There is a recent history of huge losses being taken on IT systems spending at LIaRS including in 2016 a write off of $149,172 from a one-year-old purchase of a Luminate software program,” the source alleges. Our legacy of compassionate service has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who have found safety and hope in America’s communities. Hartke’s salary also jumped from $182,270 to more than $293,000 last year (note this does not include her 9 percemt employer retirement plan contribution, 100% employer paid health care, and paid time off). (3.) Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Baltimore, MD. Many are refugees and immigrants themselves. Ask your Congressman to initiate a full investigation of this situation. Most of their funds come from Federal grants, and apparently they ignored audit findings and manipulated documentation. In 2016, LIaRS paid in excess of $86,000 to former staff member Annie Wilson (see 2016 Form 990 Schedule J Part III) and more than $120,000 to longtime CFO Jane Anthon who was forced out. None of this travel was included in the approved budgets, and when this was pointed out to CEO Hartke and Hoyer, they dismissed the reports. API. Read the API documentation » Get the Data. YouTube Channel "FiscalRangersFlorida", $70-million Lutheran Refugee Administration Group Explodes in Fraud & Mismanagement Accusations. “Large severance and settlement payouts to avoid public and Board reporting” are another problem, the source alleges: LIaRS spends hundreds of thousands per years paying out settlements and severance to departing staff members in exchange for their signatures on release of claims and non-disclosure agreements. “Already their two largest church body supporters, ELCA and LCMS [Lutheran Church Missouri Synod], have cut back donor support to LIaRS over concerns with Hartke’s leadership. (5.) Español. What Hoyer was best at was fostering a culture of harassment through gossip and deceit.”, The resume Hoyer submitted as part of her application for the Chief Human Resources Officer position at LIRS stated that she “anticipated receiving a B.A. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), is seeking an Outreach External Engagement Intern who will assist the Outreach team in expanding its capacity to implement our network mobilization programs. Whether the allegations this source made are borne out by the internal LIRS investigation and whether any criminal or civil actions will result remain to be seen. LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE SERVICE BALTIMORE, MD 21230-3850 | Tax-exempt since Feb. 1972. (6.) CEO Hartke seemed not only to permit Hoyer’s behavior but also support it. This began with her leading the ouster of 25 year senior staff member Annie Wilson in 2016 and then followed with she and Moritz pushing longtime CFO Jane Anthon out later that same year. Their Board has launched an external investigation into the CEO and several officers, plus people are asking Congress to shut off their funding. Cloud. In response to the need for affordable immigration counseling and assistance services, Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) and accredited Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) representatives help people navigate the complex immigration system. People are friendly and talkative, like to get lunch or drinks, and are often friends outside the office. LSF helps newcomers from all regions of the world resettle in communities throughout Florida. “LIaRS is essentially a U.S. government contractor whose 2016 record revenue totaled nearly $70 million of which approximately 95 percent came from the government through refugee resettlement and children’s services grants, as well as refugee travel loan collections. Vance Jochim We have worked very hard to become a part of the fabric of what it means to be American." ! Lutheran Immigration And Refugee Service, Inc. is a Florida Foreign Non-Profit Corporation filed on October 25, 2013. 47K likes. “The story has many layers including the tens of millions of USG [U.S. federal government] dollars that have been thrown at LIaRS over the past six years, fueling their wasteful spending on headquarters that does nothing more than act as a pass through to the 40-plus independent nonprofits that actually do the resettlement work, the financial mismanagement of those USG funds leading to audit findings and OIG inquiries, and the soap opera drama incompetence of the CEO, who rakes in $293,000/year and is under an investigation by the Board of Directors for a culture of harassment, discrimination, bullying, slander, and even backdating an overdue State of MD tax form,” the source tells Breitbart News. Breitbart News asked both Hoyer and LIRS to confirm or deny the source’s claim that she did not have a college degree but did not receive a response from either. A source with first-hand knowledge tells Breitbart News that financial mismanagement, fraud, and harassment are so widespread at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of the country’s largest refugee resettlement agencies, that the board has called for an external investigation of CEO Linda Hartke. Rinehart wrote in a follow-up email on September 14, 2017, “The Executive Committee convened and agreed to an investigation. Services are available by appointment or via walk-ins on Tuesdays in the Twin Cities and Wednesdays in St. “Over the past 18 months, we have grown deeply concerned about the significant loss of staff at LIRS and what they may indicate about the leadership of the organization,” the letter began: The sheer volume of departures – 40 out of a staff of 100 – is enough for concern, but whe have also seen a lack of organizational will to attract, value, and retain talented and committed individuals. Privacy & Security Statement | Terms & Conditions. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Baltimore, MD. Forgot your password. Please enable JavaScript if you would like to comment on this blog. Main > Refugees and Immigrants > Immigration Services. None of these individuals have responded. An internal email obtained by Breitbart News confirms the source’s claim of an external investigation at LIRS. But there were so many people to help us. $70-million Lutheran Refugee Administration Group Explodes in Fraud & Mismanagement Accusations Tavares, FL Nov. 12, 2017 Their national group, Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Serices (Lirs) managing about $70-million in mostly Federally funded refugee resettlement programs just exploded in accusations of fraud, mismanagement, etc. Cloud office. The second … is from employee [ALSO REDACTED] who was found in June 2017 to be improperly using the credit background check system on the travel loans unit to run personal checks on friends and family. Gefällt 50.967 Mal. Howard University would neither confirm nor deny that Hoyer had an undergraduate degree from the school. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is a non-profit organization that welcomes and supports refugees and migrants entering the United States. | Senate Passes Tax Bill and how does a property tax write off provision affect Florida? We offer Immigration Legal Services at low cost to help refugees, asylees and other immigrants living in the Twin Cities and St. The source for this story claims to be a former high level LIRS employee. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) was established in 1967 as a Department under the Division of Welfare Services of the newly created Lutheran Council in the USA (LCUSA)(1967-1987), an inter-Lutheran agency of The American Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church in America, the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (SELC)(which became an LCMS nongeographic district in 1970), and … This was done to maximize the personnel expenses against the USG grant since the awards are paid on a cost reimbursement basis – you have to spend the money to get paid the grant money. « We video a union bargaining session between Lake County Schools and their SEIU Union | LSA looks to its partners at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) for advocacy on issues related to immigrants and refugees. Again, both were given large severance payments in exchange for their silence and signatures on agreements. LIRS is one of the nine top voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) in the refugee resettlement industry that collectively receives more than $1 billion each year from the federal government to resettle refugees across the United States. This most recent finding resulted in an inquiry dated June 30th from the Office of the Inspector General to the LIaRS Board of Directors seeking a corrective action plan . A substandard recruiting process, inconsistently applied personnel policies, a nonexistent performance evaluation system at all levels, and an unwillingness by leadership to grow and cultivate talented staff–long-time staff no longer feel a reason to stay. The timesheets for May – Jun 2017 show that she was charging sick and vacation time of which she had not accrued or was entitle to against the R&P17 award number 323. Lutherans ask Trump administration to admit more refugees as deadline looms Clergy in the US largest Lutheran denomination are asking the administration to admit at … The staff believes that only the removal of Hartke, along with Gold-Moritz, and Hoyer (who was allowed to resign on Sept 15 and naturally paid a big severance payout by Hartke) will allow the organization to survive.”, Hartke, the source says, “knows little to nothing about the rules of managing federal grants and less than that about managing diverse teams of people,” adding, “The organization of less than 100 staff suffered turnover of 40 individuals in the 18 months leading up to a letter to the Board from concerned staff dated Jan 2016 (see attached). (7.) We resettle refugees, reunite families, and rekindle dreams. LIRS also advocates for just policies and practices relating to immigration and detention. Most recently, the process of Opportunity Assessments were presented to staff as an inclusive and transparent process, but they have been closely guarded, shrouded in secrecy, and perceived as a sheild against hard management decisions. As of September 2017, LIaRS remained out of compliance on all these past three years of audit finding. Gefällt 49.383 Mal. But what about the ill-informed individuals sending in $50 and $100 contributions believing their donations are supporting actual work?” the source asks. Breitbart News has asked LIRS Board Chairman Michael Rinehart, LIRS Board members Evelyn Soto and Evan Moilan, LIRS spokesperson Danielle Bernard, former LIRS Chief Human Resources Officer Cecilia Hoyer, and LIRS CEO Linda Hartke for comment about the claims this source made. Form 990, 2016 Contributions and Grants: $93,044,199 Government grants (contributions): $68,448,159 (73.6 percent) Compensation: Rev. [One staffer] resigned abruptly in disgust in August over what he said were “unethical practices” by his supervisor Hoyer and is believed to be pursuing legal action against LIaRS. 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Legal firm help. New American Pathways program aims to enhance the skills of refugee and immigrant workers in the service sector and connect them with potential employers. The CFO had responded to the OIG inquiry and agreed to implementing a corrective action plan by September 30, 2017, and reported as such to both the Audit Committee and full LIaRS Board. As an example, in 2016 of the $64 million in government funds received by LIaRS, more than $55 million was sent out in subawards to the independent affiliates to do the actual resettlement work … but LIaRS managed to charge the government the ICR rate of over 10 percent on that $55 million which brings over $5 million to be kept in Baltimore for Hartke and her office. The revenue to LIaRS from this arrangement brings in an estimated $500,000 which is NOT reported to the IRS as Unrelated Business Income as required,” the source alleges, calling this concealment of taxable income. 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