Black Belt Community Foundation awarded $1.4 million Head Start grant
Thanks to a new federal Head Start grant, an estimated 307 children in Alabama’s Black Belt will be able to receive critical investment in their early educational development through high-quality program options. The $1.4 million grant was recently awarded to the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to oversee the Head Start programs in Dallas, Choctaw, Marengo, and Wilcox counties in Alabama. “We are excited to be selected as a first-time Head Start grantee and we are eager to expand our education and community development efforts by providing high-quality Head Start services to children and families in the region,” said Felecia Lucky, BBCF President. “With our programs, we have served over 50,000 children and families. Like Head Start, our programs emphasize the importance of starting early and working closely with families to improve academic outcomes.” Founded in 2004 with the idea that those living and working in the Black Belt best knew the area’s challenges and opportunities, the BBCF actively puts needed resources into the region that make a lasting impact. Since its inception it has granted in excess of $3 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the 12-county region it serves to bolster programs primarily in the arts, community and economic development, education, and health and wellness. “This is outstanding news for children and families in the Black Belt region. It is so important that our children are supported at an early age with educational programs such as Head Start so that their learning capabilities can be cultivated throughout their formative years,” said Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell. “With this grant, the Black Belt Community Foundation will be able to bring valuable program offerings to children in the state that need this support the most.” The Community Foundation will be hosting information sessions in the upcoming weeks to introduce its programs to the community and prospective families and staff.
Federal audits request Alabama to pay back nearly $100 million for improperly claimed Medicaid funds
2016 has been a rough year for the state of Alabama and things don’t look like they’ll be getting any easier any time soon. In a speech Thursday, State Auditor Jim Zeigler brought public attention to the results of federal audits of the Alabama Medicaid Agency that his office received Wednesday. According to two July 2016 reports from the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alabama overcharged the HHS by nearly $100 million for Medicaid services delivered years ago. Report one, titled Alabama Claimed Millions in Unallowable School-Based Medicaid Administrative Costs, concludes the state did not get their school-based administrative costs approved properly. According to the report, some state employees were listed more than once on state’s list of school officials dedicated to Medicaid. It recommends a $75,274,946 refund to the federal government. The second report, titled Alabama Did Not Comply with Federal and State Requirements for Claiming Medicaid Certified Public Expenditures for Federal Fiscal Year 2010, concludes Alabama used the wrong inflation factor when calculating requests for federal money to pay for service at privately run hospitals that didn’t qualify for the payments. It recommends the state refund the $21,302,31 to the federal government. Combined, the two reports call for a total of $96,577,257 to be refunded to the federal government, which equates to roughly 14 percent of the general fund budget the state Legislature has appropriated to Medicaid services for Fiscal Year 2016. While the audits do not fall under the authority the State Auditor’s Office, Zeigler points out the state will essentially lose out on the money it’s receiving from the BP oil spill settlement to repay these debts. “Alabama will lose $75 million of that [settlement] money because it failed a federal audit — and failed badly,” said Zeigler. “What the BP settlement gave, the failed audit will take away.” Zeigler’s Thursday speech in Fairhope comes less than 24 hours after the Alabama Legislature approved distribution for the oil spill settlement money that sent an additional $120 million to Medicaid for 2016-2017. “The Bentley administration has reached a new low point in mismanagement,” Zeigler continued. “They did not bring to the attention of the Legislature that the failed audits would grab all of the new BP Medicaid money for 2017 and part for 2018.”
