JEFFERSON CITY — A new probe is underway into the potential misuse of millions of dollars by a ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area
charity and other organizations as part of a federal child nutrition program.
State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced Monday his office is reviewing the Child and Adult Care Food Program after an initial investigation found a whistleblower’s complaint about New Heights Community Resource Center credible.
Fitzpatrick’s inquiry comes as federal investigators have already subpoenaed documents concerning the nonprofit, which is led by Connie Bobo.
People are also reading…
The Post-Dispatch reported last year that New Heights billed more than $20 million to the program dating to 2020, and the nonprofit bought a $975,000 house for Bobo in St. Charles.
The program uses funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure nutritious meals and snacks are served to children and eligible adults enrolled in child care centers, family child care homes, after-school programs, emergency shelters and adult day care programs.
Fitzpatrick said the audit will examine the program in its entirety, including all organizations in Missouri that received federal funds.
“With the enormous influx of federal dollars into our state the opportunity for fraud has increased dramatically. The allegations of these funds being used inappropriately are extremely concerning and deserving of a comprehensive review to ensure every dollar is used to provide healthy meals to kids,†Fitzpatrick said.
The USDA child nutrition programs — the Summer Food Service Program and Child and Adult Care Food Program — are meant to feed children at risk of going hungry during the summer or after school. Nonprofits that provide the service are paid as much as $4.50 a meal, payments meant to cover all program costs, including transportation and labor.
During the pandemic, oversight rules were relaxed and providers were allowed to distribute over a dozen meals at a time in to-go containers rather than feeding children on-site.
The program became lucrative enough that some organizations, such as New Heights and Influence Church, began trucking meals to sites across the state in order to claim more and more meal reimbursements.
Gov. Mike Parson’s administration drew headlines last summer when Missouri became the first state to stop allowing grab-and-go food distribution under the programs.
Advocates called the move cruel and said it limited access to food for poor kids. But state officials cited concerns about “program integrity†and hinted that some organizations may have gamed the system under the COVID-19 rules.
In the case of New Heights, the nonprofit in May 2021 bought a former Circuit City building — appraised at nearly $2 million — on 3 acres on Natural Bridge Road near Interstate 270 in Bridgeton. The goal, Bobo said at the time, was to turn the building into headquarters for New Heights.
And in September 2021, Bobo bought a $975,000 house in St. Charles’ Spring Mill neighborhood.
Both purchases were paid for in cash.
Bobo told the Post-Dispatch last year that no money was misspent. And while she acknowledged living in the St. Charles house, Bobo said it serves as an office for New Heights, including hosting board meetings.
The investigations into the food programs in Missouri follow a major federal investigation of the USDA program in Minneapolis where dozens were charged in what prosecutors said at the time was the largest fraud yet tied to the emergency pandemic programs that pumped trillions into the economy.
In 2022, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials blacklisted six nonprofits from the federal program, including Bobo’s New Heights.
But even nonprofit groups that dodged strong state enforcement actions still raised concerns with state regulators about how money was spent, including the biggest program participant, Springfield-based Life360 Community Services, the Post-Dispatch reported.