Dist. 111 forensic audit on YEP spending moves to next phase

KANKAKEE – The forensic audit currently looking into Kankakee School District 111’s spending on its former Youth Empowerment Program has progressed onto the next phase, but is not yet completed.

Harrison Neal, assistant superintendent of business services, said the forensic audit of the district’s spending of grant funds from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority has moved onto phase three.

Phase three will involve an analysis of financial procedures and related findings and recommendations.

“We’re done with the part where we were able to make a claim for the funds that were still outstanding,” Neal said. “That has been completed.”

He gave an update on the status of the forensic audit during the Kankakee School Board’s March 27 finance committee meeting.

Neal said the recently completed phase of the audit allowed the district to file a claim on March 12 for approximately $980,000 spent from Jan. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.

“We filed for $984,748.32, which is the full amount that is available to us,” he said.

Before the claim was filed, around $1.3 million in expenses was submitted to the ICJIA, and the organization approved the report almost immediately, Neal said.

The process to get reimbursed is expected to take at least six to 12 months, depending on the timeline with the Illinois Court of Claims.

Meanwhile, the next phase of the forensic audit now can be underway.

“Now, the next part is to take everything from the entire lifetime of the grant and put together the report,” Neal said. “That would be the third phase, to analyze everything and see what was and was not done.”

Wipifi LLP, of Tinley Park, is completing the forensic audit. The board approved the firm’s hire in September.

The services were to cost $15,000 to $25,000, depending on the number of hours required, and were anticipated to take 30 to 90 days to complete.

Neal said he does not anticipate the third phase of the audit will take anywhere near as long as the first two phases ended up taking.

Last summer, Superintendent Teresa Lance halted the YEP, which employed about 100 student workers. The program was established by the district’s previous superintendent, Genevra Walters.

The decision to cut the YEP came amid uncertainty about the continued funding of the program by the ICJIA, which announced in the fall that District 111 was not selected for its next round of R3 [Restore, Reinvest, Renew] grant funding.

Neal said the findings from this particular audit would only impact the R3 grant and the program it funded. While the YEP has ended, the recommendations would be implemented if the ICJIA were to award District 111 grants in the future, he said.

“[The audit’s next phase] would be an assessment of what was done, whether it was within the terms of the grant, whether it was in the terms of the Government Accounting Standards Board procedures, whether everything was appropriately done, and if it was not, what would need to be done to bring it in line should we continue with that type of program,” Neal said.