State orders child agency to return $679,000
Friday February 17, 2012, 11:48 PM
BY HARVY LIPMAN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Print | E-mail The state wants a Paterson non-profit that oversees government-funded child care to repay nearly $700,000 spent on “disallowed” items — including $250,000 for a retirement nest egg for its former executive director.
The state Department of Human Services says 4Cs of Passaic County wasn’t permitted to use state funds for Mary Ann Mirko’s deferred compensation account. As of late 2009, that account was valued at more than $850,000.
The department’s review was limited to 2008 and 2009, but officials said they are continuing to review other years of state contracts with the non-profit.
“The auditor will go through contracts as far back as necessary to reclaim any disallowed costs,” said DHS spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie.
On Jan. 24, state auditors sent 4Cs a letter seeking $679,416 in reimbursements for costs they allege were claimed improperly in 2008 and 2009. In addition to Mirko’s retirement payments, DHS found that the non-profit had charged the state to pay for long-term-care insurance for the spouse of one employee and also had claimed travel expenses that shouldn’t have been covered under the contract.
Brossoie said she didn’t know which employees’ expenses are involved.
As the child-care resource and referral program for Passaic County, 4Cs oversees state and federal child-care voucher programs, runs the county’s referral service for parents seeking child care, maintains the waiting list of families eligible to receive vouchers, runs a training school for child-care workers and provides a range of other child-care-related services.
Formerly known as the North Jersey Community Coordinated Child Care Agency, 4Cs had an operating budget in 2010 of $34.5 million. According to its audited financial statement, all but a few thousand dollars of its revenue comes from state and federal funds.
Until her retirement at the end of January, Mirko was one of the highest-paid non-profit executives in North Jersey. According to the organization’s fiscal year 2010 tax return, her total compensation package came to $359,772 including fringe benefits and deferred compensation toward her retirement.
Board Chairman Keith Darragh said Friday that he wasn’t aware the state had demanded the repayments.
“We have an upcoming board meeting next week, and I will make sure we get the proper information then,” Darragh said. “I really have no comment until then.”
No one answered the phone number listed for Mirko.
This is not the first time her compensation package has been a topic for state regulators. When the Christie administration issued salary guidelines for social services agencies in April 2010, she was one of only a handful of non-profit executives in Bergen and Passaic whose pay was high enough to be affected, even though the cap did not apply to her deferred compensation and other benefits.
She declined at that time to discuss in detail the impact the salary cap would have on the agency, other than to say it would require pay cuts for the non-profit’s top two executives.
The non-profit’s tax filings show that Mirko’s annual compensation packages ranged from $281,721 to $422,529 between 2003 and 2010; during that time, almost all of 4Cs’ funding came from the government.
The Paterson group made deferred-compensation payments into her account each of those years. The value of her retirement plan varied over time because it was invested in the stock market and other holdings. But according to 4Cs’ 2009 audit, it was worth $856,252 as of Sept. 30, 2009.
Until 2008, 4Cs also ran its own child-care centers. But when DHS put out a request for proposals from organizations seeking to become resource and referral programs, it said groups that also provided child care weren’t eligible.
At that point, 4Cs was created as a new non-profit and split off from the North Jersey Community Coordinated Child Care Agency, which continues to operate two day-care centers in Paterson.
Email: lipman@northjersey.com
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- EIN 27-0379818
- (973) 684-1904
- 2 Market St 3rd Floor Paterson NJ 07501-1726 USA
- www.4cspassaic.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Child Day Care, Children & Youth
Mission: 4cs of passaic county, inc. (4cs) has been in existence for 45 years as a referral agency for low-income families in passaic county and the northern region of new jersey. Its mission is to assist families in obtaining high quality early childcare and education that is accessible, available and affordable. Our center for child care careers enhances the agency's mission by mentoring, teaching, offering technical assistance and communicating about early care and education concerns, such as high-quality childcare, children's healthy development, and raising successful children through increasing the knowledge and skills of parents, head start providers, child care centers, family childcare providers, family-friends-neighbor's providers, directors and nannies.
Programs: Child care administration: 4cs of passaic county, inc (4cs) is the designated child care resource and referral agency for passaic county as contracted by the nj department of human services, division of family development (dfd). A primary responsibility of 4cs is to determine applicant family's eligibility to determine if they qualify for financial assistance with their childcare needs. During fiscal year ended september 30, 2017, 4cs encumbered and payments were issued on behalf of all eligible passaic county families in the amount of $25,348,262, representing service to 9770 unduplicated children.
technical assistance and training: our center for child care careers enhances the agency's mission by mentoring, teaching, offering technical assistance and communicating about early care and education concerns, such as high quality childcare, children's healthy development, and raising successful children through increasing the knowledge and skills of parents, head start providers, child care centers, family childcare providers, family-friends-neighbors providers, and directors. Last year, approximately 4,500 people participated in these trainings and more than 400 childcare centers and family childcare providers were represented. The provider services department maintains lists of available and approved providers andcenters, monitors the providers and centers, assists with child and adult care food program referrals, donates books and support items, and holds appreciation events.
quality improvement - all quality activities align with, support, and help sustain quality efforts required by the childcare development block grant (ccdbg), grow nj kids, and other dfd funding efforts. Guiding principles, that have been given by dfd, include the following: transparency and accountability in regard to the use of public funds, sound fiscal and programmatic accountability systems and internal controls, equity and access to services, coordination and linkages of services across programs and key partners at federal, state and local levels, and program guidance and clear communications about ccdbg/ccdf programs and policies.
4cs also assists clients with referral services (domestic abuse, special needs) and assists with the child care food program (cacfp) referrals. Our center for child care careers enhances the agency's mission by mentoring, teaching, offering technical assistance and communicating about early care and education concerns, such as high quality childcare, children's healthy development, and raising successful children through increasing the knowledge and skills of parents, head start providers, child care centers, family childcare providers, family-friends-neighbors providers, and directors.