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The post A tour of Mississippi: Fort Massachusetts appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Anna Wolfe

Mississippi Community Education Center’s downtown Jackson office, branded as Families First, was funded with millions of welfare dollars but filled its food pantry with donated food and on the day of the nonprofit founder’s arrest, the shelves were lined almost exclusively with canned corn and green beans.

Once it identifies exactly how many millions of federal dollars Mississippi misused within its welfare program over the last several years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will require the state to use its own funds to replace them.

A state audit conducted on behalf of the federal government and published in early May officially questioned $94 million in Mississippi Department of Human Services spending mostly from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, including many purchases the auditor called absurd. Other purchases may have helped needy families but the auditor could not obtain documentation to discern whether they were legal expenditures.

The audit only examined spending in fiscal year 2019 and any earlier purchases the office may have identified in the course of the audit, such as though a contract that spanned multiple years. Officials have not determined the number of dollars that were misspent or stolen.

In early February, the auditor’s office arrested six people connected to the scheme, in which they allege former agency employees and officers from an educational services nonprofit embezzled more than $4.15 million. The investigation, which now includes the FBI, is ongoing.

“There are several ongoing federal and state investigations, which will likely mean a lengthy process before we can make our determination; however, we are eager to come to a final penalty resolution and ensure that the state replaces any misused federal TANF funds with its own state funds,” the federal agency said in a statement to Mississippi Today.

Allocating its own money to the welfare program will be a new exercise for the state, which is among the most reliant on federal dollars to perform services for its people.

Mississippi receives $86.5 million federal dollars each year from the TANF block grant program; the funding hasn’t increased since its creation in 1996. States must spend a certain number of state dollars, about $21.7 million in Mississippi in 2018, to draw down the funds.

Mississippi does not historically spend separate state funds for TANF-specific programs for its grant match, but reports its existing investment in college scholarships — which go more often to middle class families — as a TANF expense.

Mississippi Department of Human Services has commissioned a more thorough forensic audit to determine where it misspent every dollar. In order to replace the funds, the department said it will issue demand letters to recoup the property and funds from the improper recipients, primarily the nonprofit at the center of the scheme, Mississippi Community Education Center, and another nonprofit Family Resource Center of North Mississippi. “If we’re still not able to recoup at that time, we will pursue all legal options available to us,” Human Services spokesperson Danny Blanton said in an email.

The following is the full statement from the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families’ communication office to Mississippi Today:

We are aware that the Mississippi state audit has identified extensive fraudulent activity conducted by the programs designed to serve its most vulnerable citizens.  It is critical that federal TANF funds are only used for allowable program costs intended to provide services to disadvantaged families.  The next step for the Department of Health and Human Services is to determine the amount of the fraudulent and misused federal funds by the state program.  This will allow HHS to proceed to the subsequent process of imposing a penalty against the state of Mississippi for misuse of TANF funds. 

There are several ongoing federal and state investigations, which will likely mean a lengthy process before we can make our determination; however, we are eager to come to a final penalty resolution and ensure that the state replaces any misused federal TANF funds with its own state funds.  While the specific audit concerned findings for 2019, any misuse of funds in prior years identified through investigations will also be the subject of penalty action.

We expect to work with the Mississippi Department of Human Services to help the state improve the way it oversees and monitors its program.  Also, we use the audit process, as well as technical assistance to ensure that changes are in place to help prevent this sort of problem from happening in the future.  This may involve additional monitoring if that proves necessary.

Read all of our coverage on Mississippi welfare here.

The post Feds: Mississippi must replace all misspent or stolen welfare money with state funds appeared first on Mississippi Today.

New Orleans Saints

John Fourcade, at his induction into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

This was January, 1990, and John Fourcade was the crown prince of New Orleans. Rex, King of Carnival, had nothing on him. The former Ole Miss star and New Orleans native had come off the bench to lead his hometown New Orleans Saints to three straight victories to end the 1989 season.

Replacing Bobby Hebert as the starter at quarterback, Fourcade threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns as the Saints stunned the then-mighty Buffalo Bills. The next week, Fourcade threw for three more touchdowns, drawing Monday night raves from Al Michaels and Frank Gifford, as the Saints defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. In the season finale, Fourcade threw for nearly 300 yards and two more touchdowns and the Saints torched Indianapolis.

Rick Cleveland

Fourcade’s unlikely storyline put Cinderella’s  to shame. Undrafted out of Ole Miss, he had played in the Canadian Football League, the USFL and the Arena Football League before getting a chance with the Saints.

And I know what you’re thinking: Where is he going with this? This was more than 30 years ago and Fourcade’s Saints career flamed out quickly after that. Well, the truth is, I’ve been waiting to tell this story for more than 30 years, so bear with me. Remember, this was January of 1990 and New Orleans was hosting the Super Bowl. John Fourcade was the toast of the town – and he knew it.

John Fourcade’s official 1990 NFL playing card.

“I had waited a long, long time for what was happening,” Fourcade said Wednesday afternoon during a stop in Jackson. “I had been cut in Canada, cut in the NFL, played in every league known to man. Now I was in the NFL, with my hometown team, playing well and I was milking it for all it was worth.”

So, the NFL Commissioner’s Super Bowl party was on Thursday night. And Fourcade was the toast of that party, too. He double-dated that night – a blonde on one arm and a brunette on the other. Both looked like runway models. But they had to share John that night. Everyone wanted shake his hand, slap his back, get his autograph and buy him a free drink.

“Yeah, I remember all right, at least some of it,” Fourcade said. “By the end of that party I was feeling no pain. And we didn’t quit when the party ended. We kept going.”

There was just one problem, Fourcade was supposed to speak early the next morning at a New Orleans inner city school. What’s more, he was sharing the podium with President Ronald Reagan who was in town for the Super Bowl.

New Orleans Saints

John Fourcade played behind Bobby Hebert before getting his shot in the spotlight.

“I overslept,” Fourcade said. “Hell, they said they called me several times but I never heard my phone.”

Finally, a friend banged loudly on his door, and roused him. “You gotta drive me,” Fourcade told him. “No way I can drive.”

So Fourcade arrived at the school, disheveled and bleary-eyed. He was hustled backstage where he was introduced to Reagan, who shook hands with Fourcade and said, “Nice to meet you, young man, but you don’t look much like a quarterback.”

To which Fourcade answered, “Nice to meet you, too, but you don’t look much like a president.”

Reagan guffawed at that, much to Fourcade’s relief. The Secret Service agents did not crack a smile.

“I didn’t even think before I said it,” Fourcade said. “I couldn’t think. I could barely focus.”

•••

Ole Miss athletics

John Fourcade holds the ball aloft as he scores for the winning touchdown against Mississippi State in 1981.

Fourcade, one of the most mercurial athletes in Mississippi’s proud college football history, will turn 60 this October. He probably would not make the list of the 10 best quarterbacks I ever covered. This is not to say he couldn’t play, because he surely could. He accounted for 6,700 yards of offense at Ole Miss. He broke most of Archie Manning’s college records and some of Fourcade’s records stood until Eli Manning broke those.

Fourcade surely would be at or near the top of my list of the toughest football players. I covered him at Ole Miss and then with the Saints. He endured some brutal beatings both places. At Ole Miss, Fourcade operated Steve Sloan’s veer offense, which pretty much insured he would get smashed on nearly every play.

“They hit me if I handed off, hit me if I pitched, hit me if I ran with it and hit me when I threw it,” Fourcade said. “You play quarterback in the veer, you get clobbered. It’s guaranteed.”

Ole Miss was where he had the first two of his 23 football-related surgeries. Yes, 23, including four on his knees, which have both been replaced. He walks with a decided limp. He’s had several shoulder surgeries, back surgeries, neck surgeries and more.

“I am 59,” he said. “My body is 99.”

There were any number of concussions along the way. Thankfully, Fourcade still has his memory – or memories, lots of those.

Here’s tough: Fourcade had his throwing hand broken before his senior season at Ole Miss. The night before the season opener with Tulane at the Superdome, he sat in his hotel room, a cast on the hand, sick to death he would not play. So, he took a butter knife off his room service plate and cut the cast off. “Wasn’t easy. Took me a while,” he said.

Yes, and the next next morning he told then-Ole Miss coach Steve Sloan he was ready to go. He didn’t start, but he played – and played well – and helped the Rebels to a 19-18 victory.

“I still had three pins in my hand,” Fourcade said. “I had to hide them from the officials.”

He suffered a separated shoulder in the fourth quarter of that Tulane game, but played the entire game the next Saturday, a victory over Memphis.

Fourcade never enjoyed a winning season at Ole Miss. Sloan’s Rebels usually scored enough points to win; they just couldn’t keep the other teams from scoring more.

Yes, Fourcade says, he sometimes wonders what would have happened had he accepted other scholarship offers, such as the one from Bear Bryant at Alabama or Charlie McClendon at LSU. After starting four years at Shaw High School, he was recruited by virtually everyone, including Notre Dame, Oklahoma and all the SEC schools.

“I loved Coach Bear and I was going to Alabama until an assistant coach told me I wouldn’t start there until I was at least a junior,” Fourcade said. “Same thing at LSU. Both were stacked at quarterback. Steve Sloan and David Lee recruited me for Ole Miss and they both said I’d have the chance to start as a freshman. I didn’t want to sit on the bench for two years.”

Ole Miss athletics

Fourcade was 3-1 against Mississippi State and some of the most salty defenses in Mississippi college football history.

Ask Fourcade the highlight of his Ole Miss career and you’ll get a quick answer.

“My last game, no doubt,” he said. “Last play of my last game. I score a touchdown and we beat Mississippi State. Never forget it. You score the winning touchdown to beat your arch-rival on the last play of your college career – how could that not be my best memory?”

Fourcade was 3-1 against State – and those were some terrific Mississippi State defenses, featuring the likes of Johnie Cooks, Tyrone Keyes, Glen Collins, Billy Jackson and so many more.

•••

Fourcade made his first high school start as a 13-year-old ninth-grader. “We ran the veer, same offense we ran at Ole Miss,” he said. “I got beat up. I was a kid. I was playing against grown men that had beards. They almost killed me…”

Fourcade paused for a moment. … “The thing is, I loved it,” he continued. “I just loved to play football.”

He loved it so much he didn’t quit playing when the Saints cut him after the 1990 season. No, he kept throwing and running – and getting dinged – in football’s netherworld. In indoor football, he played for the Miami Hooters, the Milwaukee Mustangs, the Mississippi Fire Dogs and the Mobile Seagulls. He was both quarterback and head coach of the Fire Dogs and the Seagulls.

Ever seen an indoor football game, played on a compressed field surrounded by hockey walls? A better name for it might be demolition football. The collisions are often brutal and often include the walls.

Fourcade didn’t seem to care. He just wanted to play, and when he could play no more, he coached: the Florida Firecats, the Tupelo Fire Ants, the Shreveport-Bossier City Battle Wings, the Fairbanks (yes, Alaska) Grizzlies, the Acadiana Mudbugs, the Rio Grande Valley Magic and the New Mexico Stars in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

He didn’t quit the Stars. They quit on him in 2016, folding after a 5-1 record. For Fourcade, that was enough. And it came 26 years after he shared the podium with President Reagan.

These days, Fourcade is still recovering from his last knee replacement, living on well-earned NFL disability and pension and working part time for ESPN Radio in New Orleans.

“No complaints here,” he told me. “I loved all of it. And, miracle of miracles, I can still get around.”

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Further reading: Mississippi has tested fewer than 1% of staff and inmates for COVID-19. 

The post Marshall Ramsey: Prison break appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

Economic development committee members listen as Jackie Turner, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, speaks during an economic development committee meeting at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., May 7, 2020.

The Mississippi Legislature committed $300 million of the $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds the state has received to small businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic.

The Legislature, working late Wednesday night, passed and sent to Gov. Tate Reeves a proposal to provide checks of $2,000 to all businesses forced to close because of the pandemic. The proposal will also provide grants of between $1,500 and $25,000 to businesses that are approved though an application process overseen by the Mississippi Development Authority.

The program, which defines a small business as having 50 or fewer employees, also sets aside $40 million to ensure minority-owned businesses have access to the grants offered under the program.

“We felt that if you were forced to shut down by the government, you were entitled to a check,” House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, told members of the House before they approved the bill with one no vote in the 122-member chamber.

The 52-member Senate passed the proposal with no dissenting votes. Two senators did voice opposition to the bill by “pairing” their votes with senators who were not present, but would have voted yes. In reality, though, the paired votes do not count in the final vote tally.

Rep. Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula, one of the three House negotiators who hammered out the agreement with Senate leaders, said a little fewer than 30,000 businesses will be eligible for the direct checks. Businesses that were forced to close and those that might have closed voluntarily could apply for the grants.

“If we run out of money, we can put more in the program,” Busby said.

Last week the Legislature and governor were engaged in a contentious conflict over who had control of the federal funds. The Legislature prevailed in the battle over who would appropriate the $1.25 billion. But interestingly, under the bill approved Wednesday night, MDA, an agency controlled by the governor, will administer the program. And before the six House and Senate negotiators signed the agreement late Wednesday night, members of Reeves’ staff were able to read the legislation and offer input.

Both Reeves and legislative leaders agreed that a program to help small businesses during the ongoing economic slowdown should be the first priority in expending the federal funds. Reeves often have cited barbershops and hair salons as businesses forced to close that needed help.

Legislators have been working for days behind closed doors to craft the small business program.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, said work on crafting the small business program began before the battle with the governor over who controlled the money was resolved.

The Legislature returned to the Capitol on Tuesday to finalize the program. Normally when legislators are dealing with appropriating large sums of money, the halls of the Capitol are filled with lobbyists and other interested parties.

But for the most part, the halls of the Capitol were empty with only a few onlookers in the building. For the most part, legislators, practicing social distancing, listened to action on the floor from offices instead of being in the chamber.

Both Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn appointed members of the Legislative Black Caucus to the negotiations team that hammered out the final details. Gunn appointed Robert Johnson of Natchez, chair of the House Democrats, while Hosemann named Derrick Simmons of Greenville, chair of the Senate Democrats.

The bill still contains a variation of the language Reeves had objected to and threatened to veto last week. That language puts the money in a fund controlled by the Legislature.

The post Lawmakers approve $300 million for Mississippi small businesses impacted by coronavirus appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Aallyah Wright, Mississippi Today

Murali Vullaganti, founder of PeopleShores, present at an July opening of a women’s clinic at the Clarksdale location in July 2019

CLARKSDALE – As the coronavirus pandemic hit, thousands of Mississippians were furloughed, leaving them with no income and no jobs. This sparked an influx of unemployment claims that the state’s top employment agency struggled to process. In response, a Clarksdale-based outsourcing firm announced it is hiring 75 workers to assist the agency process unemployment claims.

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) is tasked with helping citizens find jobs and handle unemployment claims, but the agency has struggled to  handle more claims than they can process, Mississippi Today reported. Congress passed a $600 increase to weekly unemployment benefits, but many Mississippians who are eligible for the benefits can’t get through to the state’s office. The department reported 222,000 initial claims filed from March 15 to May 2. Mississippi Today updates the number of claims every Thursday.

To help “expedite” filing and processing new claims, PeopleShores, an outsourcing technology firm based in Silicon Valley and Clarksdale, partnered with Horne CPA, a Jackson-based business advisory group, and MDES to launch a program. This program allowed for the creation of 150 news jobs. Of those, 75 positions are in Clarksdale, according to a news release. The two companies are focused on decreasing the hold times, getting claims into the system quickly and providing support to those impacted, the release said.

“We are grateful for Governor Tate Reeves for his support of this mission. We are delighted to see Horne and PeopleShores respond to our needs with speed and scale with their technology and operational expertise,” said Jackie Turner, executive director of MDES.

Jon Levingston, executive director of Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce, “applauded the opportunity” to grow the local economy here. 

“It is an honor to serve our state and our citizens by helping them to have a greater and more efficient access to unemployment assistance,” he said. “I am particularly grateful to the executive board chair of PeopleShores, Murali Vullaganti for his ability to recognize and address so quickly this vital need to take care of unemployed workers in Mississippi.”

In December 2018, PeopleShores announced its opening in Clarksdale and promised over 200 jobs over the next two years. It hired its first cohort of 25 by February 2019. In May 2019, the company announced plans to invest $500,000 and hire 175 more workers. 

If an applicant is interested in filling out an application, contact the Clarksdale WIN Job Center.

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What can the Legislature do to help battle the economic devastation caused by COVID-19? Read here about how the Legislature plans to help the economy.

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