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ABC charities responds to audit, disputes finding of insufficient documentation

Posted at 6:20 PM, Jul 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-01 08:34:13-04

BALTIMORE — An audit of 'Baltimore's Children and Youth Fund' that has been managed by Associated Black Charities, or ABC Charities, is now complete.

The audit began after the Healthy Holly Book Scandal and found that there was insufficient documentation outlining how certain grant decisions were made.

The president and CEO of ABC Charities said the group disputes this finding in the strongest sense possible and said that "all funding decisions were fully documented."

ABC Charities says that no grantee awards were made outside of the selection process and said it celebrated the fact the audit found there was "no improper political influence over the way the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund was distributed or managed.

The issue was on the agenda for the Board of Estimates' July 31 meeting but was deferred.

Mayor Jack Young ordered the audit to review how ABC managed the fund in its first year.

ABC was chosen to manage the Children and Youth Fund in 2017, which sets aside $12 million of taxpayer money to support youth programs.

ABC received a little more than $1 million from the city to manage it and gave out around $10.8 million in grants to dozens of recipients.

Five organizations including Carefirst donated close to $90,000 to ABC in exchange for copies of Mayor Pugh's Healthy Holly books.

ABC has since passed a resolution to no longer do business with an elected official or politically appointed person.