16123: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-W. Palm is latest to fault Haitian services group (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


W. Palm is latest to fault Haitian services group



By Leon Fooksman
Staff Writer

July 12, 2003

West Palm Beach became the third government agency Friday to find flaws with
the Haitian American Community Council's management and begin stricter
oversight of the social-services group.

Also, council Director Daniella Henry signed an affidavit from the city
saying she has no conflicts of interest with landlords who house her
agency's AIDS clients.

West Palm Beach provides $228,000 in federal money to the council for
overseeing an AIDS housing program. City officials have said they are
investigating whether the council's managers steered AIDS clients to
properties linked to people associated with the agency.

West Palm Beach officials found that the Delray Beach-based Haitian council
didn't maintain proper paperwork for the AIDS clients. The council was given
until July 25 to properly document the clients' applications and incomes.

Hours after the officials left, Sharon Hogarth, a consultant for the
council, said the agency resolved city concerns by creating a required form
for the files.

"It's already fixed. They worked on it all day," she said.

Henry and her agency have been under scrutiny for the past month by West
Palm Beach, Palm Beach County's Department of Community Services and the
Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County.

The two county agencies have criticized the council for what they say is a
weak board of directors and for Henry's potential conflicts of interest.
Henry and former Haitian council supervisor Gethro Louis Jean bought a house
together in West Palm Beach while they were co-workers, county officials
said.

West Palm Beach officials haven't determined what will happen if the council
doesn't resolve the paperwork problems by July 25. The council's contract
for the AIDS housing program expires at the end of September, and the city
will need to approve a new contract.

The affidavit was the first time Henry had to affirm that she has no
conflicts of interest. It consisted of language from federal law that
prohibits employees who run a program from benefiting financially or
steering money to family members or business partners.

City officials identified Arnaud Andre as a landlord who received slightly
more than $20,000 over about two years from the AIDS program. A person named
Andre once co-owned a Delray Beach house with Germaine Filsaime, county
property records show. Filsaime is Henry's mother, according to a court
record and longtime acquaintances. City officials won't say whether the
property he co-owned with Filsaime is the same one in the program.

Steven Hoffmann, the city's grant-compliance officer, declined to comment on
the property once owned by Andre and Filsaime.

The council's board members also will be required to sign affidavits on July
25 saying they don't have conflicts of interest with landlords in the
program, Hoffmann said. The city wanted to wait until the council approved a
new board, which may happen as early as next week.

Some members of the council's previous boards have resigned or did not show
up for meetings. Others were unaware they were part of the organization.

Hoffmann declined to explain the specifics of the city's probe, saying only
that the affidavits are "just the start of our investigation."

Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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