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Welfare agency settles with eight defendants in fraud lawsuit

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mississippitoday.org – Anna Wolfe – 2024-08-27 13:44:59

More than two years into the litigation, the state of Mississippi has agreed to settle with eight defendants in the ongoing welfare fraud civil case for a total of about $750,000. 

That’s roughly half as much as the state has spent on legal fees in the case so far.

The eight defendants, who allegedly illegally received or were liable for the misspending of a total of $1.7 million, did not admit to wrongdoing. Their settlements represent some of the smaller components of the overall welfare fraud scheme. The future repayments amount to less than 1% of the total $79 million in federal welfare funds that Mississippi Department of Human Services’ lawsuit claims were lost to malfeasance. 

The defendants, date and amount of settlement, and total alleged damages are as follows:

Each of these companies received funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, or TANF, from the two private nonprofits – Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi – running a program called Families First for Mississippi. The program operators, who received as much as $40 million a year, were supposed to channel resources to help stabilize poor families and prevent child neglect but instead frittered the funds away on contracts with politically connected companies.

Mississippi Department of Human Services said it could not comment on the settlements due to Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Faye Peterson’s suppression order in the case, which has prevented parties from discussing the situation publicly. Defendants who have been released from the case are no longer bound by the gag order, and representatives of virtual reality tech firm Lobaki agreed to share their story with Mississippi Today in a piece published in April.

“We didn’t know the difference between TANF and a frickin’ turnip patch, you know?” Lobaki President Kevin Loud said at the time.

Will Longwitz, a former Madison County Court Judge, state senator and legislative lobbyist currently working as a personal injury lawyer in New Orleans, settled with MDHS in March for the total amount of TANF funds auditors say he received – $318,325. 

The lawsuit alleged the nonprofits hired Longwitz’s firm Inside Capitol to lobby lawmakers on behalf of Families First, though federal regulations prohibit the use of TANF funds for lobbying activities. He registered as a lobbyist for MCEC in 2018 but reported receiving no compensation from the nonprofit, despite the six-figure income. He also reported spending zero on food, gifts or entertainment for public officials. 

MCEC hired four other lobbyists during the time of the scandal, but it paid Longwitz by far the most – nearly $320,000 compared to between $21,000 and $72,000 for each of the others. The lawsuit alleged Longwitz knew the money he received came from the welfare fund.

Longwitz, who represented himself in the litigation, denied the allegations, repeating legalese and referring to himself as a releasee in an email to Mississippi Today Monday. “Releasees specifically and categorically deny any and all liability with regard to all claims and allegations, and settle the claims only to buy their peace and avoid further cost of defense,” he wrote.

Longwitz agreed to a monthly payment schedule and will have until 2033 to pay the entire amount.

Only one other defendant, Warren Washington Issaquena Sharkey Community Action Agency (WWISCAA) settled for the total amount of damages, $49,190.06, that MDHS alleges it caused. The original May 2022 lawsuit accused the nonprofit of failing to perform the services, such as academic tutoring and career skills development, it was hired to provide. Emails Mississippi Today previously obtained suggested that the organization’s partnership with Families First was a sham. 

“They were absolutely doing nothing in either center,” said a social worker who was employed under the program, according to an email.

WWISCAA’s January 2023 settlement denied any wrongdoing and its director Jannis Williams declined to comment.

The Greenville-based Community Action Agency was founded in 1972 as one of the local nonprofits across the nation tasked with administering federal anti-poverty funds, primarily the Community Services Block Grant. Throughout its recent legal battle, WWISCAA seems to have maintained its normal partnership with Mississippi Department of Human Services, receiving roughly $5 million a year from the welfare agency.

In the settlements so far, Chase Computer Services, owned by Christopher Scott Chase, received the best deal by dollar amount.

MDHS claimed the nonprofits hired the tech company to develop software to track outputs and performance of the Families First program, but that it never provided the service, and it should repay the agency $375,750. 

The company denied the allegations. The parties settled for just $1,000 last week. According to his LinkedIn page, Chase has worked as a senior developer at the Tupelo-based American Family Association since 2023, and the Chase Computer Services website says it is no longer accepting new clients. Chase did not respond to an email from Mississippi Today.

The lawsuit similarly accused Southtec of not completing all of the work – installing internet network and phone systems in Families First offices – that it was prepaid to conduct. MDHS claimed Southtec caused $19,000 in damages related to overages on a hotspot that it was using on Family Resource Center’s dime. They settled for $10,000 this month.

The vendor whose welfare payments raised some of the first red flags in the welfare fraud investigation – Rise Luxury Rehab – settled with MDHS back in October. For four months in 2019, former MDHS Director John Davis instructed Mississippi Community Education Center to pay $40,000 a month for his friend Brett DiBiase to be treated at the luxury rehab facility in Malibu. The company agreed to pay back $105,000 of the total $160,000 it received. Its lawyer did not return an email.

MDHS had alleged in the lawsuit that Williams, Weiss, Hester & Company, the accounting firm in charge of auditing Mississippi Community Education Center’s finances, had completed a “bogus” audit in 2017 that concealed the nonprofit’s use of TANF funds. 

The lawsuit asked for damages, which would have been determined at trial, totaling the amount of the nonprofit’s misspending that the agency would have allegedly caught if the firm had performed a proper audit. MDHS settled with the accounting firm in April for $220,000.

In an emailed statement to Mississippi Today, firm owner Doug Hester maintained that his company had not committed professional malpractice. 

“Unfortunately, obtaining vindication in a lawsuit of this magnitude with this many parties is extremely expensive and time consuming, so WWH made a business decision to settle the case and buy its peace rather than continue with a lengthy and expensive court battle,” Hester wrote.

Mississippi Community Education Center, its founder Nancy New, and her son Zach New also filed their own lawsuit against Williams, Weiss, Hester & Company in 2021 claiming that they relied on the accounting firm to ensure the nonprofit was spending its funds properly and that the accounting errors caused the News to be charged criminally. The News dropped the case in February.

Judge Peterson signed orders dismissing Chase Computer Services and Southtec from the case last week. She dismissed Lobaki and Williams, Weiss, Hester & Company from the case in April. Warren Washington Issaquena Sharkey Community Action Agency was removed from the lawsuit when the state filed its amended version in December of 2022. The court file does not yet contain orders of dismissal for William Longwitz, Inside Capitol, or Rise Luxury Rehab. 

Mississippi Department of Human Services has paid Jones Walker, the law firm bringing the litigation, nearly $1.5 million in TANF funds since 2022, according to the state’s public accounting database. The stated purpose of the lawsuit is to clawback the misspent TANF funds.

Thirty-eight defendants remain, including Brett Favre and the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, who together allegedly worked to channel $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium on the college campus. They’ve also denied wrongdoing.

MDHS claims Favre is also on the hook for $2.1 million that the New nonprofit funneled to pharmaceutical companies that he sponsored. An alleged co-conspirator in that scheme, Jake Vanlandingham, pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge last month.

Some of the defendants facing the biggest alleged damages, such as Davis and nonprofit operators Nancy New and Christi Webb, have already pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the scheme and will likely have to pay restitution for their crimes.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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On this day in 1946

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3 hours ago

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December 23, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-23 07:00:00

Dec. 23, 1946

Chuck Cooper Credit: Wikipedia

University of Tennessee refused to play a basketball game with Duquesne University, because they had a Black player, Chuck Cooper. Despite their refusal, the all-American player and U.S. Navy veteran went on to become the first Black player to participate in a college basketball game south of the Mason-Dixon line. Cooper became the first Black player ever drafted in the NBA — drafted by the Boston Celtics. He went on to be admitted to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Podcast: Ray Higgins: PERS needs both extra cash and benefit changes for future employees

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December 23, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-12-23 06:30:00

Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison talks with Ray Higgins, executive director of the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System, about proposed changes in pension benefits for future employees and what is needed to protect the system for current employees and retirees. Higgins also stresses the importance of the massive system to the Mississippi economy.

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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‘Bringing mental health into the spaces where moms already are’: UMMC program takes off

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December 23, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Sophia Paffenroth – 2024-12-23 06:00:00

A program aimed at increasing access to mental health services for mothers has taken off at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. 

The program, called CHAMP4Moms, is an extension of an existing program called CHAMP – which stands for Child Access to Mental Health and Psychiatry. The goal is to make it easier for moms to reach mental health resources during a phase when some may need it the most and have the least time. 

CHAMP4Moms offers a direct phone line that health providers can call if they are caring for a pregnant woman or new mother they believe may have unaddressed mental health issues. On the line, health providers can speak directly to a reproductive psychiatrist who can guide them on how to screen, diagnose and treat mothers. That means that moms don’t have to go out of their way to find a psychiatrist, and health care providers who don’t have extensive training in psychiatry can still help these women. 

“Basically, we’re trying to bring mental health into the spaces where moms already are,” explained Calandrea Taylor, the program manager. “Because of the low workforce that we have in the state, it’s a lot to try to fill the state with mental health providers. But what we do is bring the mental health practice to you and where mothers are. And we’re hoping that that reduces stigma.”

Launched in 2023, the program has had a slow lift off, Taylor said. But the phone line is up and running, as the team continues to make additions to the program – including a website with resources that Taylor expects will go live next year. 

To fill the role of medical director, UMMC brought in a California-based reproductive psychiatrist, Dr. Emily Dossett. Dossett, who grew up in Mississippi and still has family in the state, says it has been rewarding to come full circle and serve her home state – which suffers a dearth of mental health providers and has no reproductive psychiatrists. 

“I love it. It’s really satisfying to take the experience I’ve been able to pull together over the past 20 years practicing medicine and then apply it to a place I love,” Dossett said. “I feel like I understand the people I work with, I relate to them, I like hearing where they’re from and being able to picture it … That piece of it has really been very much a joy.”

As medical director, Dossett is able to educate maternal health providers on mental health issues. But she’s also an affiliate professor at UMMC, which she says allows her to train up the next generation of psychiatrists on the importance of maternal and reproductive psychiatry – an often-overlooked aspect in the field. 

If people think of reproductive mental health at all, they likely think of postpartum depression, Dossett said. But reproductive psychiatry is far more encompassing than just the postpartum time period – and includes many more conditions than just depression. 

“Most reproductive psychiatrists work with pregnant and postpartum people, but there’s also work to be done around people who have issues connected to their menstrual cycle or perimenopause,” she explained. “… There’s depression, certainly. But we actually see more anxiety, which comes in lots of different forms – it can be panic disorder, general anxiety, OCD.”

Tackling mental health in this population doesn’t just improve people’s quality of life. It can be lifesaving – and has the potential to mitigate some of the state’s worst health metrics.

Mental health disorders are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death, which is defined by the Centers for Disease Control as any death up to a year postpartum that is caused by or worsened by pregnancy. 

In Mississippi, 80% of pregnancy-related deaths between 2016 and 2020 were deemed preventable, according to the latest Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report.

Mississippi is not alone in this, Dossett said. Historically, mental health has not been taken seriously in the western world, for a number of reasons – including stigma and a somewhat arbitrary division between mind and body, Dossett explained.

“You see commercials on TV of happy pregnant ladies. You see magazines of celebrities and their baby bumps, and everybody is super happy. And so, if you don’t feel that way, there’s this tremendous amount of shame … But another part of it is medicine and the way that our health system is set up, it’s just classically divided between physical and mental health.”

Dossett encourages women to tell their doctor about any challenges they’re facing – even if they seem normal.

“There are a lot of people who have significant symptoms, but they think it’s normal,” Dossett said. “They don’t know that there’s a difference between the sort of normal adjustment that people have after having a baby – and it is a huge adjustment – and symptoms that get in the way of their ability to connect or bond with the baby, or their ability to eat or sleep, or take care of their other children or eventually go to work.”

She also encourages health care providers to develop a basic understanding of mental health issues and to ask patients questions about their mood, thoughts and feelings. 

CHAMP4Moms is a resource Dossett hopes providers will take advantage of – but she also hopes they will shape and inform the program in its inaugural year. 

“We’re available, we’re open for calls, we’re open for feedback and suggestions, we’re open for collaboration,” she said. “We want this to be something that can hopefully really move the needle on perinatal mental health and substance use in the state – and I think it can.”

Providers can call the CHAMP main line at 601-984-2080 for resources and referral options throughout the state. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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