By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway (D-District 4) led a public safety legislative oversight hearing on April 28 focused on the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
The hearing followed an investigative report from the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that raised concerns about potential fraud and oversight failures through MONSE’s SideStep Program, a pre-arrest diversion pilot program for eligible juvenile offenders.
Through the OIG report, which came out on March 17, two community-based organizations were found to have submitted fraudulent invoices to MONSE through SideStep. According to the IG’s office, the case has been referred to law enforcement for criminal prosecution.
The hearing centered on gaps in internal controls, financial management, data tracking practices and the handling of sensitive juvenile information. Lawmakers also pressed MONSE officials on program transparency and accountability measures.
Conway said the OIG report and the hearing further unveiled what went wrong with the now-defunct SideStep program.
“We spent almost $700,000 in trying to support young people in a youth diversion program, but we weren’t doing a good job of tracking any metrics, any outcomes or anything,” he said. “We served 51 kids, but only had records in our systems for 24. We accidentally paid invoices that were fraudulent and made a number of mistakes in the management of the program that unfortunately left some kids hanging.”
Conway explained that through the SideStep program there were times where young people were not connected to services.
He noted that MONSE will be working with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) for future youth diversion programing, saying that it should resolve certain issues.
“That should resolve some of the loose end problems that we’ve been having with young people,” he said. “But, I want to make sure we address all of our problems … . The invoice issues, we need to clean that up. We’ve had this issue happen a couple of times with MONSE in the past and we just need stronger systems going forward.”
Conway noted that as future conversations on this matter are needed, they will be scheduled.
In an interview with the media after the hearing, MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis addressed concerns about proper oversight of their programs and financial issues.
“When we were first established as a brand-new city agency, we had to develop standard operating procedures from the ground up,” said Mavronis. “I’ve really put an emphasis on making sure we have the right financial processes in place, that our organization is structured properly so we have full oversight.”
She also briefly addressed the claims from the OIG report about fraud.
“If an organization submitted fraudulent supporting documentation and took steps to do things that would allow them to get a reimbursement that was unwarranted, that is extremely problematic,” she said. “We’re conducting our own investigation and internal audit of this work.”
Mavronis added that their internal investigations do not typically get reported out to the public, but she is not against making them public in the future.
Conway said he is not opposed to MONSE moving forward with youth diversion programs, but there has to be significant change in order to break the cycle on these issues regarding the agency.
Getting youth diversion programming right could be especially crucial and beneficial for Black youth in the city. According to the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice reform research and advocacy organization, Black youth are more likely to be arrested and less likely to be offered diversion than their White counterparts.
According to a Baltimore youth diversion report from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, juveniles placed in diversion programs are 45 percent less likely to reoffend than those who go through the formal justice system.
The session also reflected broader tensions between the Mayor’s Office, Inspector General Isabel Cumming and members of the City Council over the scope of independent oversight and access to agency records.
Conway is currently drafting legislation that would reaffirm and expand the Inspector General’s authority to access city agency records for investigative purposes. He said the proposal is intended to ensure oversight officials can follow public dollars without administrative delay or interference.
“It removes the ability of any administration to restrict access when the Inspector General is investigating fraud, waste or abuse,” said Conway.
He noted that it would be a charter amendment, and what that means for voters.
“It ultimately puts the question to the voters,” said Conway. “It allows the people of Baltimore to decide whether they want independent oversight to be real and enforceable, or subject to limitation.”
If the bill is passed this year, it will be on the ballot as a question this November.
A hearing on the bill by the Charter Review Special Committee is scheduled for May 6 at 1 p.m. on the fourth floor of City Hall.