NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER
"Promoting Ethics in Government"
103 West Broad Street, Suite 620
Falls Church, Virginia 22046
703-237-1970, Fax 703-237-2090
www.nlpc.org, nlpc@nlpc.org

Legal Services Accountability Project
 
SPECIAL REPORT TO CONGRESS
 
July 2000

 
The LSC Case Over-Counting Scandal of 1999
 

 
APPENDIX 8
 
Analysis of 13 Case Reports for 1997 Program
 
 
Legal Services Program
Open
Cases
Closed
Cases
Total 
Reported
Total
Overstated
San Francisco
495
15,995
16,490
12,356
Florida Rural
44,993
8,400
53,393
39,471
Northern Virginia
4,949
4,166
9,115
3,959
Gulf Coast Houston
4,653
9,042
13,695
2,023
San Diego
792
32,304
33,096
21,741
Miami
3,313
20,487
23,800
16,193
Prairie State
4,686
13,091
17,777
1,642
Wisconsin
2,295
6,618
8,913
698
LAB Baltimore
25,772
27,490
53,262
34,565
Legal Service NYC
16,543
25,379
41,922
21,102
Puerto Rico
14,540
45,977
60,517
3,559
LAF Chicago
8,322
29,032
37,354
7,317
LAF Los Angeles
2,870
25,091
27,961
7,944
TOTALS
134,223
263,072
397,295
172,570
 

Comments:
1. The Inspector General's staff informed him of the serious case over-counting problems at the San Francisco and Florida Rural programs in July 1998 but he would not authorize audits or share this information with Congress even though the sizable case reductions occurred after OIG staff contacted the programs. The Inspector General had approved an audit of the San Francisco program but removed it from the schedule after discussions with the Corporation President.

2. The OIG issued audit reports on the Northern Virginia, Gulf Coast Houston, San Diego, Miami, Prairie State, and Wisconsin programs. The GAO issued a report on the Baltimore, New York City, Puerto Rico, Chicago, and Los Angeles programs.

3. OIG staff and GAO staff examined annual case reports submitted 13 of the 269 grantees. These grantees collectively reported that their programs produced 397,295 cases in 1997. This number represents 20.5 percent of the total number of cases reported to Congress (1,932,613 cases) for the 1997 legal services program.

4. OIG staff and GAO staff determined that 172,570 of the 397,295 (43.4 percent) cases reported to LSC and included in the LSC report to Congress for the 1997 program were invalid and/or questionable.

5. GAO performed the reviews in May and June 1998 at the request of Congress. Congress requested the special GAO review after LSC leadership and the LSC Inspector General persisted in misrepresenting the scope, magnitude, and types of the case over-counting problems.

6. LSC staff reviewed three other case reports submitted by the Central Michigan, Alameda, and Farmworkers of North Carolina programs for the 1997 program. They also found serious case reporting problems. The problems identified at the Alameda and North Carolina programs were so serious that LSC decided to cease funding one program and fined the other.



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