St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Head Start is a program helping low-income young children get ready for school. It was founded in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty.
The Pinellas Head Start Program has had serious problems with corruption and fraud in the past and 10Investigates has found new problems with the agency.
Sam Sipes is the president of Lutheran Services Florida (LSF). That’s the agency which now runs the Pinellas Head Start program.
“Head Start is an incredible program with a 50-year history of making a difference in people's lives,” Sipes said.
LSF took over the Pinellas County program after the previous board and CEO were fired following a 10Investigates series of stories exposing nepotism and financial waste.
“We felt like there was an opportunity to bring some of the expertise we had of over 30 years of running successful programs to the Pinellas community,” Sipes said.
However, 10Investigates has found more problems since Sipe’s agency took over.
The Office of Head Start in Washington told LSF in January of 2015 that a review found the agency “out of compliance with one or more applicable Head Start Program Performance Standards, laws, regulations and policy requirements.”
Two audits released found -- among other things:
- There were dead ants along one wall, there was cobwebs, and dead spiders in a corner behind furniture
- Floors were dirty; the corners of the floor had dirt and dead ants
- In the boy’s bathroom there was urine on the floor and on the base of one toilet
- Broken glass was scattered throughout the grass surrounding the outdoor eating area
- LFS did not ensure indoor and outdoor premises were cleaned daily and kept free of undesirable and hazardous materials and conditions
- The agency did not ensure playground equipment and surfaces minimized the possibility of injury to children
- LFS was in noncompliance with staffing requirements
- Classrooms were too small for the number of children enrolled in the class
Sipes tells 10Investigates LSF has since addressed the concerns from the January review.
About three weeks after that review, Taikia Rhymes says LSF failed to properly care for her daughter. That was in February 2015 – again, just days after the audit cited the agency for safety issues.
Rhymes’ daughter, Onyia, then 3-years-old, had a seizure in her Pinellas Head Start classroom.
The DCF Investigation says Onyia wandered away from the group and the teacher didn't notice until 30 minutes later.
Rhymes watched a recording of the incident.
“Boom! [She] falls on the floor, two to three minutes, [and the] teacher—nobody [is] there to assist her,” Rhymes said.
Rhymes sued and the agency settled for $87,000.
When we asked for a response, Lutheran Services Florida replied in an email that “Licensing and Law enforcement ruled the staff handled the little girl's seizure appropriately."
The latest federal audit came out just a couple of months ago in January 2016. Auditors are now saying LSF is not maintaining accurate financial records.
There are also 74 pages of notices from Duke Energy threatening to turn off the power at various Pinellas Head Start Facilities for non-payment.
“I have to take responsibility for the shortcomings and the deficiency we had,” Sipes said.
Sipes said, “We are being held to the same standards that you would hold an organization that had been doing it 30 years and we didn’t have all the processes in place, we do now.”
However, Sipes said that it was the experience of LSF that qualified the agency to take over because it “has been involved in other Head Start agencies in Florida for at least 30 years.”
10Investigates also found just last year, another three-year-old wandered outside of a Jacksonville facility run by LSF.
The child was picked up by a stranger and returned to the facility.
LSF was cited for leaving the child alone which is against their policy.
Sipes says that some of the problems stem from the fact the LSF took over two other troubled agencies in the state along with the Pinellas Head Start Program.
He says LSF didn’t have procedures in place then, but it does now and he says previous problems have been fixed.
