Baltimore Children & Youth Fund failed to submit years of financial audits, report shows

A new report by the Baltimore City Inspector General reveals the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) failed to submit years of required financial audits. 

The latest report shows the Baltimore City Department of Audits has no record of a financial audit from the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund from fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024.

"The oversight, the foundation of the Youth Fund, is what we were looking at," said Isabel Mercedes Cumming, Baltimore City's Inspector General. "And then in some instances it was lacking."

Cumming continued, "If you are building a house, this report looks at the foundation to see if there was oversight over this fund, how it's structured, how the money both gets invoiced and how it gets sent out."

The inspector general's report includes a breakdown of audits that were sent and not sent to the city's finance and audit department. 

A chart within the document breaks down nearly $50 million in BCYF's workday invoices from FY 2023 to 2025. Out of the 10 listed, only three have all of the supporting documents and grantees. 

"When we interviewed with the finance department, their job is not oversight," Cumming said. "When we talked to the auditors, you know, they have an audit plan, and they are supposed to receive from the Youth Fund the audits that they do."

Cumming explained that the BCYF audit reports are financial audits only, and they do not address whether or not the organization is spending its money appropriately.

City leaders respond

Baltimore City District 1 Councilman Mark Parker is the lead supporter and helped propose a bill that would require the nonprofit to undergo a performance audit by the Baltimore City comptroller every three years, starting next fiscal year. 

The bill is now supported by seven city councilmembers.

Council members, including Mark Conway, continue to call for transparency and stronger oversight. 

"This is one of the primary reasons I voted No on this year's City budget. I could not, in good conscience, support a budget that allocates public dollars to an entity without the documentation necessary to confirm how tens of millions of dollars have been managed," Conway said.

Conway added, "The voters created BCYF with an expectation of trust, accountability, and equity. Right now, the public deserves clearer answers and stronger oversight. Children and youth in Baltimore deserve access to well-funded, well-managed programs. Taxpayers deserve a transparent system for their contributions, and the City needs a reliable fiscal agent."

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon responded to the OIG's report on Wednesday, recognizing that the BCYF is working to review its finances and its rules and regulations.

"But to be clear, that work as what she asked for has already been underway since February of this year. We want to continue to work on that work," Scott said.

"The Department of Finance and the auditors and the Youth Fund need to come together, and they need to work with the City Council and to make these rules and regulations official, strong, and existing," Cumming said. "They're in the process of making up new rules and having official signed rules, but the communication has to be there, because there should be much stronger oversight over this much money for the city."

BCYF's response to OIG report

BCYF President Alysia Lee responded to the OIG's report and stated that the OIG confirmed that BCYF's FY21–FY23 audits are publicly posted on their website. 

"However, the Department of Audits reported that it had only logged receipt of the FY21 report at the time of its review," Lee wrote in her response to the OIG report. "While BCYF's internal records confirm that audits have been completed and submitted consistently with internal timelines and Board approvals, we acknowledge that the City Auditor's  Office has not yet confirmed receipt of all years' submissions."

Lee explained and acknowledged that there is work that needs to be done. She wrote that BCYF will follow up directly with the City Auditor to reconcile submission records and implement a revised procedure to ensure written confirmation of receipt for all future audits. 

Lee also said BCYF has worked with the comptroller's office to create a new financial reporting process after previous submissions were not recorded.

The OIG told WJZ that this investigation is ongoing.