NHSA: Resignation plans of embattled
U.S. Head Start
Bureau chief not sufficient, official should be suspended
immediately
New Evidence Surfaces of Ethics Violation, Use of Formerly Suspended Accountant; Surprise Announcement to Hill's Staff Comes As OIG Investigation Gets Underway.
WASHINGTON, D.C.///June 30, 2004/// The National Head Start Association (NHSA) said today that the surprise internal announcement of November 2004 resignation plans by Windy Hill, the embattled U.S. Head Start Bureau chief, should not be allowed to derail either the ongoing Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation into Hill's misconduct and cover-up efforts or any subsequent investigation of Hill that would lead to criminal charges. In view of new evidence of misconduct on the part of Hill, NHSA called for her immediate suspension until the current investigation can be concluded.
.
Today, the Association outlined new evidence that Hill violated federal ethics laws by failing to disclose that she was on a leave of absence and had not resigned her job at Cen-Tex Family Services when she assumed her federal position in early 2002. Also, NHSA is disclosing that Hill is continuing to reward a formerly suspended Texas accountant who incorrectly gave Hill's Cen-Tex program a "clean bill of health" for the same time period that an HHS review and a separate outside audit documented extensive financial mismanagement and other abuses by Hill.
The new round of problems with Windy Hill follows on the heels of related disclosures by NHSA in April and May of this year. On April
13, 2004, the National Head Start Association first made public internal
HHS documents and an independent audit detailing how Windy Hill mismanaged
the Texas Head Start agency for which she was responsible before being appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as associate commissioner of the Head Start Bureau. The documents - and further
evidence unveiled publicly by the Association on May 27, 2004 - detailed the extensive efforts undertaken by Hill to cover up her misconduct even after assuming the top federal Head Start job.
NHSA President and CEO Sarah Greene said: "Windy
Hill's decision to resign in November is a clear recognition of the
fact that her credibility is shattered and that her position is completely
untenable. She shocked her Administration for Children and Families
staff with the resignation announcement recently, which came just as
the federal investigation into her misconduct was heating up. But this
'strategic retreat' on Hill's part is not good enough. We are calling
today for Windy Hill to be suspended immediately until the investigation
into her abuses can be concluded. We also want to make sure that HHS
does not sweep this whole matter under the rug and that it supports
the criminal investigation and prosecution that the facts support."
NHSA Board Chairman Ron Herndon, who also is director of the Albina Head Start program (Portland, OR), said: "The
latest evidence that Windy Hill violated federal ethics laws when she
took her job in Washington and that she also has continued to reward
the person who gave her the completely off-base audit at Cen-Tex fit
into an unfortunate pattern of deception that must end now. Here is
someone who mismanaged her program on a colossal scale and then went
to the most incredible lengths I have ever seen to cover up her abuses.
The notion that she took a formerly suspended accountant and gave him
HHS work to review other federal Head Start programs is way beyond
mind boggling. It is another in a long series of Windy Hill's betrayals
of the public trust. We have to get rid of this taint on Head Start
and move forward in a positive way."
NEW ISSUE #1: REWARDING PROBLEM "ACCOUNTANT"
Windy Hill continues to reward a previously suspended accountant who incorrectly delivered a "clean bill of health" for her troubled Cen-Tex Head Start program for many years. In his last audit of Cen-Tex for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2001, Fred Rogers stated repeatedly that there were no problems with the program. This audit of Cen-Tex gave the program a clean bill of health, even though a subsequent HHS review and a separate outside audit would find extensive fiscal and programmatic mismanagement of Cen-Tex and violations by Windy Hill, much of which benefited her personally.
Rogers told Cen-Tex that he was a CPA and signed letters as a CPA -- even though he had been suspended by the Texas Board of Accountancy. The September 16, 1999, documents in the original suspension of Rogers' license focus on, among other things, "numerous deficiencies" in the audits he performed of Gulf Coast Community Services Association, a Houston, TX-based multi-purpose community action agency with a large Head Start program. The audits in question were for 1993, 1994 and 1995. When his CPA license was suspended in September of 1999, Rogers appealed the matter, lost his appeal, and had the suspension go into effect for the period March 26, 2002, to December 1, 2003. A state hearing on a further two-year suspension for violating the terms of his initial suspension is currently scheduled for July 20, 2004, although it may not go forward as Rogers let his CPA license expire on June 30, 2002.
Rogers remained involved with Cen-Tex after Windy Hill left because she signed a contract with Rogers during the last month she was at Cen-Tex. This unusual contract provided for three years of accounting services with no termination provision. The post-Hill regime at Cen-Tex terminated the unorthodox contract with Rogers, in part, because he is not a CPA, even though he represented that he was. This checkered past has not deterred Windy Hill from continuing to reward Rogers by elevating him to the status of an approved HHS reviewer of Head Start programs, including assigning him to reviews of recently scrutinized programs.
(All key documents related to "New Issue #1" are available upon request.)
NEW ISSUE #2: FEDERAL ETHICS VIOLATION
Prior to assuming her federal office on January 7, 2002, Windy Hill requested and received approval of the Cen-Tex Board for an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. She did not disclose that the reason she wanted the leave time was to assume her position as Associate Commissioner. Cen-Tex Board members only discovered that she had accepted the job with HHS when they read about it in the newspaper, shortly after January 11, 2002, when HHS issued its press release about her. Upon learning of Hill's deception, the Cen-Tex board terminated its relationship with her, since Hill never actually resigned.
During the period of January 7 (her first day as head of the Head Start Bureau) through at least January 12, Ms. Hill continued to direct operations at Cen-Tex, asking one employee about how things were going during her "leave of absence" and directing her assistant to sign a reprimand letter in her name. During the period January 7 through January 11, Hill requested and received close to $8,000 in payments from Cen-Tex, including a substantial bonus approved by the Cen-Tex board chair who was still under the impression that Hill would be returning to the program after her leave.
It is during this period that Hill appeared to violate the Ethics in Government Act by failing to disclose in her "Public Financial Disclosure Report" that she was on a "leave of absence," as is required by law. Hill's failure to file an accurate Public Financial Disclosure Report normally would trigger a range of sanctions from administrative disciplinary action to civil and criminal penalties.
Additionally, Hill's attempts to continue to manipulate Cen-Tex's operations - including the unsuccessful promotion of a rogue board of directors to shut down the investigation of her -- appear to violate "Misuse of Position,” "Impartiality in Performing Official Duties" and "Outside Activities" provisions -- any one of which would provide more than adequate grounds for the dismissal of Hill.
(All key documents related to "New Issue #2" are available upon request.)
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 900,000 children, 190,000 staff and 2,500 Head Start programs in the United States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery.
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of the NHSA news event will be available on the Web as of 5 p.m. EDT on June 30, 2004, at http://www.saveheadstart.org/understand.html. |
