The Federal Emergency Management Agency improperly awarded a $450,000 grant for fire safety and prevention to a New Orleans affiliate of Acorn, the embattled community organizing group, according to an investigation by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security.
The results of the investigation, which have yet to be released, are being provided on Tuesday to Congress, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Committee of Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, who will be chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the next Congress.
The money provided to the Acorn Institute in New Orleans during the Bush administration in 2007 was part of a nationwide fire prevention and safety program under which the emergency management agency has awarded more than $239 million since 2003. The inspector general’s report found that the program lacked sufficient oversight and controls to ensure that grant recipients were qualified to receive the funds or that the money was properly spent.
via Investigation Finds FEMA Improperly Awarded Grant to Acorn Affiliate – NYTimes.com.