Fired head of children’s shelter critical of audit

The former manager of Child Haven said he was fired last week because county auditors found lapses in the oversight and accounting of donations from two charities that support the county's emergency children's shelter.

Lou Palma said he disagreed with the audit's findings, but county Department of Family Services Director Tom Morton held him accountable and ended his six-year stint as the shelter's manager.

"We're not set up to be accountants," Palma said. "I'm not running around counting the number of Barbie dolls someone left at Christmas or how many socks somebody left outside."

Morton, who said he could not comment on Palma's employment, said he asked for the audit after an internal review couldn't account for some petty cash. He said it was important to conduct an audit because it would be made public.

"The reality is this is government. There's a need for transparency, and there's a need for accountability," Morton said.

County auditors inspected financial records from Jan. 1, 2008, through June 30, 2008, involving donations made by the Children's Service Guild of Southern Nevada and CHANGE, Inc. The charities raise money for clothing, field trips and other amenities for children that aren't provided by the county budget.

Auditors found no evidence of theft, but they identified several problems with accounting and oversight of donations and reimbursements.

In some cases, Child Haven employees bought items with their own money and were reimbursed by the charities, effectively giving the employees power to decide how to spend donations without management oversight, the audit said.

"Without this oversight, funds provided by the non-profit organizations may be misused," the audit said.

Some of those reimbursement requests also lacked proper receipts or management approval, according to the audit.

The auditors suggested the charities write checks to the Department of Family Services, which would then reimburse the employees. The audit also recommended better reporting of donations to the Clark County Commission and hiring someone to monitor and coordinate all charity donations and payments.

Morton said the majority of recommendations have been adopted by his department.

Palma said he disagreed with the audit's findings, but he declined to elaborate.

The auditors never talked to him or his staff during their investigation, he said. If they had, they would have learned that sometimes employees have no choice but to use their own money to buy clothes or supplies, he said.

For example, Child Haven workers went clothes shopping with a check from one of the charities. But if the store doesn't accept third-party checks, the worker must decide whether to walk away, leaving the pile of sale- and clearance-priced clothes behind, or paying out of pocket, he said.

They chose to pay and get reimbursed, he said.

Judi Booe, a co-founder of CHANGE, Inc., said she also was upset at the auditors' findings. They never asked her for details or documentation, either, she said.

She called Palma's firing a "rush to judgment" that needlessly sacrificed a manager with a sterling reputation who always put Child Haven's residents first.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.