Youth Today, the publication that scooped ABC News and broke the story in December about sketchy grant-making at the Department of Justice's Juvenile Justice office, reports on an advanced copy of J. Robert Flores’ congressional testimony tomorrow in which he attributes criticism to those "biased against the wealthy" and against the Bush administration in general.
Youth Today, a D.C.-based national trade publication for the youth work field, received advanced copy of Flores’ testimony, to be delivered June 19 at 9:30 a.m. before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).
More after the jump.
In prepared remarks, Flores – a Bush administration appointee who’s helmed the office since April 2002 – says, according to the paper, that "he awarded grants according to standard practice, that his choices were approved by his supervisors and that media reports about the grants process are misleading." The office, known as OJJDP, awards grants to states and in turn requires them to protect incarcerated youth, among other responsibilities, including awarding youth crime prevention grants according to "competitive" criteria.
In an apparent diversion from its practice of awarding funds based on impartial rules and the indepedent recommendations of peer-reviewers, Youth Today in December 2007 reported that:
[Flores] repeatedly sought to fund organizations he favors, regardless of how they are ranked in the competitive bidding process – a process designed to avoid favoritism. One former official said that when it came to awarding grants, Flores "was bound and determined that he was going to give money to the people he wanted to."
The paper’s ongoing reporting – followed by ABC News – has prompted Congress to take a closer look. In a preview of Flores’ testimony, Youth Today on June 18, 2008, reports:
The testimony defends two groups that have come under fire for receiving grants even though dozens of organizations that scored above them did not: The Best Friends Foundation and the World Golf Foundation.
The draft states that Best Friends is under attack because its program includes abstinence education and because it is run by Elayne Bennett, wife of conservative icon William Bennett, secretary of education in the Reagan administration.
As for World Golf's First Tee program for youth, Flores says its work "has been pilloried because it is tied to golf, and I assume for those who are biased against the wealthy, because it has historically been a sport of the well-to-do." He also notes that World Golf has been funded by Congress for several years.
Youth Today will live-blog from the testimony tomorrow; tee off on this topic below.
#1 Update: Read about the impact of these "Washington Games" on people who work in the field.
#2 Update: WaPo gets the story.