State investigators now say an anti-abortion group tapped to replace Planned Parenthood in Texas’ reproductive health programs must repay nearly $1.6 million amid “serious contractual violations.” That tab could still go much higher.
In a long-awaited report released Thursday, investigators found that the Heidi Group misused taxpayer funds, appeared to overpay subcontractors and some employees, lacked oversight and contracts for their providers, and more.
The findings echo those in an Observer investigation published in June, which was based on financial statements, internal documents, and interviews with half a dozen former Heidi Group employees and the group’s founder. “Millions of dollars were funneled through there, and we only helped a handful of women,” one former employee told me this spring. “That’s sinful, to take that amount of money and not use it for what it was supposed to be used for.”
