DES MOINES – An investigation by the Iowa auditor’s office of a youth program based in Floyd county revealed questionable records, workday hours and spending of thousands of dollars by the outfit’s former coordinator.
Auditor of State Rob Sand released a report on October 28 on a special investigation of the Families Making Connections (FMC) and Partners 4 Children (P4C) Decategorization (Decat) Programs for the period September 1, 2017 through February 28, 2019. The FMC Decat Program is administered in Floyd, Chickasaw, and Mitchell Counties and the P4C Decat Program is administered in Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Winnebago, and Worth Counties. The special investigation was requested as a result of concerns regarding unauthorized use of a credit card and improper recording of hours worked by Jenna Haglund, the former Decat Coordinator for the FMC and P4C Decat Programs.
Sand reported the special investigation identified $26,342.81 of improper disbursements. The improper disbursements identified includes $19,786.52 of gross pay to Ms. Haglund and $3,325.31 of related payroll costs for time she spent working for another employer. Because sufficient records were not available, it was not possible to determine if additional improper payroll costs were incurred. The improper disbursements identified also include $875.16 of mileage reimbursements issued to Ms. Haglund. The procedures also identified the improper use of a credit card to purchase grocery items and gift cards totaling $2,355.82, which was repaid by Ms. Haglund.
Auditors questioned Hagland (who appears to be an employee with the Charles City School District) apparently extensively, and came up with many line like this one: “According to Ms. Haglund’s timesheet, she worked a total of 8 hours while on vacation in Florida. However, according to the DHS representative, Ms. Haglund would not have had access to any of her work materials when on vacation and she did not think it was reasonable she worked those 8 hours.”
Copies of this report have been filed with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Floyd County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office.
A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s web site, here.
