WIB board to meet Wednesday to discuss ARRA review

VISALIA — On Wednesday, the full Board of Directors of the Tulare County Workforce Investment Board is scheduled to meet for a discussion regarding a review of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expenditures released March 2 by Inspector General Laura Chick.

The review — the first of a number of WIB reviews Chick plans to conduct — states that some of the ARRA funds granted to the WIB for summer youth jobs were spent instead on expenses, such as rent and utilities, for which the money was not intended.

Other findings included accounting missteps, including mis-coding of expenses.

A summary of the report, written by Executive Director Adam Peck, itemizes the three main aspects of the review and provides their current status.

The three main financial issues the report found with regards to the board — its indirect cost allocation process, mis-coding of expenditures and excess ARRA draws versus report expenditures — are listed, followed by Peck’s explanation of the finding.

With regards to the cost allocation process, the summary from Peck states that the WIB “thanked the IG staff for helping us improve our policies and practices” with regards to direct and indirect costs.

The methodology, Peck writes, had been modified so indirect and administrative costs would not include large sub-contracts.

Mis-coding allegations, the summary states, were a result of “a lag in creation” of special codes for the ARRA program.

The expenditures have since been re-coded.

Lastly, the summary states that “cash draw down” amounts have been revised, and that only enough cash for immediate needs is ever withdrawn.

Following a discussion of the review, the board is also scheduled to discuss contracts currently held with Employment Connection One-Stop Operators.

The WIB Program Committee plans to meet March 25 to evaluate the current One-Stop Operators’ progress, performance, enrollments, expenditures and monitoring reports.

Additionally, customer use at each Employment Connection One-Stop Center will be evaluated.

The evaluation of this data will be utilized by the Program Committee to make funding recommendations for the second year extension of the One-Stop Operator contracts.

The Program Committee’s funding recommendations will be forwarded to the WIB Executive Committee.

Another meeting is scheduled for April 21, for the Executive Committee to discuss One-Stop Operator funding levels for the upcoming year.

On July 1, the second year of One-Stop Operator contracts begins.

A conflict of interest presentation from County Counsel is also on the agenda.

The meeting is scheduled to take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the WIB of Tulare County office, 4025 W. Noble Ave., Suite A.

--Contact the Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, or recorder@portervillerecorder.com.