SOPHIE FORD FIRED FROM JOB AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER DIRECTOR IN MARYLAND

SOPHIE FORD FIRED FROM JOB AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER DIRECTOR IN MARYLAND:

THE SHELTER RECEIVED $1 MIL IN FUNDS YET WAS FULL OF MOLD, MICE AND HAD NO HEAT.

SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT BATTERED WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

SHE JUST WANTED A PAYCHECK.


Sources: Washington Post, Youtube


******* Pr. George’s shelter under new leadership after complaints of pests, mold, rotting food


The director of a women’s shelter in Prince George’s County was asked to resign this week after clients staying at the domestic violence safe house complained about rotten food, pests and mold inside the home.

The women and children staying at the Family Crisis Center Inc. of Prince George’s County were moved to other accommodations this weekend after the board of directors for the independent nonprofit group asked executive director Sophie Ford to resign Thursday.

Ford was accused by residents of neglecting their complaints about poor conditions at the home, which can house up to 55 people and is the only emergency temporary shelter for domestic violence survivors in the county.

“I know we owe the community an apology and we’ve learned some hard lessons,” said Andrea Morris, who sits on the nonprofit board and was appointed interim director of the center. She will oversee repairs during the next week.

“We regret the situation tremendously and the board realized we need to have more direct ongoing oversight of the organization,” she said.

Morris said the board had misplaced its trust in Ford, who initially denied the allegations from residents, but after both the county and state government sent officials to inspect the safe house, the board asked the executive director to step down.

The center was founded in 1981 and receives all its funding from public sources, including an annual contract with Prince George’s County, which leads the state in domestic violence-related slayings.

This is not the first time the shelter has run into problems. In 2015, the county’s Office of Ethics and Accountability received a tip that later proved credible about a lack of “quality controls” at the shelter and recommended greater oversight and a “facility repairs plan” for the facility.

The Prince George’s Department of Family Services, which contracts with the shelter, is helping the nonprofit group pay to move the more than 40 women and their children to safe locations during the holiday season. They expect to move everyone back into the home by Jan. 1 before school begins and construction work is done.