TANF may be used for four broad purposes: provide cash assistance to poor families, promote employment, prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies and encourage two-parent families. The university signed the lease, which charged the foundation $1, in November of 2017, about nine months before contractors broke ground on the facility. Southern Miss crossing fingers Lady Eagles will be in new volleyball facility in time their home opener. Southern Miss knew Human Services funds paid for volleyball center construction, auditor found. Office of Family Assistance wrote in 2005, got $1.1 million for speaking engagements he never attended, mississippitoday.org/2020/05/08/southern-miss-knew-human-services-funds-paid-for-volleyball-center-construction-auditor-found/, Jackson continues to work on renegotiating consent decree; submits payment plan, Opioids: A non-partisan, equal oportunity offender', Opinion: Supreme Court is a hot issue for good reason, Life's a Garden: Traveling with Mimi rewarding, Outdoors in the Sun: Rather read about clever raccoons than share a stand with one. IHL spokesperson Caron Blanton refused to explain to Mississippi Today why the board approved the university’s lease with the foundation, knowing the foundation planned to sublease the university’s property to a federally-funded nonprofit for $5 million, or if $5 million is the going rate for such a lease. The audit questioned the “unreasonableness of providing advertising for programs designed for the needy at college sporting events, lack of adherence to stipulations in • TALLULAH, La • FRANKLINTON, La. “Instead of quibbling, perhaps your time could be better spent providing the public with a plan for the Wellness Center to be used by the at-risk community in Hattiesburg and providing that to me in a letter,” White wrote. Martin Center does not specifically target its programs to low-income children, yet it publicized that it received a grant from Families First for Mississippi, the statewide program funded by TANF, in 2017 to start its dyslexia program. Beach (sand) volleyball. Payments to the university’s advertising contractor totaled nearly $317,000. When asked for an interview, university spokesperson James Coll said officials would not make further comment. Many of the recipients of federal funds in a sprawling embezzlement scheme in Mississippi say they didn’t know the money a private nonprofit awarded them was intended to serve the poor. The University of Southern Mississippi’s lease with the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, outlined that the foundation would sublease the university’s athletic facilities to the nonprofit, which would prepay the rent in order for the foundation to fund modifications to the new volleyball stadium, called the Wellness Center. In partnership with the non-profit Mississippi Community Education Center, the facility also can be converted to hold community classes, meetings, camps, seminars and other events. Martin Center for Technology and Disability. Many of the recipients of federal funds in a sprawling embezzlement scheme in Mississippi say they didn’t know the money a private nonprofit awarded them was intended to serve the poor. University of Southern Mississippi’s new $7 million volleyball facility paid for with money intended to serve the poor. The nonprofit also paid to advertise and sponsor — and in some cases purchased tickets for — football, basketball and baseball games at Mississippi State University. Blanton did not dispute that IHL and the university knew the money came from Human Services. Delta State University President William LaForge said it used the grant to pay the salaries of academic counselors for primarily student-athletes and did so “without any knowledge whatsoever that it might have been improperly channeled welfare funds.”. Commissioner Rankins argued in a Wednesday letter to the auditor that IHL trustees “did not approve” the $5 million lease — only the lease between the university and the foundation — and asked White to correct what he called inaccuracies in the report. (WDAM) _ The University of Southern Mississippi announced Thursday the completion of its 2019 women’s volleyball schedule. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. The auditor said the foundation’s reports to the IRS don’t appear to list the funds as rent revenue and that while the entities did enter a lease, the exchange was really a donation in substance. Martin Center for Technology and Disability. Southern Miss plans to build new volleyball facility. You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Mississippi Today The sublease, attached to the lease in university records, according to a Mississippi Today public records request, showed Mississippi Community Education Center agreed to pay $5 million dollars — which was used to pay for most of the $7 million construction. Exclusive coverage of Rivals Camp Series. Specifically, the audit said the foundation’s lease with the nonprofit was “transferred” to the university and IHL approved the “transfer of the lease;” White denied Rankins’ request to amend the report. But officials representing one of the largest welfare beneficiaries — the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation and, by extension, the University of Southern Mississippi — were aware that funding for construction of a new volleyball stadium on campus came from a Mississippi Department of Human Services block grant, according to board meeting minutes. The auditor similarly questioned grant payments from Mississippi Community Education Center and another nonprofit Family Resource Center of North Mississippi to three public K-12 school districts totaling $645,394. When asked for an interview, university spokesperson James Coll said officials would not make further comment. Please consider supporting our small nonprofit newsroom with a tax-deductible gift. Mississippi State University received $816,282 between 2018 and 2019 on three programs the auditor said did not meet allowable cost guidelines: recruitment of students into the college of education, augmentative communication therapy and dyslexia therapy at T.K. “If IHL objected to the arrangement with MCEC, then the time to voice that objection was when the matter came up for a vote, not after the State Auditor pointed it out.”. Before joining the staff at Mississippi Today in September of 2018, Anna worked for three years at Clarion Ledger. . TANF may not be used for public K-12 costs (doing so “would be passing on to the TANF program the costs of the State’s public education system,” the federal agency Office of Family Assistance wrote in 2005), to construct buildings or purchase real estate, the auditor noted. Copyright 2019 WDAM. VolleyTalk is my favorite literary device. USM stays on the road, stopping by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 10 before wrapping up round-robin “classic/invitation” play with a weekend trip to Georgia Southern University, where the Lady Eagles will face the host Eagles, University of North Carolina-Asheville and Winthrop University on Sept. 13-14. challenged the auditor’s characterization, IHL approved the “transfer of the lease;”, “benefit the area’s underserved population.”. 2727 Old Canton Road, Suite 200 Jackson, MS 39216 601.321.9107 Get Directions + 1410 51st Avenue, Suite 107 Nashville, TN 37209 629.666.2989 2362 U.S. Hwy 11 MoselleMoselle, MS 39459(800) 844-9326. Women's/Girls' Volleyball Forum. The final home match is set for Nov. 16, when Louisiana Tech University arrives in Hattiesburg for the regular-season finale. Two more non-conference road matches beckon, at Tulane University (Sept. 19) and at Louisiana State University (Sept. 20), before the Lady Eagles open Conference USA play at Marshall University (Sept. 27) and Western Kentucky University (Sept. 29). “This way, the TANF money that was paid for the Center might be used to benefit the community it was intended to benefit.”. “The funding from MCEC shall be prepaid rent to the Foundation in the amount of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) for the leasing of certain USM athletic facilities including but not limited to the to be constructed Wellness Center, Reed Green Coliseum and additional athletic space as agreed upon by USM and the Foundation.”. Anna has received recognition for her work, including the 2020 Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award and the February 2020 Sidney Award for reporting on Mississippi’s debtors prisons, a first place 2020 Green Eyeshade Award for reporting on jobs, poverty and the Mississippi economy and the Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Journalism in 2019 and 2018 for reporting on unfair medical billing practices and hunger in the Mississippi Delta. Martin Center for Technology and Disability. Many of the recipients of federal funds in a sprawling embezzlement scheme in Mississippi say they didn’t know the money a private nonprofit awarded them was … The nonprofit also paid to advertise and sponsor — and in some cases purchased tickets for — football, basketball and baseball games at Mississippi State University. T.K. But officials representing one of the largest welfare beneficiaries — the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation and, by extension, the University of Southern Mississippi — were aware that funding for construction of a new volleyball stadium on campus came from a Mississippi Department of Human Services block grant, according to board meeting minutes. We rely on donations from readers like you to allow us to produce in-depth, sustainable journalism that provides accountability to those in power. Construction on University of Southern Mississippi’s new $7 million volleyball facility was primarily funded by welfare dollars. True that his daughter is no longer playing on the indoor squad, but she is still on the beach volleyball team as a junior. We just don’t know at this point. Southern Miss AD discusses plans for new volleyball facility. The TANF scandal is under ongoing investigation by the FBI. Southern Miss to the Top! Some of the organizations Mississippi TANF funded — possibly some programs questioned in the report — offered legitimate public services. DePaul ; Creighton ; Georgetown ; Marquette ; Seton Hall ; St. John's ; Villanova Martin Center does not specifically target its programs to low-income children, yet it publicized that it received a grant from Families First for Mississippi, the statewide program funded by TANF, in 2017 to start its dyslexia program. TANF may be used for four broad purposes: provide cash assistance to poor families, promote employment, prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies and encourage two-parent families. Donate to our newsroom to help keep our reporting accessible to all. “MCEC’s funding for this project is via a Block Grant from the Mississippi Department of Human Services,” the minutes state. The auditor’s office presented its report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will use the information to determine which, if any, payments must be refunded. I don’t know whether that will be opening game or is it going to be some point early on? For more information on how to extend your advertising message to these communities, click here. 246 Briarwood Dr. • Jackson, MS 39206 • (601)-957-1122. White said others have contacted him indicating their intent to also return the funds. “MCEC’s funding for this project is via a Block Grant from the Mississippi Department of Human Services,” the minutes state. But if the entities didn’t retain documentation showing who they served or that their clients were income eligible, the auditor could not determine the funds were spent legally. Athletic Foundation President Leigh Breal, who signed the lease with Mississippi Community Education Center, did not return several Facebook messages and calls to her family trucking business.