Montgomery County has ended its relationship with a Wheaton child care center whose spending practices have come under scrutiny from the FBI and county officials.
The county is moving its contracts for Centro Familia to another nonprofit, according to a memo that Uma Ahluwalia, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, sent to County Council members late Monday evening. Ahluwalia said the move was at the behest of officials from Centro Familia, which gears its services to low-income Latino immigrants.
The Washington Examiner reported Monday that the county’s independent inspector general was investigating whether the center used county money to pay a $7,000 federal tax bill.
There have been several reviews of the center’s bookkeeping in the last year, including a visit by an FBI official in the fall.
The county has contracts worth $450,000 a year with Centro Familia, and county staff did not know how much remained in those contracts. The current fiscal year ends in June.
Thomas Harr, the executive director of the Gaithersburg nonprofit Family Services Inc., said Centro Familia’s programs, such as educating home child care workers, won’t be affected by the shift. He said his agency has an annual budget of $12 million and expertise in accounting and management of nonprofits that can help Centro Familia with its financial reporting problems while it decides its long-term future.
“What I can do, I’ll help you get focus back on where you need to be, on kids and families,” Harr said.
Centro Familia officials could not be reached for comment, but have said that they are the target of a political “witchhunt” by the inspector general and some County Council members.
The center’s accountant is County Executive Ike Leggett’s campaign treasurer, and state Del. Anne Kaiser, D-Montgomery, is listed as a board member. Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, D-Eastern County, helped found Centro Familia but severed ties with the center several years ago.
Inspector General Thomas Dagley reported last year that the center couldn’t properly account for $900,000 in public funding. A follow-up investigation by the DHHS found “several” overpayments; the center and the county are currently at odds over about $60,000 in county funds.
