Danbury Non-Profit Settles Allegations It Enrolled Children of Employees Who Falsely Claimed to be Homeless into its Head Start Programs

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR THE COMMUNITIES, INC. (“CIFC”) has entered into a civil settlement agreement and has paid $85,600 to resolve allegations that two of its now-former employees falsely claimed to be homeless while enrolling their children in CIFC’s Head Start programs.

CIFC is a Danbury-based non-profit corporation that receives federal grants to operate Head Start programs in several locations in Connecticut.  The Head Start program supports children’s growth from birth to age five through services centered around early learning and development, health, and family well-being.  Services are available for children from birth to age three (“Early Head Start”) and ages three to five (“Head Start”) in center-based, home-based, or family child care settings.

Head Start programs are intended primarily for “children from low-income families” and “homeless children.”  Head Start rules also permit programs to enroll children whose families are not “low income,” receiving public benefits, homeless, or in foster care, but the total number of children from such families cannot exceed 10 percent of all program slots.  Grantees, such as CIFC, are required to verify applicants’ program eligibility and to keep paper records of those eligibility determinations.

The government alleges that, between September 4, 2013 through August 31, 2016, CIFC enrolled into its Head Start programs the children of two now-former CIFC employees – including the now-former Manager of Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance for CIFC’s Head Start programs – which were falsely documented as homeless and for which false supporting documents were created.  The CIFC employees were not homeless.

To resolve its liability, CIFC has paid $85,600.  CIFC received credit in the settlement for its cooperation with the government during its investigation.

The False Claims Act allegations resolved by the settlement were originally brought in a lawsuit filed by two whistleblowers under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.  The relators (whistleblowers), former employees of CIFC, will receive $18,832 as their share of the recovery.  The case resolved by this settlement was captioned U.S. ex rel. Nichols et al. v. Connecticut Institute for Communities, Inc. (Docket No. 3:20-CV-00262).

This matter was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Gruber, with the assistance of Auditor Susan N. Spiegel.

People who suspect fraud are encouraged to report it by calling 1-800-HHS-TIPS.