Fact Check: Will the Decision To Stop Running the Continuum of Care Save Shasta County $350,000 annually?
We consider this statement false because there’s no documentation available to the public to back the claim.
The Claim:
“Getting rid of the Continuum of Care, not administering that program, is saving us $350,000 a year, that’s $3.5 million over ten years. And Kevin (Crye) was in on those votes.”
When/Where:
This statement was made by a member of the public during the general public comment section of the County Board’s October 24 meeting.
Context:
The NorCal Continuum of Care applies for, receives and distributes state and federal housing funding to seven counties, including Shasta. For the last several years Shasta County has served as the “lead agency” or administrative agency for the NorCal CoC. Recently HHSA Director Laura Burch made the decision to no longer have Shasta County serve as the lead administrator for the NorCal CoC saying the county was losing hundreds of thousands annually because the costs to administer the program were so much higher than the funding received by the county to do so.
Our Analysis:
We consider the statement false because it cannot be verified.
Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency Director Laura Burch has made verbal claims that the county has spent between $400,000 and $500,000 annually to serve as the lead administrative agency NorCal CoC. But members of the public, including the NorCal CoC Executive Board, and the press, still have no access to budget documentation providing evidence of those costs, despite attempts to receive it via records requests. In response to that records request, the county said it would take 100 staff hours to locate that information, so Shasta Scout would have to pay $2,450 to receive it.
Also false: Board members, including Supervisor Kevin Crye, did not vote to stop managing the Continuum of Care. The decision was made by HHSA Director Laura Burch, acting without the Board’s involvement.
Here’s what else you should know:
According to NorCal CoC consultant Teddy Pierce, staff from the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) have indicated that with proper management the NorCal CoC could have been receiving millions more in annual housing funding than it has been. As with many grant-funded programs, what projects the NorCal CoC applies for, how well they administer those programs, and how they report the program successes all play a role in the CoC’s ability to gain access to more funding.
If you’ve heard a statement in public meetings that you’d like to see fact checked, let us know. Email: editor@shastascout.org
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Comments (16)
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The Dominion voting machine contract was cancelled by the MAGA supervisors based on the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump. I say we have reason to question statements from the BOS underlings. Also it seems the county BOS is shirking its duty in this matter. They need to be completely transparent. Show the actual cost and begin to restore trust in county management.
A restricted fund such as this requires a Single Audit each year to be combined with overall Audit. Those single audits can be found in the annual Audit usually toward the back. Those are all online. With that being said, if the audits didn’t balance for some reason, it could take awhile to be found, if auditors missed it.
I suspect that prior to the seating of new Shasta County Supervisors from the last election thereto, the then existent Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted to transfer the NorCal CoC to the City of Redding. If my suspicion is fact, Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency Director Laura Burch did nothing more than perfect the order of the Board of Supervisors. (I believe that the responsibility in issue should have never left the control of the County of Shasta no matter when and/or how it left.)
Annelise, I want to thank you for letting me comment. Your sister online news site, ANS, won’t post my comments even though I’ve used no profanity nor extreme comments.
As a fellow journalist, I host “Poke The Hornet’s Nest” on KCNR radio, you know how important is is at times to protect our sources.
Thank You
Nick Gardner
I agree that technically you can’t call the statement false. But if they can’t back up the statement, they shouldn’t be making the statement. If it is unverifiable, then it is irresponsible and misleading to state it as a fact. If the department does not really know the answer, then they should spend their own time to find out before backing out of the program. For now, it is just an opinion. I have a hard time believing that it would be so difficult to produce the information.
Thank you for doing this fact checking. I’m sure that it takes a lot of time and effort to do it, but someone needs to!
She never found any facts.This was just her opinion.
So you can’t verify it means it’s not true? Really?
Nick is right! Your statement grabs headlines but is totally unjustified.
No, someone’s word is not good enough to believe a statement. It must be verified by facts. That is how things are done. You cannot expect to get grant money and then never be accountable for what that money was spent on.
I understand your point of view. We have been dealing with dishonest public employees, Donnell Ewert, and dishonest and incompetent supervisors for quite a while. It’s nice to have 3 honest ones on the board now.
Hi Nick. Since you made the statement, perhaps you’d like to back up your claim with a source? I reached out to you today by email but didn’t hear back.
Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency Director Laura Burch has made verbal claims that the county has spent between $400,000 and $500,000 annually to serve as the lead administrative agency NorCal CoC.
What more proof do you need unless you’re calling Laura Burch a liar. The only thing I’m guilty of is understating the cost.
I’m not calling her a liar, I’m pointing out that she has so far refused to provide evidence of her claims. As have you.
Thank you, Annelise, for your level-headed, factual approach. Without transparent and accessible documentation of the expenses involved when Shasta County served as the lead administrative agency for NorCal CoC, the public is left in the dark. It’s unfortunate for all of us that Shasta County government often doesn’t see the value of transparency.
As a matter of fact I read in the Redding Recordsearchlight the cost savings first. Then I contacted a supervisor who confirmed it. You yourself confirmed it by talking with Laura Burch. How far do we need to go to satisfy the complainant? Maybe you should start reading them their rights before asking.
Enlightening!