A recent audit revealed that money for victims was used for wining and dining instead
The employees of the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault work hard to provide victim services to those who need it. Except Candida Manion, who decided to go wine tasting instead of doing her actual job.
Under Manion’s reign as executive director of the nonprofit, $886,495 of the grant money awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women was misused from 2015 to 2020. This consisted of 98% of the federal funds spent by the coalition over that period. These funds were meant to be used to advocate for victim rights, provide counseling services and train professional advocates for victims of domestic and sexual violence. We have to ask ourselves — how did Manion get away with this corrupt behavior for so long?
As Manion controlled the coalition’s annual budget, which was $450,000 to $650,000 according to income tax reports, she was able to persuade board members to look the other way as she squandered the funds by sending them to conferences around the country. Jamie Bond, the former office coordinator for the nonprofit, attested to booking reservations in Orlando for a board member who brought her family and stayed in a hotel at Disney World. Bond also said that Manion would skip full days of conferences she would attend under the guise of educating herself about working with abuse victims. Manion even reimbursed herself for hotel costs and paid herself $465 more than the hotel invoice indicated in one case. Manion used funds designated to aiding victims for unofficial business on multiple occasions.
Manion was fired in February of 2021 after she was finally caught exploiting her position through federal audits. But honestly, how did Manion’s irresponsible spending not trigger an audit sooner or garner the attention of anyone with their morality intact? Those who felt uncomfortable with the audit and the work environment quit the coalition, including Bond herself. But no one had the bright idea to tell someone working under the federal government what was going on at the nonprofit. No one tried to prevent monies designated to aiding victims from being stolen by the very people supposedly dedicated to assisting them. Manion wasn’t even charged with theft of public funds or fraud, instead she was given two months of severance pay to compensate for the hardship of not going on all-expense trips or stealing money from abuse victims.
Former board members returned to oversee new staff and rebuild the coalition, where hopefully fraud and embezzlement will not be tolerated this time. That is, if the nonprofit can be salvaged after their credibility has been all but destroyed. New policies that will help board members keep a watchful eye on spending by the new executive director have been approved. However, how effective can these safeguards be when corruption has already spread so far and no one is held liable for their actions?
Manion’s irresponsible actions as well as the coalition members who enabled her to waste most of the budget for five years have jeopardized critical aid for Oklahoma women and children. The Office on Violence Against Women will be reluctant to hand over hundreds of thousands of grant money to such a controversial nonprofit. This only hurts abuse victims and their chances of obtaining justice and safety. The coalition was responsible for utilizing federal funds correctly and should pay back the money that was wasted on needless travel and hotel expenses. The department will likely reallocate grant money to nonprofits that will actually utilize it for its purpose. At the very least, people will get the assistance they need, whether it comes from the coalition or not.