Salem police have opened a fraud investigation into an Oregon nonprofit that is supposed to help families of children with disabilities, the department confirmed Monday.
“We took a report of fraud,” said Salem police Lt. David Okada. “It’s under investigation, and that’s all I can say at this point.”
The report came from the board of directors of the Oregon Parent Training and Information Center, also called Oregon RISE, which annually gets hundreds of thousands of tax dollars from state and federal sources to help parents navigate the complex rules and rights of children with intellectual or physical disabilities.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
It also operates a “hot line” where parents can call with questions related to school matters or other issues dealing with what can be a perplexing bureaucracy that attends to the disability community.
Caroline Moore, the new board chairwoman for the center, said she couldn’t comment on the investigation because it’s a personnel matter. She did confirm turning information over to the Salem police and to the state Department of Justice, suggesting a criminal investigation.
About two weeks ago, the center’s executive director, Janice Roberts, resigned amid vague reports of financial mismanagement. Her resignation was followed by the resignation of the board’s then-chairwoman, Betsy Ramsey, its entire executive committee and at least one other board member.
In her resignation letter, Ramsey stated she was quitting because she felt she had been misled about the center’s financial matters and that information had been withheld from her.
Moore said she and others have been scrambling to keep the center operational. The board named a new acting director, and Moore assumed the chair’s duties.
“The most important thing is the organization is doing business,” she said. “They are open, the phone is being answered, the hotline is on.”
Last week, the office closed and no one was answering calls.
The center has an annual operating budget of about $700,000, the majority coming from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. The Oregon Department of Education has a two-year contract with the center worth $528,562, using money it gets from the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
State education spokeswoman Christine Miles said the department is “reviewing its contract obligations” with the RISE center and stands ready to cooperate in any investigation into the misuse of state funds.
Another nonprofit group, called Family and Community Together, or FACT Oregon, offers similar services and has confirmed it will compete this year for the federal grant money that has been going to the RISE center.
No reason has been given for the resignation of Roberts, who controlled the RISE center’s finances. Roberts has been unavailable for comment. As director, Roberts made $127,650 in 2010, according to the most recent federal tax records publicly available for the nonprofit.
