AUDIT: JOB TRAINING AGENCY SHOULD BE FIRED.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A $550,000 immigrant job training program that operates in the San Fernando Valley should be terminated because of serious problems in its billing and staffing, according to a Los Angeles County audit released Thursday.

The audit of the Economic and Employment Development Center, a private organization based in Alhambra with offices in Sherman Oaks and Glendale, was conducted as part of a continuing probe of misuse of taxpayer funds by contractors of the Department of Community and Senior Services.

EEDC provides job training to Vietnamese-, Chinese-, Russian- and Armenian-speaking refugees and immigrants to help them get off welfare.

Auditors found that the county is paying for services that EEDC is not providing; required documentation is missing from case files; and five of seven EEDC staff members do not meet the county's educational, work- experience and language requirements.

Phuc T. Thai, executive director of the EEDC, wrote that many of the issues raised in the audit were based upon problems the county has the ultimate responsibility for.

``The recommendations to terminate our contract after the many excellent reviews by the county appears to be extreme and inappropriate,'' Thai wrote. ``EEDC stands by our billings, will take responsibility for any clerical errors on our part and vehemently denies any mischaracterization of impropriety on the part of our agency.''

Josie Marquez, assistant director of the Employment and Training Branch of DCSS, said the department is reviewing the audit and will decide whether it wants to terminate the contract.

The audit comes amid a widening investigation into fraud and and misuse of taxpayer funds involving contractors with the the county senior services, welfare and children's services departments in eight different programs, including 11 contractors in one program that train refugees and immigrants.

``Basically, it's eight different programs in three different departments,'' Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley said.

Authorities have so far uncovered more than $3 million in fraud and filed criminal charges against two contractors with offices in the Valley that provide job-training services to refugees and immigrants.

``In some of the cases, participants did not receive the services for which the county paid,'' McCauley said.

Last week, the director of the senior services department, Robert Ryans, a 36-year county employee, announced he intended to retire March 29 to spend more time with his family. Before his retirement announcement, Ryans had asked the auditor to investigate whether any employees in his department had engaged in any misconduct. The investigation is ongoing.

A top county official said authorities suspect that millions of additional dollars in county funds intended for seniors and disabled adults are ``missing.''

``I think the auditors will be taking a look at all levels and wherever they find wrongdoing, they will go after it,'' said Roxane Marquez, spokeswoman for Supervisor Gloria Molina. ``Obviously, we are concerned about problems in the department. Everyone is.

``We will take Ryans' retirement as an opportunity to take a fresh look at how well the department is giving services to the community and where improvements can be made.''

The department provides services to 1 million seniors, welfare-to-work recipients, refugees and economically disadvantaged, unemployed or dislocated workers.

The auditors' review of a sample of 28 EEDC case files found the agency overstated in seven cases that program participants obtained work or became self-sufficient, overbilling the county for $2,500. The agency is paid a fee each time a welfare recipient gets a job, a better job or job training.

The alleged overbilling included billing for placing welfare recipients in full-time jobs when they were already employed full-time, billing for placing participants at jobs with employers that inappropriately paid them a fixed amount regardless of the hours they worked, and billing for upgrading a participant from part time to full time when the individual still worked part time.

``One program participant that EEDC reported receiving part-time employment in July 2003 was already employed part time with the same employer for over three years,'' auditors wrote.

Auditors found that five of seven case managers do not possess the qualifications required by the contract and noted instances in which welfare recipients received services in languages other than their primary language.

Last July, two former employees of the International Community Employment Training Center, which has offices in Glendale and Los Angeles, were arrested on charges of misappropriating public funds. They were accused of using county computers to issue more than $500,000 in transportation reimbursement checks to dozens of people. The company contracted with the county to provide assistance to immigrants seeking jobs.

In April 2002, District Attorney Steve Cooley said United Community Resources Association Inc., which had offices in Glendale and elsewhere in the county, pleaded no contest to the misappropriation of public funds and relinquished $2.4 million that had been seized by investigators and abandoned an additional $800,000 in billing for employment-related services.

UCRA administered employment-related programs through the senior services department under contract with the welfare department for non- English-, non-Spanish-speaking welfare recipients who were required to seek employment and participate in job-related training.

The executive director of UCRA, Temecula resident Angelita Gonzalez, 66, pleaded not guilty in 2002 to charges against her and a trial is scheduled for Feb. 19.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com