 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
VA's shelter probe has ripples
By JEFF TESTERMAN, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Spurred by problems at the Veterans Village homeless shelter in Tampa, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted a new policy requiring beefed-up inspections of similar facilities nationwide. "Every facility in the country will now be inspected by an outside team each year," said Arthur Rosenblatt, chief psychologist at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa. Rosenblatt said the VA's new policy was instituted after officials read stories in the St. Petersburg Times about management of the 12-unit Veterans Village shelter by the Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan (THAP), a nonprofit organization run by Chester M. Luney. The stories sparked an investigation by the VA's Inspector General's Office and led to the VA cutting off $1.2-million in federal grant money awarded to THAP. That forced THAP to end its sponsorship of the shelter effective Thursday, and left the VA scurrying to find beds for 14 displaced veterans. The Times reported in October that Luney was an $80,279-a-year VA psychologist who wrote federal grants channeling tax dollars to THAP, where he was a part-time executive making $78,000 annually. Luney, the sole VA liaison to Veterans Village, told his superiors that he had no connection with the THAP company running the shelter at 1911 137th Ave. E. Inspection reports he failed to file, and one he did file that was filled with falsehoods, left the VA thinking things were running smoothly. Residents interviewed by the Times, however, complained of substandard apartments, lost veterans files, improper fees and no counseling or vocational services. An emergency site inspection by the VA in October confirmed the complaints. Luney, the target of a criminal investigation by the inspector general, has since resigned both his VA post and his position with THAP. Under the VA's revamped policy, a six- or seven-person team from VA departments outside the homeless veterans program will make annual inspections of the approximately 100 homeless veterans facilities across the United States. The inspections will begin this year. The new policy seeks to assure accountability for $108-million in VA dollars allocated to the shelters since 1994. The VA also has tightened requirements for shelter liaison positions such as the one formerly held by Luney. The VA now will require the liaison to be reappointed annually and to sign a statement affirming he has no conflict of interest with the facility he oversees.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times City Times - South Tampa North of Tampa |
