South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Florida recoups $5M of misused funding
Domestic violence coalition paid CEO rather than helping people in need
Florida has recovered $5 million from the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, recouping money from a group that lavished its former CEO with outsized compensation instead of directing the funds to the people it was supposed to help, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday in Orlando.
The nonprofit organization — funded with state and federal tax dollars and charged with overseeing domestic violence programs across Florida — faced scrutiny for paying its former CEO Tiffany Carr at least $7.5 million over a three-year span, including more than $3.7 million in cash compensation for paid time off.
During a news conference in Orlando, DeSantis praised the state’s settlement for returning money to domestic violence survivors and vindicating Florida taxpayers.
“The power this group was given for almost 20 years — and misrepresentation of appropriation of state and federal funds — is inexcusable,” he said. “It should not have happened, and it cannot be allowed to happen in other organizations that may be getting funding from the state of Florida.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Department of Children and Families began litigation in March 2020 against the nonprofit coalition, its former board of directors and the former CEO.
In connection with the settlement, the coalition’s officers and directors will pay more than $3.9 million to DCF and the court-appointed receiver.
Carr will pay $2.1 million. Former officers Patricia Duarte and Sandra Barnett will pay $60,000, with the coalition’s insurers paying the remaining funds.
The coalition’s foundation is required to liquidate all remaining assets and pay $1.1 million to domestic violence centers around the state.
The parties agreed to dissolve the organization with DCF and to recoup additional funds from the sale of the group’s headquarters and other assets.
As CEO, Carr stacked the coalition’s board with beneficiaries of the organization’s funding, channeling funds intended for domestic violence victims into raises, bonuses and “egregious” paid time off, Moody said.
For instance, Carr received 360 days of paid time off in one year and 465 days in another year, Moody said.
“What was important to the governor and I was to ensure that as quick as possible these organizations that were set up to provide for some of the most vulnerable victims in our state were reorganized,” Moody said. “[And] that they were done so in a way that this cannot happen again, that we can stop any misuse of taxpayer funds immediately and ensure there was no disruption in services to domestic violence victims across the state.”
Christopher Kise, a lawyer representing Carr, said the settlement is not an admission of liability and was reached “solely to eliminate the uncertainty, burden and expense of further protracted litigation.”
“Despite the public barrage of unsubstantiated allegations regarding her compensation, Ms.
Carr was at all times employed by the coalition pursuant to a valid contract, written in plain English,” he said in a prepared statement. “And the terms of that contract, and her compensation, were determined and established not by Ms. Carr, but by an independent committee of the coalition’s unpaid board.”
Carr, who led the domestic violence coalition for about two decades, resigned in November 2019 amid reporting from the Miami Herald that detailed her compensation. She resigned because of “complex health issues,” Kise said.
In early 2020, DeSantis ordered an investigation into the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. He signed a bill in February 2020 to remove the coalition from the statute and allow DCF to directly contract with providers for domestic violence services.
The organization’s sole-source contract was immediately terminated.
The settlement concludes civil actions against the coalition, but it does not resolve “any perspective criminal actions,” Moody said.
“Those decisions will come at a later date,” she said.