Governor puts disability group under state rule

U.S. slashed funding, citing independent council’s woes

Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association at the Arlington Hotel & Spa in Hot Springs in this file photo.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association at the Arlington Hotel & Spa in Hot Springs in this file photo.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday ordered that a state board that has operated independently for more than 43 years be placed under state supervision.

The action to move the Arkansas Governor's Developmental Disabilities Council under the control of the state Department of Finance and Administration comes after a federal agency placed the council on "high risk" status, suspended the greater part of its federal funding and ordered the council to "cease and desist" contributing to all externally funded projects.

"Based upon information we received from the federal managers, these are problems that predate the current leadership," Hutchinson said in a news release. "I am asking Director Eric Munson to work with DFA to ensure that we make the changes that are federally required. I remain firmly committed to the mission of the Council in advocating for the disability community."

The council's estimated $1 million budget is largely funded by the $750,000 it receives from the federal Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Community Living. About $525,000 of that funding is now frozen.

Remaining federal funds can be used only to pay for the council staff and operations to carry out the corrective action to bring the council back into compliance.

The governor-appointed, 23-member council was established in 1972 and is responsible for identifying the needs of the developmentally disabled, educating the public and distributing grant money to community programs. It is not affiliated with the Department of Human Services' Board of Developmental Disabilities Services, which oversees a DHS division of the same name.

Council Chairman Matthew Glass of Marion said Thursday that no outside programs that received grant funds from the council were in danger of ending.

"No entity is solely dependent on money from the council, and we do not provide any direct services to the developmentally disabled," Glass said. "Entities make applications to us for grants, and we award that money. This action means we will not be able to honor any money that we had pledged until we get things taken care of."

Information on outstanding pledges was not available late Thursday.

Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said the council could not be placed under the Department of Human Services -- which operates programs for the developmentally disabled -- because the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 prohibits supervision of the independent council by any state agency that provides or pays for services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Davis also said the inclusion of the council under the Department of Finance and Administration's umbrella does not change the council's obligations under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

In a letter Monday to Munson, the Administration for Community Living determined that the council has had "ongoing, systemic compliance issues" and other problems in "governance, fiscal management, use of federal dollars, federal reporting, state plan implementation, monitoring of Council activities, membership, accommodations for individuals with developmental disabilities, orientation and training for DD Council members, and orientation and training for DD Council staff."

The federal agency -- which conducted an on-site review May 18-20 -- also expressed concerned that the council's staffing level was not adequate to bring the council into full compliance.

Glass, who was appointed to the body four years ago, said he became acutely aware the council was in trouble when he took the chairmanship in October.

"I realized then that our train was completely off track," Glass said Thursday.

Glass said he immediately reached out to then-Gov. Mike Beebe, and an audit was performed.

In December, the state auditor said the council should return about $280,000 in funding because the money was not spent within the required time frame.

The council is required to spend at least 70 percent of its funds on services for the disabled, with the remainder going toward salaries and other administrative expenses.

The audit found that the council also fell behind in awarding grants, which must be obligated by the end of the fiscal year after the money is awarded from the federal government.

The council reallocated some money it had been awarded by the federal agency in earlier years from grant funding to administrative expenses in order to spend all of its funds within the required time frame.

"When I became chairman in October, we had an executive director who had been out on leave since the first week of September," Glass said. "We did not have an executive director working from the first week of September until Eric [Munson] was hired in February."

Munson is the fourth director of the council in the past five years.

Regina Wilson, who was hired as the director in 2010, was fired by the council in 2012 and is now suing the council in Pulaski County Circuit Court. Subsequent directors resigned after only short stints with the council.

All of the council's other employees have been working in their jobs for less than two years.

Munson said he's not going anywhere.

"I'm totally committed to this," he said. "It will be a huge lift to handle. I've been dealing with audits, internal problems, lack of documentation and a lot of unfortunate actions since I came to work in February. At the end of the day, there are a lot of developmentally disabled people that we have not been able to help because the agency wasn't fulfilling its mission."

Munson said he has leaned heavily on the Department of Finance and Administration budget office in the previous months and "determined there were more problems than I realized."

Being under the state agency's purview will be a good thing, he said.

"I welcome the challenge and the change the governor's decision will bring," Munson said. "I'm committed to fixing the problem so we can follow our mission."

Glass, likewise, said Hutchinson's actions were right on target.

"This executive order is going to put us back on track. This is 100 percent a good thing," Glass said. "This isn't anything negative as far as going forward. I hate it that we got in this shape, but this absolutely had to happen to continue to serve and promote self-advocacy for our developmentally disabled population."

In its Monday letter, the Administration for Community Living suggested that the council begin by reviewing its "staffing plan to ensure adequate staffing and leadership is assigned to address all the issues."

The federal agency also is requiring the council to:

• Submit quarterly financial records documenting funding expenditures.

• Implement a "corrective action plan."

• Obtain technical and management assistance.

• Develop a five-year state plan by Aug. 15.

• Obtain qualified staff by Sept. 30 to implement the corrective action plan.

Once the corrective action plan has been fully addressed, the federal agency said it will remove the council from its high-risk status and release its funds.

If effective progress is not evident within federal fiscal 2015, however, the agency "reserves the right to take additional measures."

Tom Masseau, director of the federally funded advocacy group Arkansas Disability Rights and a member of the council, said he knows the road ahead for the council will be hard, but the changes are necessary to restore order.

"The move by the governor signifies the importance of the council," Masseau said. "I think change is hard for a lot of people, but this puts things in motion that are going to bring back stability to the organization."

Metro on 07/31/2015

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