Special open thread: Message from former OJJDP employee Scott B. Peterson

It's been 5 months since Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman presented a hearing on abuse of grant making process under the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP] Administrator J. Robert Flores. Additionally, Mr. Flores is currently under investigation with the Inspector General for his questionable business trips and an alleged illegal hiring of the former Honduran General under his leadership. Folks need to be reminded that Mr. Flores is still in his position as the OJJDP Administrator and the investigation is still pending. Former OJJDP Program Manager and whistleblower Scott B. Peterson reminds the public once again the justice has not been served. In an email to me yesterday, Scott writes on the latest:

Both the House and Senate are involved in the OJJDP grant making scandal that is widening in scope. The OJJDP is led by Administrator J. Robert Flores and his Deputy Administrator Marilyn Roberts. Ten of millions of dollars are being questioned in what was announced to be a competitive and fair process. Hundreds of organizations prepared grant applications in good faith only to learn their efforts were in vein – except for a chosen few.

Congress and the public are now responding with the House and Senate both involved in the investigation.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman has now issued an initial finding and the report includes: Improper Grant making by the OJJDP: $4.4 million.

In June 2008, the Committee investigated the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)’s grant procedures.

OJJDP controls a fund of $8.6 million awarded to applicants that meet certain criteria. Career staff at OJJDP evaluated and ranked the order the applications. In 2007, OJJDP’s administrator ignored the advice of his staff and provided 55% of the money, or approximately $4.4 million, to applicants deemed “not recommended.”

Among the awardees were a program to fund abstinence-only education run by the wife of a former Reagan cabinet member and a golf foundation that had a pre-existing relationship with the OJJDP administrator. Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chairman Henry Waxman "Grant Making Practices at the Department of Justice" http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2024

The United States Senate has also launched a bipartisan investigation through the Justice Committee. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is leading a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, pushing for greater transparency of the policies related to the grant-making authority of the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Leahy was joined by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The story first appear in Youth Today and eventually led to dozens of media outlets such as ABC National News and the Washington Post and USA Today. ABC Worldwide News – “Nightline” aired an Investigative News Segment on the OJJDP grant making scandal at OJJDP under OJJDP Administrator Flores and OJJDP Deputy Administrator Marilyn Roberts.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5033256&page=1

Youth Today - numerous outstanding articles and documents. “Special Report: Juvenile Justice” http://www.youthtoday.org/template/index.cfm

OJJDP Administrator Flores and his travel are exposed on Countdown with Keith Olberman - click below.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bush-appointee-travels-on-taxpayers-money/1173644278

ABC Worldwide News “Former Senior Staff tells ABC News Anti-Crime Funds Given to Groups with the “Right Connection”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5033256&page=1

Click here for more in-depth coverage: The Justice League

http://justiceleague00.blogspot.com/search/label/Juvenile%20Justice%20scandal

Make your voice heard today – contact your members of Congress and ask for transparency in the federal grant making process for the critically important OJJDP. Moving forward we must demand this take place so our limited tax payer funds for Juvenile Justice are fairly awarded for everyone on a local, state and national level.

Please call today – it is how we can and will make a difference as we move forward to improve the OJJDP. Call Congressman Waxman’s Office and U.S. Senator Leahy Office.

Please join with so many of us – we can and will make a difference in how our tax payer dollars are awarded for some of our most vulnerable children and youth in America.

Click here for the phone number to your congressional offices: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Update: The offices of Senator Leahy and Congressman Waxman were notified this morning into this matter.

Senate Judiciary Committee demands answers on OJJDP policies and procedures.

Click on Flores' pic. There is a link to the site where you can contact your Senator and Congress.

Written by Biloxi
Montag, 07 Juli 2008


OJJDP J. Robert Flores, who is currently under investigation by the Inspector General, had testified to the Oversight Committee and Government Reform that his department awarded grants in a fair and competitive matter. Click to read more.

Message from former OJJDP employee and whistleblower Scott Peterson.

NEW United States Senate Judiciary Investigation follows up on the heels of the U.S. House Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearing...ABC News and Youth Today and Washington Post....Huffington Post and Wall Street Journal and USA Today Blogs to dozens more media outlets picking up and following this story first reported on last December in Youth Today....learn about the widening scope and national interest in the Grant Scandal at the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention led by Presidential appointee J. Robert Flores who gave out tax payer money to his cronies and political supporters that was intended for our most vulnerable and abused children and youth.


Updated 6/30/08 to Include New United States Senate Judiciary Committee Launches Probe of USDOJ - OJJDP Grant Making under Presidential Appointee Robert Flores.

The U.S. Department of Justice grant scandal is garnering considerable national attention as now BOTH the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee are investigating and probing the actions of the President Bush appointed OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores and his schedule C Presidential appointed Chief of Staff Michele DeKonty - who was just fired according to ABC and Youth Today for her decision to plead the 5th Amendment during a House Congressional hearing led by Congressman and Chairman Henry Waxman to examine allegations of misusing millions and millions of dollars of tax payer money that was intended for our most vulnerable chidren and youth.

United States Senate Judiciary Committee Launches Probe in to Department of Justice Grant Scandal at OJJDP - Friday, June 27, 2008Youth Todayhttp://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=1969

**Watch the Video of news story on Nightline - ABC Worldwide News ** ABC Worldwide News aired an Investigative News Segment on the scandal at OJJDP and it is hosted by Emmy award winning news investigative journalist Brian Ross and featured National Juvenile Justice Advocates Earl Dunlap and Scott Peterson, who is a former OJJDP staff person and the whistle blower. The story on nightline can be viewed by clicking below.http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5033256&page=1

DOJ OFFICIAL FIRED !!!

Justice Official Fired; Bypassed Grant Deadlines – Youth Todayhttp://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=1966

DOJ Official Fired in the Wake of ABC News Investigation – ABC Newshttp://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5245645&page=1

Breaking News: Justice Official Michelle Dekonty Fired ! The Justice Leaguehttp://justiceleague00.blogspot.com/2008/06/breaking-news-justice-official-michele.html

THE WASTE, FRAUD, CRONYISM AND ABUSE OF OJJDP ADMINISTRATOR ROBERT FLORES IS A NATIONAL SCANDAL

From National News Segments on ABC to the Washington Post and much more…..the scandal at the Justice Department is being further expanded as new and disturbing and damaging information is uncovered as a result of more and more individuals coming forward. The Presidential appointed OJJDP Administrator is named J. Robert Flores

Countdown with Keith Olberman - click below - it will come under Travel Gate (a bunch of us are working on all the trips he took - so check back for accurate lists from Turkey to UK to Hawaii and Puerto Rico and more ! http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bush-appointee-travels-on-taxpayers-money/1173644278

Committee of Oversight and Government Reform - U.S. Congressman Chaired by Congress Waxman - excellent documentshttp://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2024

The Washington Post - Friday - June 20, 2008"Just Department Grant Overseer Subject of Criminal Probe"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061903132.html?hpid=sec-nation

Youth Today - numerous outstanding articles from the paper with most if not all the documents !“Special Report: Juvenile Justice”http://www.youthtoday.org/template/index.cfm

Juvenile Injustice: DOJ Grants were steered to Bush Allies says ABC – Americans Unitedhttp://blog.au.org/2008/06/25/juvenile-injustice-doj-faithbased-grants-were-steered-to-bush-allies-says-abc/

Government Executive"Panel Tees off on Justice Official Grants"http://www.govexec.com/story%20page.cfm?articleid=40283&dcn=agencynews_Justice

ABC Worldwide NewsJudges Group Director Pays DOJ Settlement (NCJFCJ Executiuve Director Mary Mentaberry)http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4749998

The Washington Post - Thursday - June 19, 2008"Investigators Look for Favoritism in Justice Department Grants"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061903132.html?hpid=sec-nation

Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chairman Henry Waxman"Grant Making Practices at the Department of Justice"http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2024

ABC News - Yet another one that is very good.http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5202782&page=1

Murrary Waas Investigating Reporting"News Story on ABC.Com on Favoritism In Justice Department Grants Program"http://murraywaas.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/new-story-out-on-abcnewscom-on-favoritism-in-justice-departments-grants-program/

ABC News Story - Another good onehttp://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5192879&page=1

Judges Group Fights Firestorm (Repays Hundreds of Thousands to Justice Dept.)Youth Todayhttp://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=1882

ABC Worldwide News“Former Senior Staff tells ABC News Anti-Crime Funds Given to Groups with the “Right Connection”http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5033256&page=1

USA Today“Justice Official appointed by Bush Ignores Staff Recommendations for Juvenile Justice Grants”http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/06/report-justice.html

The Wall Street Journal“Fore, To Combat Crime Justice Pitches in $500,000 to Golf Program”http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/06/10/fore-to-combat-crime-doj-chips-500k-grant-to-golf-program/

The Huffington Post“Department of Justice Imposes Litmus Test When Helping Troubled Teens” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-peete/department-of-justice-imp_b_106382.html

The Washington Independent“An Open Letter Addicted to Cronyism”http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/an-open-letter-to-a

ABC Worldwide News“Questions Surround Government Funded Abstinence Program at Justice”http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5054210&page=1

ABC News Photoshttp://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/popup?id=5038590

United Press International“Justice Grant Program Chief Investigated”http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/20/Justice_grant_program_chief_investigated/UPI-15801213978760/

American Bar Journal“Justice Department Crime Fighting Grants Probed for Favoritism”http://www.abajournal.com/news/justice_department_crime_fighting_grants_probed_for_favoritism/

Contact your elected officials - from your two U.S. Senator to your one House Member and let them know how you feel about this situation. It was six months ago this story of waste, fraud, abuse and cronism was first reported. It is because more and more concered individuals like yourself are speaking up about their tax dollars being used recklessly - AND they speaking up for the more than 2.1 million children, youth and young people involved in our Juvenile Justice System across America each and every year. The OJJDP is the lead federal agency for Juvneile Justice and it is critical and necessary this most worthy agency provide leadership and resources to support the Juvenile Justice in America. Please make time in your schedule this week tgo just make one phone call to your elected official in Washington, DC. We can and will make a difference and much sooner with your call. Hundreds of people are now joining in from various areas. Please join us.

Thank you,

Scott Bernard Peterson
Whistle blower and Former OJJDP Staff Member
dryouthcourt@aol.com
National Director, Criminal Justice
YouthBuild USA
www.youthbuild.org
speterson@youthbuild.org
International Committee Member
International Juvenile Justice Observatory/UNICEF
202-468-3790 (c)

Repost from Friday: Senators Push Mukasey For Juvenile Justice Grant Application Information.

Hat tip from former OJJDP employee and whistleblower Scott Peterson for passing this to me. ;)



Senators Push Mukasey For Juvenile Justice Grant Application Information



WASHINGTON (Friday, June 27, 2008) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today
led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Attorney
General Michael Mukasey, pushing for greater transparency of the
policies related to the grant-making authority of the Department of
Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Leahy was joined by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Barbara Mikulski
(D-Md.), Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The letter follows recent reports in The Washington Post and Youth Today
that OJJDP has awarded grants to organizations with short, unproven
track records over organizations that have long standing records of
success in the juvenile justice field. The letter requests that the
Attorney General provide documents relating to OJJDP policy on the
awarding of grants, correspondence between the office and rejected grant
applicants, and communications from OJJDP Director J. Robert Flores, who
is currently under investigation by the Department's Office of the
Inspector General.

A bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Act, the law that governs OJJDP and the grants it awards, was introduced
June 18 by Leahy, Specter and Kohl. It is expected to be considered by
the Senate Judiciary Committee after the July 4 recess.

The signatories to the letter are all members of the Senate
Appropriations Committee. Leahy, Specter, Kohl and Feinstein are also
members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight authority
over the Department of Justice. The text of the letter follows. A PDF
is also available.

June 27, 2008


The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey

Attorney General

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530


Dear Attorney General Mukasey:


Last December, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the
reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act
(JJDPA). Several witnesses at that hearing asserted that the Department
of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP), the office charged with assisting states in implementing the
principles and requirements of the JJDPA, lacks sufficient transparency
in how it carries out these functions.


Subsequent press reports, inquiries, and hearings have raised further
questions about OJJDP's exercise of its grant-making authority.
Pursuant to the Senate's oversight authority, and particularly as we
move forward in considering recently introduced legislation
reauthorizing the JJDPA, it is important that we understand the basis of
these concerns. To that end, we are requesting that you provide us with
information and documentation regarding the policies and practices used
by OJJDP to award grants and the basis for decisions the Office has
made. Similar concerns about competitive grant programs administered
throughout the National Institute of Justice led the Senate to request
an audit of all such programs by the Department's Office of Inspector
General.

As noted on the Department's own website, OJJDP is charged with using a
competitive grant award process that ranks competing bids to determine
which state and community-based organizations will receive discretionary
grants to implement programs that combat juvenile delinquency. However,
the publication Youth Today, along with The Washington Post and others,
have noted that the bids of some youth service organizations with long
records of success have recently been rejected in favor of organizations
with far shorter track records. For example, the World Golf Foundation
and a sexual abstinence program run by the Best Friends Foundation, both
of which are reported to be politically well-connected, received large
grants despite being rated lower by the Department's career officials
than dozens of proven youth services providers that did not receive
grants. The significant drop in overall grant funding for juvenile
justice programs over the past several years makes those grants that are
awarded all the more precious and renders the lack of transparency in
OJJDP's grant-awarding practices all the more troubling.

Perhaps even more disturbing, The Washington Post recently reported that
OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores, who made these and other
controversial grant decisions, has been the subject of an investigation
by the Department's Office of Inspector General and a referral for
possible criminal prosecution, apparently for questionable hiring
practices and alleged use of government funds for personal travel.

In order to ensure that Congress has the information it needs to perform
effective oversight of OJJDP, and to better inform the reauthorization
of the JJDPA, we request the following information be provided to us:

All OJJDP policies and procedures governing the evaluation of grant
applications and the awarding of grants.

A list of applicants for discretionary grants awarded by OJJDP for
Fiscal Year 2007 and 2008, including the requested funding amount, the
process by which the application was reviewed, whether there was any
external peer review, the applicant's technical evaluation scores, and,
if the applicant was funded, the amount awarded.

All documents relating to the technical review of applicants for
discretionary grants awarded by OJJDP for Fiscal Year 2007 and 2008,
including all records and notes from the technical evaluation, the
official decision memoranda, and any other communications relating to
the evaluation or decision-making process used to award the grants.

All correspondence between OJJDP and organizations that bid
unsuccessfully for discretionary grant awards for Fiscal Year 2007 and
2008 discussing the rejection of their grant proposals.

All communications to or from OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores
relating to any grant proposals or organizations considered for awards
in Fiscal Year 2007 and 2008.

To the extent permissible with respect to continuing investigations, a
summary of all investigations or non-routine audits concerning Mr.
Flores or other OJJDP officials who participated in the grant evaluation
and decision-making process.

We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter so that we can work
together to ensure that there is transparency and fairness in OJJDP's
administration of important grant programs, and we can work to promptly
reauthorize the JJDPA.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary


ARLEN
SPECTER
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary

BARBARA MIKULSKI HERB KOHL

Chairwoman
United States Senator
Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee

Committee on Appropriations


DIANNE FEINSTEIN
United States Senator


# # # # #


Youth Today also has this posted with more details.

Update: Jason Leopold of The Public Record notifed me that he will be posting this latest on his website and linking to Justice League. I only hope that OJJDP J. Robert Flores is fired from his job in the grant decision making scandal. More names will most likely surface from this growing scandal.

Breaking news: Justice Official Michele DeKonty Fired!

Hat tip to Youth Today for the scoop!

Source: Youth Today

A federal juvenile justice official who was fired on June 24 had helped selected organizations apply for Justice Department grants past the deadline - a significant violation of department policy - and directed employees to help a favored organization win a grant, according to federal documents.

Michele DeKonty, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), played a central role in grant awards that are under congressional investigation. She recently took the Fifth Amendment when asked to speak with investigators from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is probing whether OJJDP awarded grants based on political favoritism and personal connections.

OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores offered no explanation in announcing her departure in a memo to staffers on the morning of June 25, saying, "Yesterday, [DeKonty] ended her tenure with our Office."

Former OJJDP employee Scott Peterson who blew the whistle on his boss, J. Robert Flores' shady decision making tactics on grants had this to say on Youth Today website:

scott peterson - 6/25/2008 One down - one to go. I am sure just about all the staff and the greater juvenile justice community across America will rest easier when the email comes out that OJJDP Administrator Robert Flores is leaving. I for one know I will be at his going away party - if only to make sure he is really leaving - so OJJDP can start to heal and do the fine work it used to for the children, youth and young people in this country.