A Stepmom on an AIDS Funding Scandal

Along the same lines as my last post, my dad sent me a note recently letting me know that my stepmom Cathy has been contributing lately to a site called Suite101.com. You can see all of her articles here. Here is a bit from the most recent:

AIDS Funding Scandal in Washington, DC: City to Investigate Waste and Abuse by AIDS Groups

(Cathy Sunshine, Suite101.com, 5 Nov 2009)

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The District government has drawn praise for expanding HIV testing and needle exchange programs. But widespread anger has greeted recent revelations that the city paid millions of dollars to nonprofit groups that in many cases delivered poor-quality services, or no services at all, to residents suffering from AIDS.

In October 2009, the Washington Post revealed the findings of a 10-month investigation into DC government funding of nonprofit groups that serve people with AIDS. “Wasting Away: The Squandering of D.C. AIDS Dollars” documented widespread fraud, waste, and abuse.

The newspaper reported that from 2004 to 2008, the D.C. Health Department’s HIV/AIDS Administration awarded grants to more than 90 organizations, mostly with federal AIDS dollars. The investigation found that about a third of these groups had serious deficiencies in their service provision and business practices. Many of the most troubled groups were supposed to provide housing for people with AIDS in the poorest wards of the city.

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I’ve of course added the RSS feed of her articles to my Google Reader subscriptions. Looks like she is writing on a variety of topics, from restaurants to the zoo to AIDS to the Peace Corps. Should be interesting to read. :-)