Audit: Scant marketing left New York program for veterans to languish

ALBANY — The state agency tasked with overseeing a program that provides housing fixes for disabled veterans failed to market the program and monitor local administrators, according to the state Comptroller’s office.

An audit released Monday found that Homes and Community Renewal did not effectively monitor the performance of program administrators in the Access to Home for Heroes program, which are typically local governments or nonprofit organizations. It also failed to properly market the program.

The program provides financial assistance to disabled veterans for home repairs to ensure they can live comfortably and safely in their homes. New York has around 173,000 disabled veterans.

"Failure to address these issues leaves the state’s disabled veterans underserved, limiting their opportunities to live in safe and accessible homes," the auditors wrote.

In the three fiscal years ending in March 2024, only 14 applicants serving 28 counties applied for funding. Additionally, only 12 program administrators serving 22 counties received funding.

The program was also slow to spend money approved for fixes. During one stretch, agency officials awarded 15 contracts for $3.3 million to 12 program administrators. Eighteen months later only $1.2 million had been spent.

The state Homes and Community Renewal told the comptroller’s office it had made several changes already in response to the audit’s findings, including a new monitoring system for contracts.

"It is HCR’s goal to facilitate the efficient delivery of the Access to Home for Heroes program funds to all veterans in need throughout New York State," the agency said in its response to the audit.

Among the audit's other findings was that program administrators it examined failed to meet requirements like maintaining project files, using the funds within the contract term or following project funding limits.

Some also had questionable bidding practices or did not follow conflict of interest requirements. In one case, the audit found, a program administrator used a relative as a contractor without seeking approval.

And neither the state nor the local administrators adequately marketed the program to ensure veterans were aware of it, according to the audit.

Officials also did not have a process to identify areas with high concentrations of veterans to help them prioritize outreach efforts.