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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Thursday, September 13, 2012

CACLV Whistleblower Backed By LC Controller

Back in June, as reported in The Morning Call, a former homeless shelter employee, Elisa Castillo, sued Community Action Center of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV). She contends her termination is a retaliation for reporting that Allentown's Sixth Street Shelter was padding the caseworker hours for one of its supervisors. What I've just discovered is that Castillo has an unlikely ally, the Lehigh County Controller.

Before Castillo's lawsuit was filed, Lehigh County Controller Glenn Eckhart audited the Sixth Street Shelter to see if it had, in fact, inflated caseworker hours charged to Lehigh County in 2011. (You can find the audit here under General Reports for 2012, #12-03). Using four different tests, the Controller concludes that the caseworker hours submitted are "inconsistent" with the actual documented client contact.

That's a polite way of saying that Sixth Street Shelter, an arm of the CACLV, was padding its hours.

Eckhart's audit includes a strident response from the Sixth Street Shelter's Director, Marsha Eichelberger. She claims the County was actually under-billed, so there. She also takes a shot at Castillo, referring to her as a "disgruntled former employee who was terminated for just cause." She never bothers to address the finding that caseworker hours were submitted for one employee that were not actually worked.

Where I come from, that's called stealing.

Alan Jennings, CACLV's Executive Director, was a lot more conciliatory. "It's embarrassing," he told me. "I'll be the first to say it." Jennings added that his administrative costs are only 8% of CACLV's entire budget. He also offered to compensate Lehigh County.

Allentown's Controller passed on auditing the Sixth Street Shelter, by the way.

Jennings is obviously unable to discuss the lawsuit filed by Castillo, but questioned whether one had really been filed. "I haven't seen it," he told me, noting that CACLV has yet to be served.

The lawsuit, which has been filed, is below.
Whistleblower Complaint v. CACLV

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two Stoffa Economic Development employees are in the top prositions at CACLV. What the Hell is going on.

Cou7nty Council must look into this.

Anonymous said...

Bernie
Grabbing my early morning coffee. Be right back. This story looks very interesting.

Anonymous said...

"Two Stoffa Economic Development employees are in the top prositions at CACLV. What the Hell is going on.

Cou7nty Council must look into this"

what the hell is going on is that you're a damned idiot.

Anonymous said...


AJ has to pay for that big house some way

Anonymous said...

Okay one can see how easily this might be done but how could you possibly add up all the hours for a year? And then the question begs, if inappropriate hours for one year, what about the past year after year after year?

Anonymous said...

The sixth street shelter has been a long time scourge in my neighborhood.
They have dirty grounds around their facility.
They have been crappy to deal with.
Last year they had one of their TEMPORARY tennants, through the parking authority, redesignate a parking space as handicapped.
The handicapped person walked the 700 feet from the shelter to the parking spot. The shelter HAS a parking lot! The folks on my affected block work, pay taxes and still must vie for safe parking near our homes.
If the caclv wants to help the unfortunate, then place them in a hotel. There are a few empties around....
Instead of expanding their operations, they should be closed down.

Bernie O'Hare said...

2:36, Two NC employees sit on the board. Since the County funds CACLV, it makes sense to have representation there.

Anonymous said...

WHEN THEY HOLD HIGH POSTITIONS AND THIS IS ALWAYS HAPPENING, IT DOES MAKE SENSE TO HAVE AN INVESTIGATION BY OUR COUNTY REOPRESENTATIVES. WHY NOT? SOMEHTING TO HIDE?

WORD IS THEY SPEND MORE TIME ON CACLV BUSINESS THYAN THEIR COUNTY JOBS, HOW ARE WE TO KNOW?

Bernie O'Hare said...

An anonymous comment in ALL CAPS is a real credible source of information. It is an understaffed office that is overwhelmed by County work, but it runs very efficiently. That's because of the tweo people Stoffa put in there. Your attack is really aimed at him, not these hard workers.

Anonymous said...

No I think it was aimed at the people. At least thatwa smy read.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Fraud!

This shady facility should not only be closed, but those who knew and willingly commited fraud should be prosecuted.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Fraud!

This shady facility should not only be closed, but those who knew and willingly commited fraud should be prosecuted.

Anonymous said...

The Northampton County involvement must be reviewed.

Anonymous said...

I think Stoffa is to blame for the West Nile Virus as well.

Anonymous said...

Stoffa is a blood sucker, so you may be on to something.

Anonymous said...

No the public is the sucker to fall for all this non profit for profit biz, as long as there is paperwork to cover the scam of the day?