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Family Ties director says she was never on board

February 16, 2013

irs fraudKeeping them homeless

By KAREN VELIE, JOSH FRIEDMAN and DANIEL BLACKBURN

(Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series about San Luis Obispo County Homeless Services and the nonprofits managing the program.)

Family Ties, the local nonprofit charged with protecting the financial interests of homeless and indigent people’s assets has a board of directors that does not exist.

One of the three people listed as board members says she is not a member of the board and that she did not know the nonprofit ever was formed.

Jana Hanson, a local physician, was identified on a 2010 IRS 990 tax form as Family Ties’ chief financial officer. But Hanson says she never served.

“It came as quite a surprise that Neisen is filing IRS returns with me as the CFO,” Hanson wrote in an email to CalCoastNews. “I am consulting an attorney to see how this information needs to be corrected in any documents she may have filed.”

Neisen is listed as president and one of the three board members. The third board member, identified by Family Ties as Deborah Jett, has not been located despite sophisticated data base searches. Jett is listed as the vice president of the nonprofit.

Family Ties, owned and operated by Lisa Neisen, acts in association with Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO) to deal with housing and related issues for the area’s homeless. In that role, Family Ties acts as designated substitute payee for numerous individuals, handling Social Security funds, income and general assistance money for those who ask to utilize CAPSLO’s homeless services.

Hanson said Niesen approached her between 10 and 15 years ago and told her she was planning to start a nonprofit that would help people in need of a guardian who did not qualify to be processed through the county. Niesen also is a full-time San Luis Obispo County employee, serving as chief deputy public guardian and managing finances for the mentally ill and the disabled.

“I did agree to be on her board of directors when she first applied for nonprofit status many years ago, but never received notification of any board meetings, reviewed any financial statements or had any role in the corporation,” Hanson wrote. “In fact, I have not seen Ms. Niesen nor had any communication with her in nearly a decade. I assumed her nonprofit never got off the ground or she found someone else to be on the board.”

Federal laws require that in order to operate as a 501(c)(4) and receive tax exempt status, nonprofits must have at least a three-person board of directors that meets a minimum of once a year, records meeting minutes and maintains other specified public records.

Neisen has not responded to repeated phone calls from reporters.

For years, CAPSLO officials have required homeless clients in need of shelter to provide 50 to 70 percent of their income to Neisen and Family Ties. The funds are supposed to go into an account to be used to get the client into housing.

Family Ties’ organizational statement claims all of its clients have “been deemed unable to manage their funds due to their disability or mental disease,” according clients as “incapable.” Family Ties has failed to name individuals responsible for issuing that particular classification.

Homeless clients and even some case managers have complained for years that money placed in trust by CAPSLO with Family Ties, has been embezzled. Administrators with CAPSLO have not responded to questions about alleged missing funds. CAPSLO officials contend they do not charge the homeless for services and that money saved for clients belongs to clients.

Keeping Them Homeless, the series.


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Lisa Niesen lived in Las Vegas before she moved to the Central Coast (Intelius), and there is a counselor there named Deborah Jette. I would check to see if she is on the Board or whether her name was used without her participation, or perhaps without her knowledge since her last name is misspelled by Niesen.


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I am not sure whether we should believe these two individuals or suspect that they are mice denying and fleeing the doomed vessel now that Calcoastnews has uncovered fraud, elder abuse and conspiracy to commit fraud? Could just be that these people were involved since day one and see the writing on the wall – you have been exposed and prison is just around the door? Maybe Niesen has already shredded all documentation showing where the money has gone and who has been involved? Isn’t councilman Ashbaugh on the Board of CAPSLO? Didn’t Assistant City Manager / Band Member Michael Codron work hand in hand with CAPSLO while as the SLO Housing Program Manager? What idiot now serves as the City’s Housing Program Manager? Haven’t Dietrick, Carter and Carpenter been huge proponents of the homeless service programs offered by CAPSLO? Hmmm, it is really beginning to look fishy – maybe they found a new retirement fund source – the indigent, feeble minded homeless? How sick can you get? Preying upon the mentally ill.


Many, many questions to be answered. Keep up the good work Calcoastnews!


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A NPO belongs to the public. Tax Returns and Board minutes, at the least, must be kept as a public record. If these records are not kept public then they risk losing the NPO status. Has anyone made a demand. If refused, engage the Secretary of State and turn them into the IRS


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Good job, CCN!


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There are some important questions being overlooked here:


1. Why hasn’t Dee Torres been suspended without pay until these matters are fully investigated? What are her superiors waiting for? A fifth article from CCN?

2. When is somebody going to confront Laurel Weir about these matters? Remember, she was handpicked to move to SLO to provide oversight of homeless services. Yet she hasn’t accomplished anything, was silent about the ticketing of homeless people taking shelter in their vehicles, and hasn’t commented about these scandals yet.

3. At the last city council meeting, John Ashbaugh read a letter of denial written by Biz Steinberg. When is John Ashbaugh, who sits on CAPSLO’s board, going to be held accountable for ignoring the fraud at CAPSLO?

4. Is Biz Steinberg going to address the specific accusations against CAPSLO or is she going to naively assume that her denial letter read at the last city council meeting by John Ashbaugh is enough?

5. When is Dan Carpenter going to be held accountable for his questionable relationships with CAPSLO and Friends of Prado Day Center? Remember that he and Ashbaugh voted to continue to give money to CAPSLO despite these allegations and Dan Carpenter trashed CCN at the last city council meeting.


These people are horrible representatives and managers of our community.


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Well, duh. The answer to #1 is “because waving her legs in the air for Adam Hill.”


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For many months I took it on myself to cook a homemade meal every Wednesday Night at the OccupySLO occupation. I was told this was not necessary because Prado would feed the homeless. I fed those who were turned away from Prado for not complying to the rules. How is that possible? I thought that the homeless services agency would understand that inappropriate people get hungry too? Just sayin”


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Well said Brother Sulla.


There are multiple licensed private fiduciaries, operating at reasonable prices typically approved by local courts, as sole proprietors in San Luis Obispo County. Those licensed fiduciaries manage funds and provide accountings regularly to the people they help. Professional corporations generally require bonding and frequently disallow fiduciaries to avoid personal liability. Why Family Ties was formed as a corporation in the first place remains a question which should be asked. Why it was formed as a Non-Profit corporation is another. Were public funds going to pay for the administration by Family Ties of social security, supplemental security income, disability and other public benefits that would not have been paid to a “for-profit” licensed fiduciary? And if so, why then were poor people in shelters reportedly charged a monthly fee for administering the few hundred dollars a month being “managed” by Family Ties? And how much of the management of those funds, if any, was subcontracted or assigned to CAPSLO? And why would CAPSLO withhold services [showers, meals, mail service, health referrals, job referrals] unless a person signed over their benefits to Family Ties?


What was the motivation?


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Next up – investigate Community Health Centers of the Central Coast. Ron Castle has been a big spender for years – taking random employees on lavish trips, supposedly business-related, but with questionable benefit to anyone but his buddies or crushes. For example, random support staff might spend a week in Hawaii while higher level workers – those who might need access to the presentations (supposedly) offered, were not invited. All this while psychiatric services are bare bones and the organization cried to their close friends on the BOS to please preserve their funds. Who can argue that they provide a much needed service? But do they do so efficiently and with proper oversight? Maybe they could use a good audit…


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here’s a thought; put them online with Quickbooks so the public could login and view.


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Training trips to Hawaii on public funds? Who do they think they’re kidding? Oh man, it’s time for an overhaul.


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It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again. Karen and Dan, you are doing a FANTASTIC job. The revelations in this series of articles are absolutely stunning.


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hummmm , two negatives, let me guess, a county supervisor and a CAPSLO employee…..


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The rational for the existence of corporations, for profit as well as non-profit, is to shield individuals from

liability. Failure to follow the requirements of running a corporation indicates that it is nothing more than

the alter ego of its managers, who then are fully personally liable for the activities (including any taxes) of the “corporation”.


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Well said Brother Sulla.


There are multiple licensed private fiduciaries, operating at reasonable prices typically approved by local courts, as sole proprietors in San Luis Obispo County. Those licensed fiduciaries manage funds and provide accountings regularly to the people they help. Professional corporations generally require bonding and frequently disallow fiduciaries to avoid personal liability. Why Family Ties was formed as a corporation in the first place remains a question which should be asked.


Why it was formed as a Non-Profit corporation is another. Were public funds going to pay for the administration by Family Ties of social security, supplemental security income, disability and other public benefits that would not have been paid to a “for-profit” licensed fiduciary? And if so, why then were poor people in shelters reportedly charged a monthly fee for administering the few hundred dollars a month being “managed” by Family Ties? And how much of the management of those funds, if any, was subcontracted or assigned to CAPSLO? And why would CAPSLO withhold services [showers, meals, mail service, health referrals, job referrals] unless a person signed over their benefits to Family Ties?


What was the motivation?


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It can’t be a nonprofit or an NPO if the only board member is also the president of the organization, as is alleged in this article.


It is, pure and simple, IRS and State tax fraud.


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