JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s inspector general is cracking down on the relationship between the city and a nonprofit helping the homeless community.
A new report from the inspector general found “significant deficiencies” in oversight of the way Clara White Mission is using grant funding.
Back in 2021, five board members for the Clara White Mission abruptly resigned over concerns over mismanagement of funds.
That prompted an investigation by the FBI, which also led to the inspector general reviewing how Clara White Mission has spent more than $3,500,000 taxpayer dollars.
“One of the key things we’re looking for when it comes to contract is deliverables," said Deputy Inspector General Over Investigations Rick Samples. "Did the people deliver what they promised to deliver?”
Samples said the Clara White Mission advertises three major components of its nonprofit work:
- Housing and feeding homeless people
- Vocational training programs
- Veteran assistance programs
Samples said the city's Office of Inspector General looked into each one individually, starting with food distribution.
“Applying for the grants, they talk about documenting unduplicated people, so there’s no way to say if these people are unduplicated or not because they’re not asking for their name," said Samples.
Over a year and a half sample, Samples said significantly more clients declined to provide their names when receiving a meal. Only 28,117 clients gave a name, but 52,837 refused to name themselves.
The attorney general’s office also spent several days at the nonprofit, trying to see if it was meeting the 350 people it estimated it feeds daily on the grant proposal.
“If 350 people congregate in one place in downtown, there’d be a traffic problem," said Samples. "We just didn’t see that.”
As far as vocational training, the inspector general's report says the nonprofit’s website and official letterhead consistently advertised training as an ongoing part of operations between 2019 and 2024, even though it stopped its training at the start of the pandemic and didn’t start again until April 2024, four years later.
The inspector general says the Department of Veteran’s Affairs sent two notices to the Clara White Mission in 2023, letting it know the VA was overbilled by nearly $100,000 by the nonprofit, and it expected repayment.
With these three issues, the inspector general recommended the City of Jacksonville’s Division of Grants and Contract Compliance to strengthen document collection from nonprofits receiving city money.
A spokesperson with Mayor Donna Deegan's Office responded to the IG's recommendation with a statement:
"We have received the IG report and will respond accordingly through the appropriate department. The Deegan administration is also undertaking a thorough review of processes currently in place to improve oversight and accountability in the awarding of grants."
Samples said they’ve seen similar issues with three other nonprofits they’ve investigated recently.
“What we see is that the oversight is not there like it’s supposed to be," said Samples. "They’re certain things like monthly reports, quarterly reports, financial statements, that we just don’t see.”
The CEO of the Clara White Mission, Ju’Coby Pittman, also serves on the Jacksonville City Council.
She shared a three-page statement addressing the concerns, part of which says:
"Unfortunately, their office has been unfair in communicating to the Clara White Mission in addressing any concerns. Although promising to do so, never gave Clara White the chance to address the errors in their report. Indeed, the IG refused to even inform Clara White as to which grants were being reviewed, or what issues were those that they wanted to address."
You can find Pittman's full statement here: