News Summary

COLUMBUS — The state of Ohio terminated its 20-month, $2.1 million contract with We Care America, a non-profit hired to administer grants to faith-based and community organizations serving the needy.

The company hasn't responded to various attempts by state officials to get questions answered or more documentation, according to the termination notice sent Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

We Care America, which has ties to the Bush administration, shut down its Columbus and northern Virginia offices when other grants ran out and all that remained was the Ohio work, its former finance director has said.

We Care America was hired by the Governor's Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives during the Taft administration. When Gov. Ted Strickland took office, he replaced staff and began a review of existing contracts and programs.

We Care America spent welfare money on two large TVs that aren't fully functional, two downtown Columbus parking spaces and a $6,000 study that praised the office. It also applied a 15 percent overhead charge to its invoices. Fifteen grantees complained that We Care America had not reimbursed them for invoiced expenses totaling $78,370.

Strickland asked state Inspector General Tom Charles to investigate, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to audit the office's operations.

Officials at We Care America could not be reached for comment.