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Non-Profit Call to Freedom flagged in Department of Justice audit

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota Now) -According to board member Korena Keys, Call to Freedom's goal is to put themselves out of a job.

“To put an end to human trafficking and save any man or woman from ever having to experience the trauma,” said Keys.

The organization was formed in 2016. Executive Director Becky Rasmussen says they've served over 750 victims of since 2017.

Part of the revenue included funds from the , requiring an outside audit.

“This is really the first time anybody's gone in and looked at how they were managing them,” said Keys.

Several items of concern were flagged. Non-profit consultant Michael Wyland of Sumption & Whyland says the situation and follow-up are rare.

“The funding source, in this case, the Department of Justice, doing its own audit after the independent auditor, in this case, Eide Bailey, turns in their report,” said Wyland.

Although the items noted could be in good faith, things can look different to someone outside of the organization.

“Disinterested third parties will look at it and say, that looks a little bit odd,” said Wyland.

One of the items that raise a concern is having one of their current survivors receiving assistance also being on the payroll.

“Say somebody wasn't a good employee, would they still be receiving services as a victim?” said Wyland.

The audit also addressed financial interactions with a board member.

“If you're going to be a board member of a non-profit organization, you're you're well advised to not also be a vendor to that organization,” said Wyland.

The third item of concern is spending funds outside of what the federal funding was to be used for. Instead, a portion was used to pay for a victim's legal assistance.

“A lot to know about administering federal grant funds, so it's easy to get in trouble based on what you don't know or what you haven't experienced as a grantee,” said Wyland.

“We've already implemented some of these changes. We've gone from having one person oversee the grants to two. We now have three people,” said Keys.

“That's the good news is that there was no finding of any kind of, of, you know, theft of funds or embezzlement of funds,” said Wyland.

The Department of Justice will continue to monitor Call to freedom to ensure the funds are used as directed.

The most recent tax return, form 990 is located on their website https://calltofreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2020-990-form.pdf

Copyright 2022 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.

 

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

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