PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In one of the first acts of its new term, Philadelphia City Council voted last week to hold hearings on overspending and other issues in the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) and is considering a bill asking voters to approve a permanent ombudsman for the office.
Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson introduced the legislation after finding what she said is a “massive issue” in OHS.
“We have seen the mismanagement of funds and invoices and a variety of information in the office that calls into question their ability to ensure they can adequately serve the unhoused population here in the city of Philadelphia,” she said after council’s first meeting.
Gilmore said OHS overspent its budget every year since 2020 yet still left some invoices unpaid for months, and even years.
The issues began during the pandemic when OHS received targeted federal funding to help cover the added costs of protecting the unhoused from COVID-19. It took over a Center City hotel for several months to provide isolation and quarantine rooms. That summer, to resolve a protest encampment on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the city agreed to new housing options for the homeless, such as the Street to Home Rapid Rehousing program and an expansion of a Shared Housing Initiative.
City officials said the overspending totals about $14 million over four years. That’s a small fraction of the city’s $6.2 billion annual budget, but Gilmore Richardson is proposing to change the city (budget) charter to create an ombudsman that would oversee only OHS.
City Council has resisted making the Office of Inspector General permanent, even though that office has the power to oversee any and all city departments. The inspector general is, in fact, investigating OHS right now.
“OHS is fully committed not only to working with City Council to address its questions and concerns, but to serving every individual that we possibly can who is in need of OHS’ services every day,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Executive Director David Holloman just took over OHS in October, succeeding Liz Hersh, who ran the office for nearly eight years. Efforts to reach Hersh were unsuccessful.
Mayor Cherelle Parker has not yet made her own appointment to run the office.