ResCare, Inc. – the second-largest Job Corps site operator in the nation – improperly billed the Job Corps program for nearly $117,000, including roughly $66,000 for one Job Corps center director’s personal housing and travel expenses, a new audit has found.
ResCare acknowledged that it erred in billing Job Corps for the personal housing and travel expenses, as well as a some of the other alleged improper expenditures, according to the report by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General.
The audit looked at ResCare’s operation of the Treasure Island Job Corps site in San Francisco and the Miami Job Corps site in Florida.
It found that ResCare billed the Job Corps program $55,474 for 25 months of lease payments for a San Francisco residence for the Treasure Island center director (CD), who also maintained a home in Atlanta.
The expenditure was listed as an “office” expense, which ResCare claims it did by mistake, according to the audit.
ResCare also charged $10,079 in personal travel expenses for the center director and his spouse to travel to and from their home in Atlanta several times in 2008 and 2009, the audit found.
“ResCare explained that the center was in the last option year of the contract and the CD was reluctant to relocate his family to the San Francisco area until the contract had been re-awarded,” the audit states. “ResCare considered the cost of the trips a necessary business expense in order to retain the CD for Treasure Island. ResCare acknowledged it erred in charging these expenses to Job Corps and will credit $10,079 to Job Corps.”
ResCare’s Treasure Island contract was not renewed.
The audit also found that ResCare did not keep thorough training records for youths in its programs and that it failed to properly deal with various infractions by program participants.
The Inspector General recommended that ResCare reimburse the government for the improper expenditures and place tighter controls over its billing and disciplinary practices.
The exact amount of damages owed by ResCare is still being determined.
