'Disappointed, frustrated and troubled.' Monroe County investigates misspent federal funds

At least one investigation is underway this week into the apparent misallocation of resources by a local non-profit tasked by Monroe County with managing a $7.2 million federal grant.

Community Resource Collaborative serves as a fiscal agent for money to be divided among 12 other local organizations for anti-poverty and community-building programs. The group is known collectively as the Neighborhood Collaborative Project.

Last week, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello announced the county has paused payments after CRC flagged a problem with its own internal fiscal controls.

The county has already disbursed about $1.1 million to CRC, Bello said; it is unknown how much of that reached the agencies that were the intended recipients.

What does the Neighborhood Collaborative Project in Rochester say?

In a statement, the Neighborhood Collaborative Project leaders said they are "disappointed, frustrated and troubled by the negative impact of these actions on our partners and those they serve," and said they are committed to transparency and accountability. Leaders of several of those organizations, however, declined to comment on the record.

The county's external auditor, EFPR Group, should complete its analysis within a few weeks, said County Attorney John Bringewatt. That analysis will determine what happened to the checks that were already sent out and will dictate how the county proceeds.

"These are tax dollars," Bello said. "We have a fiduciary responsibility, and I have a responsibility, to make sure that when something like this happens we find out what happened ... and we hold those accountable who did this."

Monroe County grant contracts: How is money spent?

In the meantime, Legislator Rachel Barnhart Monday requested that federal prosecutors look into how CRC became the fiscal agent in the first place.

As she notes in the letter, CRC began operations only a few months before the contract award in September 2022 and hadn't even yet received its formal state certification as a not-for-profit. Its mission is to help connect young people with social services.

The Legislature voted to approve that and other federal grant contract awards in December, but Barnhart said the county has obscured detailed information about how that money is being spent.

"I believe an investigation is necessary to determine if federal COVID relief dollars are being spent appropriately in Monroe County, and if the Bello Administration has performed due diligence in selecting and monitoring grantees," she wrote. "Funds remain at risk and nonprofits that perform crucial services to Monroe County residents are in danger of curtailing their services and even shutting down."

County spokesman Gary Walker said CRC was already listed as fiscal agent when the Neighborhood Collaborative Project applied for the grant. He accused Barnhart — with whom he feuded late last year on another matter — of causing "distraction from the investigation and the County’s efforts to help NCP continue providing critical services for our most vulnerable residents."

CRC Executive Director Anthony Hall declined to comment. He succeeded the founding executive director, Tina Paradiso. She was also part of the leadership of another organization that Barnhart identified as an unlikely grant awardee, the Reentry Association of Western New York.

Like CRC, the Reentry Association is a small umbrella organization with little reportable revenue. It received a $4.6 million federal grant through the county in September 2022. Its president, Ann Graham, did not respond to a request for comment; neither did Paradiso.

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— Justin Murphy is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York." Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CitizenMurphy or contact him at jmurphy7@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Monroe County pauses payments to Neighborhood Collaborative Project