THAP problems come as surprise, VA officials say

But a retired nurse says higher-ups were aware of many irregularities, even as they doled out more money.

By JEFF TESTERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 9, 2001

TAMPA -- Federal officials who oversee a troubled veterans program run by the Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan say they knew nothing about the problems turned up in a surprise inspection last month.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs lauded the program for homeless vets as recently as four months ago, despite evidence that they had been alerted to widespread problems at Veterans Village.

"Everybody knew that Veterans Village was a disgrace," said Barbara Kroll, a registered nurse practitioner at James A. Haley VA Medical Center until retiring recently after 27 years. "Management knew exactly what was going on.

"People knew. The patients who lived at Veterans Village told us."

Kroll worked in the inpatient psychiatric section at the hospital with VA psychologist Chester M. Luney, who is at the center of an inspector general's investigation.

Last month, Luney resigned his $80,279-a-year VA job in which he wrote grants that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to THAP, a Tampa non-profit where he is paid $78,000 a year as its part-time head.

Luney's VA supervisor, Arthur Rosenblatt, said he and other VA officials were unaware of problems at Veterans Village or Luney's role at THAP.

In June, two other top Veterans Affairs officials signed letters strongly endorsing THAP and its request for federal grant money.

Richard A. Silver, director of the James A. Haley hospital in Tampa, supported THAP's request for a $158,000 grant by alluding to THAP's "highly successful" homeless veterans program and its "85 percent success rate."

Dr. Robert H. Roswell, who oversees seven VA hospitals and 44 VA clinics in Florida, wrote that THAP had "demonstrated its ability to serve" veterans. Roswell noted he had presented THAP with the prestigious Hammer and Scissors government efficiency awards in 1999.

But last month, with THAP on the verge of obtaining three VA grants totaling $1.25-million, inspectors discovered so many problems at THAP's Veterans Village that the VA threatened to cut all funding to the non-profit organization.

Inspectors found no vocational training, no transitional counseling, no fiscal controls, no services, no oversight. The VA pointed to inappropriate collection of rent of $150 a month from the veterans, possible overbilling and Luney's dual role.

Months before, Kroll said she notified Rosenblatt that there were drinking problems at the shelter, a lack of any case management and an ironclad requirement that vets come up with $150 cash rent payments each month. The VA grants to the THAP shelter -- a complex of two-bedroom brick apartments in north Tampa -- called for veterans to live rent-free and have meals provided that veterans said they never received.

Rosenblatt, who did not return a call for comment, never addressed the complaints, Kroll said.

Kroll said she helped a vet write to Silver complaining about the rent to try to determine where the money was going. Kroll said the vet never got a response.

Kroll and other staffers referred to Luney as the "phantom psychologist," because he rarely kept office hours or saw patients.

"It was like he was in the witness protection program or something," said Kroll. "He was pulling down all these big bucks but never showed up for work."

THAP, which provides services and housing to low-income residents, has been drawn into a federal grand jury investigation of suspended Tampa housing chief Steve LaBrake. Luney has acknowledged a series of favors worth tens of thousands of dollars for LaBrake to help LaBrake and his fiancee build their dream house in South Tampa.

Silver declined to comment, citing the investigation.

A document recorded in 1997, at the time THAP obtained a mortgage to buy Veterans Village, bears Luney's signature on behalf of THAP, as well as Silver's signature, on behalf of the Haley hospital.

One VA official acknowledges knowing Luney's dual roles at the VA and THAP. George W. Sadler Jr. is a chaplain at the Haley hospital and was a member of THAP's board of directors until August, when he resigned because he said it took too much time.

Sadler knew Luney was writing grants that allocated tax dollars to THAP's homeless programs.

"I don't know whether it was common knowledge or not," Sadler said. "It was nothing hidden, as far as I know."

Wendy Hellickson, who coordinates health care for homeless veterans for the VA, also endorsed THAP's request this summer for $158,000 to buy seven vans for five homeless shelters THAP claimed it was serving.

The St. Petersburg Times visited the shelter addresses. The one in Pasco County does not exist. The one in Orange County closed a year ago. And the one in Brevard County has a facility but no vets.

Hellickson said she was pressured by her supervisors to sign the letter and was led to believe it contained accurate information.

Dr. Roswell said he did not prepare his letter but only signed it to endorse a grant he believed would assist the transportation needs of homeless vets. He said he hoped the money awarded to THAP -- now frozen by the VA -- would be channeled to deserving groups.

-- Times staff writer Chris Goffard contributed to this story. Jeff Testerman can be reached at (813) 226-3422 or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com.

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