First we had the overtime scandal in the City of Durham police department. Now Durham County is in the spotlight for an incredible amount of squandered federal grant dollars.
On top of that, the Herald-Sun reports county auditor Richard Edwards has told commissioners social services employees weren’t telling the truth when they initially told commissioners that federal budget cuts were the reason the Families First program was shut down.
The claim followed discussions between DSS and Lindsay-Lucas’ employer, Durham Congregations in Action.
DSS leaders told the group they “had concerns about contract performance but would attribute the reasons to budget concerns only” in public, reasoning that Lindsay-Lucas “could be adversely affected if performance issues surfaced,” Edwards said in his written report.
In July when, questioned by commissioners, officials conceded the federal government hadn’t trimmed the grants DSS used to pay for Families First.
At that point, they also admitted they didn’t think the program had been working well.
Not working well? That’s being kind. The story says the program was in place for 11 years with a budget of $600,000 and that just 85 poor families were helped.
This is the face of government inefficiency. Good intentions are not enought when public dollars are involved. This story illustrates why the public is best served when government is limited and closely watched. Not only did taxpayers lose bigtime on this, but so did the truly vulnerable families. Just 85 received assistance from the program — an average of 7 to 8 per year.
