Topeka ? Funds for juvenile crime prevention programs In Kansas have been used for fitness club membership fees, hospitality lunches and administrative programs, according to an audit released Wednesday.

“Financial oversight procedures at the state and local levels aren’t sufficient to ensure that prevention grant moneys are being spent appropriately,” the report by the Legislative Division of Post Audit said.

The audit examined eight regions that received $2.6 million in grants for programs that were to help young people. Douglas County was not included in the study.

Of the 31 programs analyzed, auditors found problems with 25, saying the programs didn’t have adequate data to show whether they were working and whether their expenditures were appropriate. The audit said often the programs had no baseline data and their goals were vague and not clearly measurable.

About 10 percent of the funds awarded to the programs went to administrative expenses that didn’t provide services to youths, the report stated.

For example, a $37,000 juvenile crime prevention grant was awarded to the Regional Prevention Center of Johnson, Leavenworth and Miami counties to help an advisory board schedule and staff its meetings and to administer the grant-distribution process, according to the report.

And the audit questioned $4,000 of expenses that “didn’t appear to us to benefit the youth the programs were supposed to be serving.”

In some areas, auditors found that grant funds were being used to buy lunches, pay for out-of-state trips to conferences, make long-distance phone calls, purchase a newspaper subscription and even a one-week fitness membership.

Michael Youngken, director of the Johnson County Department of Corrections, defended the purchase of meals and a newspaper subscription, saying the expenses “directly related to program outcomes.”

Julie K. Wright, director of the 25th Judicial District Youth Services in Garden City, said the one-week fitness membership “was submitted for payment inadvertently.”

Though the questionable expenses were a small part of the overall funding, the audit said it was another example of poor record-keeping and lack of oversight. One grant received $38,000 more than the grant application supported simply because numbers were added incorrectly.

The state Juvenile Justice Authority is charged with awarding and monitoring the grants, which are funded from the tobacco settlement, court fees and federal funds.

“We are taking these recommendations very seriously,” said acting JJA Commissioner Denise Everhart, who was recently appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Former commissioner Albert Murray said in a letter responding to the audit that the report’s conclusions and recommendations validated many issues that the agency had already identified and was trying to improve.

He noted that despite the problems, the number of juvenile offender case filings had dropped from 17,191 in 2001 to 15,829 in 2002.

“While it cannot be assumed this is the result only of these new prevention initiatives, and it will require more extensive research, community partners anecdotally attribute some of this decline to the prevention efforts that are going on locally,” he said.

Lawmakers appeared disturbed when handed the report and said they would study it.

“It appears there are things to be concerned about,” said state Rep. John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, and chairman of the House-Senate Legislative Post Audit Committee.