland County.
- About $300,000 for the now-closed Schumann Juvenile Detention Center in Allegheny County.
- $164,000 for Westmoreland County Youth Asylum and Youth Services Center.
Notification confusion
Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chu told 11 Investigates that he was stunned to learn that the county had been offered $164,000 and would not accept it.
Moreski asked the commissioner.
Chu agreed. …
I can’t believe we leave money on the table. “
Chew said the $164,000 would have helped their Youth Shelter and Youth Center “extremely.”
“These centers are very difficult to fund. It is always difficult to find staff, so this type of ARP fund will definitely help,” he said.
He vowed to find out why the money was turned down.
“We need to do some research to find out where the money came from and where and who dropped the ball,” Chu said.
11 The survey contacted multiple programs listed as having lost funding, and several said they did not remember receiving notice of the funding.
“Wow, I don’t know. This is really weird,” he said when I called Tom Wiese, executive director of Girls Hope in Pittsburgh. No. I certainly didn’t know we even turned it down.”
“It (money) has been incredibly helpful,” Weise added.
what happened?
We have spoken with DOE state leaders who are responsible for distributing money to neglected and delinquent agencies.
In a Zoom call, I asked Susan McCrone, the head of the Federal Programs Department, if only one email would be sent.
“I’m not alone. Oh my god, no,” said McCrone.
McCrone and DOE’s deputy director of administration, Lori Graham, said they were well informed about the grant.
“We were really, really trying to put everything out there and make sure everyone had a chance,” Graham said.
McCrone said he was surprised when the programs and institutions to which he was assigned N&D funding told 11 Investigates they wanted the money, but they had received limited notice or didn’t even know about it. said.
“I’m a little surprised,” said McCrone. “I feel like I have to live in a hole because I don’t know. Well, I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way, but ESSER (School Pandemic Relief Fund), COVID Relief Fund, CARES Fund, ARP . In general, the action is there.
But something was missing.
communication breakdown
Graham told 11 Investigates that the DOE has done a lot of outreach on the funding.
“Susan’s team, like everyone else, did a lot of outreach because they wanted these LEAs[local educational institutions]to get funding,” says Graham.
“We understand that problems can arise, so Susan has what we call ‘office hours’ twice a week when the LEA can come and ask questions. we encourage them. We are in weekly contact with all organizations. ”
However, none of the N&D programs we spoke to said they were getting weekly communications.
One potential problem. “Neglected and delinquent” institutions are different from schools that typically receive funding from DOE. The N&D program gave this money job outside the typical DOE channel.
In fact, the state told 11 Investigates that these agencies were unable to receive funding directly from the DOE. They had to go through the Intermediate Unit, a regional educational service agency created by the school district or state to help coordinate programs.
It may be where some of the communication breakdown occurred.
“Services need to be adjusted to ensure funding is accepted and executed on their behalf,” says McCrone.
They acknowledged that the notification may have gone unnoticed.
“The turnover rate at these entities is so high that someone may have left, and they may have fallen out of it,” said Graham.
However, the DOE did not elaborate, but it is unclear who sent the notifications to the entity, exactly how many and when.
missed chance
We followed up with Commissioner Chu of Westmoreland County.
Chew said he had the county’s IT department perform an extensive email search to determine if anyone had received a notification and missed it.
“Commissioners, finance departments, solicitors, people who usually get emails saying funding is available don’t have email records,” Mr Chu said.
Chu said the only conclusion he could come up with was that the state had dropped the ball on notifying programs and agencies that funds had been allocated.
“Most of the ads they did seem to have been at educational conferences and educational seminars,” he said. “I think they did a poor job of communicating this to people outside of traditional educational channels.”
closed the window
Unfortunately, the window through which these facilities accept funds closed in August 2022.
So many people who wish they had more information are frustrated at the missed opportunity.
“Westmoreland County has the only juvenile detention and shelter program in all of Pennsylvania.
The state tells 11 Investigates that it is in the process of deciding how to redistribute the remaining funds.
“The doors from the original opportunity are now closed, but we still have to work through the redistribution process,” McCrone said.
When asked if the entity that originally allocated the funds would be able to receive it, she said, “At this point, I definitely don’t think no.”
11 Investigates has reached out to the country several times since that interview, but received only evasive responses.
“The redistribution will be subject to federal and state legislative approval,” DOE communications director Casey Smith wrote in an email this week.
Chu also says he called Harrisburg a few weeks ago to try and find out if Westmoreland County could still make money. As of this writing, he has not yet received a response.
download Free WPXI News App For breaking news alerts.
Follow news on Channel 11 Facebook When twitter. | | Watch WPXI Now
©2022 Cox Media Group
[ad_2]
Source link