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Outside reports cheer up most First 5 members
| Wednesday, Oct 10 2007 7:58 AM
Last Updated: Monday, Feb 26 2007 11:11 PM
First 5 Kern commissioners largely gave a hearty response to a pair of outside investigations presented at a special meeting Monday morning.
"I feel vindicated and justified," said Chairman Dr. B.A. Jinadu, the county's public health director, after the meeting.
One report examined how some $3 million in public money was spent on a contract between the commission and faculty researchers at Cal State Bakersfield; the other explored the quality of data collected by former researchers.
"After all the hullabaloo that was raised over the issues, it turned out First 5 was doing an excellent job," said Supervisor Don Maben, who also sits on the commission.
One commissioner, however, was not so pleased.
"I'm disappointed that government waste has become so well accepted," said Commissioner Jeff Green. "Any reasonable person would agree that money that is meant to be spent on children should not be spent on retreats to Morro Bay and convertible cars."
The reports came after a Californian investigation in October revealed some evaluation money had paid for seaside retreats for research faculty, an apparent handshake-deal car allowance for the head researcher and tens of thousands worth of computer equipment that wasn't properly accounted for under the university's guidelines. Newspaper staffers analyzed more than 3,500 pages of receipts, check requests, travel claims and other documents provided by Cal State.
Commissioners apparently weren't aware of the car allowance and other spending before The Californian's reporting. Only recently have they changed procedures to look at contracts before they approve them.
"I'm glad the 'hullabaloo' our reporting created brought about increased focus and oversight on how this money is spent," said Californian Executive Editor Mike Jenner. "I'm not sure our readers, who are taxpayers, would all agree that all the expenses we highlighted were reasonable and justified. The auditors apparently were more successful than we were in getting answers about First 5's finances and their management of the research contract."
The commission oversees local spending of state cigarette-tax money meant to help children through age 5.
Financial report
An accountant with Mayer Hoffman McCann told the commission First 5's financial controls were working.
The firm reviewed expense invoices and analyzed how First 5 money was spent by the university's former Applied Research Center.
The report concluded First 5 Kern's "internal control policies and procedures were designed to provide proper oversight over the reimbursement of contractors' costs and were applied on a consistent basis" throughout the contract.
A team of accountants put more than 600 hours into the project, the 94-page report said. Forensic accountant Marie Ebersbacher estimated project costs so far are about $75,000.
Data report
Cal State officials hired an outside consultant, Susan Enguidanos, to examine the quality of data collected by former researchers.
A new team of faculty social scientists who took over the evaluation contract in June have said the data they inherited have serious flaws.
When contacted Monday, the researchers referred all questions to the university's provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Enguidanos' report, which totals just over five pages, said the collected data were "extremely useful in assessing the impact of First 5 Kern's funded programs."
The report came ensconced in a cover letter from Horace Mitchell, Cal State Bakersfield's president. A university administrator, David Cherin, presented the report to commissioners Monday. Enguidanos was not on hand to answer questions.
It's not clear from the report whether Enguidanos looked at raw data or only examined reports and charts produced by the former researchers. Calls to Enguidanos, a Long Beach-area consultant, were not immediately returned Monday afternoon. Cal State spokesman Mike Stepanovich said in an e-mail he didn't know whether Enguidanos had looked at more than the finished reports.
Monday's data report failed to clearly answer at least one key question.
That is: Did the first set of researchers fully complete the work they promised?
A major component touted in the Applied Research Center's initial 2001 contract called for collecting so-called "primary baseline data." That meant researchers were to gather their own first-hand, local information about people served by First 5 programs.
Researchers also gathered "secondary" baseline data -- that is, existing information from outside sources, such as the state health department and Rand Corp.
Monday's report was unclear as to whether the baseline data came from existing sources, such as the state, or was directly gathered by the researchers.
Commissioners will next meet Friday for a strategic planning session, during which they will review about 60 existing goals.
Enguidanos' report, as well as current Cal State Bakersfield researchers, have suggested commissioners tighten up the goals to allow more focused and meaningful research.
First 5 Kern is an independent public agency with a nine--member oversight commission. The organization doles out money from voter-approved Proposition 10.
Kern typically gets about $10 million to $12 million annually from the 50-cents-a-pack program approved by California voters in 1998.
-- Staff writer Gretchen Wenner contributed to this report.