JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An investigation by the City of Jacksonville’s Office of Inspector General found dozens of organizations received thousands in city-funded grants but failed to provide documentation proving they followed appropriate procedures, including background checks on staff and volunteers who interacted with children.

The grant was meant for local nonprofits to implement programs aimed at reducing crime throughout Duval County.

The OIG’s investigation wanted to determine whether all the organizations met the eligibility requirements outlined in the grant agreement.

The OIG conducted an administrative review of the 2022-2023 Safety and Crime Reduction Small Grant Program, which authorized $330,000 in grant agreements between the city and 41 nonprofits, the investigation report shows.

Of the nonprofits, 40 were approved to use grants awarded by the Safety and Crime Reduction Commission.

The city also made an agreement with the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Inc. to provide compliance training to the organizations to help them budget and ensure they comply with the grant award requirements, according to the report.

The grant was intended for small organizations that do not have significant assets and required groups to have an annual budget of $75,000 or less to qualify.

During the application process, nonprofits were asked to indicate whether their budgets met the grant criterion. However, the report notes that verifying an organization’s annual budget relied exclusively on what was indicated in the application. Meaning, that there was no assessment done by the city to validate the information an applicant wrote on a form.

“It is essential to highlight that the verification process did not involve any evaluators from the COJ,” the report states.

The OIG investigation found two organizations exceeded the $75,000 budget threshold and did not have evidence for the budgets of 21 organizations.

In addition, the investigation found 32 organizations, that received $256,800 in grant funds, failed to provide documents to confirm whether background checks were completed on staff and volunteers who interacted with children and vulnerable adults.

“Among the 40 organizations, six submitted the requested documentation to the OIG, which indicated they complied with the established guidelines for criminal history records checks detailed (in the agreement),” the report states.

Investigators also found that all organizations also attended a training program through the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Inc. 

The OIG recommended the following corrective actions following its investigation:

• Strengthen the safety of the Safety and Crime Reduction Small Grant Program by requiring organizations to submit budget status records before qualifying
• Require organizations to notify the Division of Grants and Contract Compliance (DGCC) when they complete criminal history background checks
• Require organizations to notify DGCC if the age group they plan to work with changes
• Emphasize the importance of following policies, specifically regarding criminal record checks.
• Emphasize the importance of organizations to retain records for the duration specified in the grant
• Incorporate this information into the training sessions provided by the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida

The DGCC management responded to the OIG’s investigation, saying in part “we take note of the opportunity to implement additional safeguards to protect the integrity of the program and ensure taxpayer dollars were distributed in accordance with program guidelines.”