An update on the Destruction of NILP

Many of you have recently received the first newsletter from NILP since the new Executive Director was hired in the spring of 2008. The newsletter was sorely lacking in substance and the issues that are really important to us as people with disabilities were not addressed. It leaves me with the feeling that not much advocacy is taking place at this center. For example, what’s going on with MassHealth, and DME’s (durable medical equipment), whats really going on with the PCA program?, and so on and on. As Hank Phillippi Ryan says, what’s the Real Deal?

The Board of Directors of NILP hired a new executive director in 2008. This person was not qualified to hold the position and, as a result, in concert with the Board of Directors, plundered the agency’s financial reserves and reduced the number of direct service staff by nearly 50% over a two year period. Although, some staff feel that NILP is running at it’s full capacity without the missing experienced staff they are not being realistic and true to the independent living movement. So let’s re-cap, a friend of a deceased Board member was hired as the new ED and staff left in droves because of termination,harassment, and being forced out, because she would not be educated about the IL movement. The new management repeatedly harassed staff and continues to do so, lost contracts and funding due to inexperience and an overinflated ego. Yet, the salaries of the CEO and senior level managers, on the other hand, have increased by the same amount. The people who are paying the price are consumers who are either not being served or receiving partial services due to the lack of competent qualified staff who will never understand and practice the IL philosophy. This injustice cannot continue.

Figures received from the Statement of Functional Expenses for the year ending in 2009 states the salary range was $804.601and increased to $1,065.578 ending 6/30/2010. Ask yourself how can this be possible with less staff. These employees increases could have went towards the hiring of more staff and thus providing more of the much needed services for people with disabilities. Lack of experience for the CEO and the Board of Directors valuable funding and services are being stripped once again for the disabled community.

If left unchecked, NILP will be unable to provide basic IL services that we need to continue living in the community. We need a strong NILP to advocate for us and to provide cross disability independent living services that help people live within the community. WE must organize to bring NILP back to where it was for so many years; one of the best independent living centers in the country.


Let your voices be heard. Spread this story of the destruction of NILP. Chronicle the dismantling of positions and services. Speak of the harassment and oppressive working conditions brought on by the new management. Point out that time and time again the Board of Directors were made aware of the carnage only to look the other way. Through their negligence, they are perpetrating and supporting the slow death of this agency. The board did not exercise their fiduciary responsibility by taking swift corrective action when independent auditors hadn’t provided a qualified audit since the new management began. NILP is hemorrhaging money and destroying the quality of services for you the consumer.

To its supporters; NILP’s Board of Directors and management are unethical and have allowed the organization to become financially unstable. It follows no code of fair and honest behavior and only serves to give lip service to the community and line its own pockets with taxpayer’s money.

Some financial facts: When the previous executive director and chief financial officer left the agency they left behind an emergency reserve of well over $300, 000. The mortgage on the building was very low and the line of credit with the agency’s bank hadn’t been used in over 15 years.

Because the Board of Directors took a different approach with the succession plan left by the previous CEO and spent months wringing their hands in indecision and took no concrete action reaching out to hire a new qualified director and financial officer for close to a year, the existing staff didn’t have the skill or authority to bill the state for services provided to consumers, payroll, operating expenses, etc. Thus NILP plummeted into fiscal chaos. Finally, the board reached out to one of its member’s long time personal friends, the current CEO, and brought her in to run the agency.

She had no background in running a nonprofit agency, or any similar business, and she in turn brought in a friend to “manage the finances.” After all was said and done, NILP lost about $300,000 in unbilled contract funding. This is documented in the independent auditor’s report and the state’s Uniform Financial Report referenced below.

While this was going on, NILP’s board treasurer, Diane Porter, (Excel Home Care) was being indicted in federal court for wage violation in her own agency (see article from the Lowell sun below). When asked at the 2009 NILP annual meeting “where did the $300,000 emergency reserve fund go?” the reply was “it was moved to another fund.” She knowingly lied to the membership. The fact is, it was used to pay the bills that should have been covered by the lost contract money that the board and CEO obviously mishandled.


But that’s not all, as the new CEO and her friend the financial manager settled in, they continued to lose money. They continued to have no clean audits. In the opinion of the board of directors and CEO, the only thing left to do was to further erode the assets of the agency and refinance the building’s mortgage. The board authorized the refinance and poured an additional $300.000 into the operating fund of the agency. At the end of the day, approximately $600.000 was bled from the agency that was fiscally sound and had clean audits since its inception prior to the new administration.
This didn’t have to happen; it shouldn’t have, and without question is directly attributed to the Board of Directors and CEO of NILP.

Some personal facts:
When the previous administration left there were 28 employees. The executive director earned $64.000 per year, not $105.000 like the current CEO. The CFO earned approximately $52.000. Today, there are roughly (we are not sure how many because on the NILP web page the CEO finds it fit not to mention all of the valuable employees) (with a significant new contract from the Department of Mental Health that has been in the works but not awarded). The executive director earns over $105.000 per year and the financial management department earns approximately $80.000 annually. More contract money, significantly less staff, higher overhead for administrative pay; sounds like a top-heavy ineffective organization that probably isn’t truly meeting its contract requirements with the state and tries to fill some of the financial holes with private donor money to do “projects.

Why did Gary Hale step down from chairperson? Why did another board member resign after after asking what qualifications did the current Assistant Director have for that position? A lot of un-queswered are being avoided by the current CEO, BOD and staff. Overall NILP has brought us another step backwards.

Conclusion:
This isn’t about a group of “disgruntled employees” or cowards which is the excuse that the Board and CEO give for this blog. What it is about is a violation of the public trust and unethical and possibly illegal behavior on the part of the Board and CEO.



Taken from the Author: Lowell Sun
Date May 19,2010
By Lisa Redmond, Lowell Sun
Re: Excel Hoem Care
Woburn – Six months after Diane Porter was ordered by a federal judge to shut down her ailing home health care agency, the Attorney General’s Office has indicted the Tewksbury woman and Excel Home Care, Inc. for failing to pay over $470,000 in wages to nearly 100 employees. Porter, and Excel Home Care were each indicted by a grand jury and charged with 93 counts of failure to pay wages.