Sample Projects
Featured Project:
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs,
Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation
In 2022, the Federal government released $350 billion to state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments in the form of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery (SLFR) grants to support the communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
As part of the State of New Jersey's plan to develop a model integrity oversight program, the Vander Weele Group was charged with developing a comprehensive Subrecipient Monitoring Plan. The plan's objectives included ensuring compliance with applicable law, implementing Federal and state regulations regarding SLFR funding, and assisting subrecipients in identifying metrics to guide and evaluate program success.
Drawing on twenty years of experience in compliance, programmatic monitoring, and fraud prevention, the Vander Weele Group has provided the state with ongoing risk assessments and the means to evaluate and improve project performance, internal controls, cash management, acquisition and property management, and records management. Additionally, we've provided training to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, and in conducting subrecipient monitoring.
In a later engagement, the Vander Weele Group team documented the Division’s entire range of business processes to assist with the administration of $6.2 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grants to 28 state agencies for 103 programs. We developed standard operating procedures and created business process maps for the grant review process for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) and the Capital Projects Fund (CPF). We have supported the grants management process—from grant applications and developing Memoranda of Understanding with subrecipients through final submissions of the Quarterly Performance Reports to the U.S. Department of the Treasury portal. The ARPA grant-funded programs include broadband; state police; various children, family, and social services; infrastructure; various housing support programs; K-12 and higher education; healthcare; labor; tourism; economic revitalization; and veteran services; among others.
896,300,000
million dollars
of infrastructure and construction projects monitored in New Jersey.
23
states in which the Vander Weele Group has monitored Federal grant money.
50,000
school employees' payroll records analyzed on behalf of a metropolitan school system.
230,000
school safety and misconduct reports analyzed on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Education.
"Each year, the Vander Weele Group has effectively met or exceeded its monitoring goals on time and within budget. The team has become a true partner, delivering more than monitoring services. They have made significant contributions to enhanced accountability and improved child outcomes in Early Intervention.
I heartily recommend the Vander Weele Group as a competent, caring, and professional organization."
Featured Project:
Early Intervention
Early Intervention programs provide coordinated services to children with disabilities younger than age 3 and high-risk infants and toddlers. The Vander Weele Group’s success in delivering compliance monitoring services for the State of Illinois, the sixth largest Early Intervention system in the United States, affords us considerable expertise on program logistics, staffing, training, and reporting to share with our clients.
We create agile and responsive compliance monitoring protocols and tools aligned with the Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, state laws, and agency rules. We manage large-scale, complex compliance monitoring programs and provide continuous technical support infused with our deep knowledge of best practice.
We also harness data collected through compliance monitoring reviews and special investigations to identify systemic challenges and work closely with key partners and stakeholders to devise and enact solutions.
Grants Management and Monitoring
Built a comprehensive grant management system and monitoring program for a state agency overseeing grants that serve employees of the horse racing industry and their families.
Developed prioritized recommendations, risk assessment, and sampling and monitoring procedures following a Memorandum of Understanding between the NJ Department of Treasury and the NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits (NJDPB) to aid in monitoring of $146.2 million in increased claims to NJDPB resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drove creation of risk assessments and a fraud prevention and detection policy to aid in monitoring of $5.6 billion dollars of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program funds, $9 billion in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program funds, and $3.8 billion in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program funds.
Assisted Chicago Public Schools in developing Safe Schools planning guides and provided a detailed security assessment of one of the system’s largest high schools.
Provided robust training on the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, School Board Roles and Responsibilities, Board Oversight, Ethics, Using School Data, Facilities, Roberts’ Rules of Order, Administrative Cost Grants, Emergency Planning, and more.
Developed training and tools for conducting fiscal and educational reviews of public schools. Wrote policy documents covering topics ranging from security, substance abuse, suicide prevention, and sexual harassment to search and seizure, drug and alcohol testing, anti-bullying, and zero tolerance for weapons.
Developed a Substance Abuse Prevention: Best Practices Resource Guide for educators and more than 25 custom forms and guides for monitoring in education, including a Parents’ Guide to Mental Health, Student Health Guidelines, Memoranda of Understanding, Student Codes of Conduct, Lost or Stolen Equipment Reports and School Entrance Health Forms.
Monitored more than $20 million in funds allocated to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection awarded primarily to fishery-related businesses. Conducted interviews, policy and procedure collection and review, developed a risk assessment. Reviewed benefits samples for duplication to minimize overlap with ongoing fraud investigations.
Engaged to monitor $25.5 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds that provide eligible New Jersey businesses and property owners with grant awards toward monthly lease obligations under the Small Business Lease- Emergency Assistance Grant Program. We conducted a risk assessment, monitored applicant files and made recommendations to the NJ Redevelopment Authority.
Assessed home visits for the Head Start Birth to Five Program's home-based option in the City of Phoenix using the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS3) tool. Contracted to observe and assess 168 home visits each year for a five-year term and conduct reflective feedback sessions with each home visitor to improve services for Phoenix families.
Monitoring $600 million for services provided to students with disabilities under the Additional or Compensatory Special Education and Related Services (ACSERS) program, on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Education.
Engaged as an integrity monitor with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to monitor $180 million in grant funds designated to improve air quality and energy performance in schools and small businesses.
Created a comprehensive monitoring program for more than 30 Federal and state education grants at the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
Engaged as the Integrity Monitor for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency's Homeowner Assistance Fund, which is a program to assist New Jersey homeowners who fell behind on mortgage payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2018, the Illinois State Board of Education has engaged our firm to create and execute a risk-based monitoring program to oversee $6.9 billion in Federal grants for Chicago Public Schools, and since 2020, for nine other districts.
Engaged in 2023 to monitor the $50 million dollar New Jersey Learning Acceleration Program: High-Impact Tutoring Grant, which provides tutoring interventions to students disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Annually since 2015, we have conducted reviews of 1000 payees and all 25 Child and Family Connections offices for Illinois’s Early Intervention Program, which serves 45,000+ children under age three with disabilities or developmental delays.
Featured Project:
Early Childhood Block Grant Prevention Initiative
In Illinois, we monitored more than 147 Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG) Prevention Initiative (PI) funded grantees and their programs, serving the approximately 13,116 expectant parents and families with children aged birth to three who were enrolled in PI programs between FY 2020 and FY 2024. This program--operated by the Illinois State Board of Education's Early Childhood Department--provides intensive, research-based, and comprehensive child development and family support services for expectant parents and families with children from birth to age three. These services help build a strong foundation for learning and prepare children for later school success.
Our team created the Prevention Initiative Quality Evaluation Tool (PIQET) for an engagement with the Illinois State Board of Education, which we use alongside published quality assessments, such as the Environment Rating Scale family of products and the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS-3). We use these quality assessments along with the state's compliance tool, the Prevention Initiative Compliance Checklist (PICC), to monitor programs serving children and their families.
Featured Project:
Bureau of Indian Education
In a five-year program, Vander Weele Group provided compliance reviews, evaluations and technical assistance to nearly all of the 183 schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). The firm made on-site visits to more than 140 locations in 23 states, reviewed more than 230,000 school safety and misconduct reports, and developed custom database tools for monitoring and reporting.
Each year, the Vander Weele Group provided a final report with recommended systemic reforms that addressed challenges such as high leadership and teacher turnover, inadequate technological infrastructure, insufficient understanding of student achievement data to drive educational programs, insufficient parental involvement, excessive carryover funds, violations of internal controls, Going Concern problems (schools improperly budgeting and at risk of exhausting their funds), and more. The BIE and its schools used the information from the monitoring visits and these recommendations to drive new strategies, future training, and technical assistance.
Infrastructure Oversight
Served as Inspector General of the Public Building Commission of Chicago and evaluated their systems to determine their efficacy in preventing incidents of waste, fraud, and mismanagement and recommended to the Board modifications to prevent subsequent incidents.
Supports construction monitoring programs at O’Hare International Airport.
Monitoring $100 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) funding the Rebuild by Design project on the Hudson River in New Jersey. We conduct onsite reviews; develop recommendations and strategies to ensure compliance and prevention of associated risks if any weaknesses, gaps, or errors are detected. We conducted a risk assessment of the using agency’s existing controls.
In New Jersey, monitoring a project to rehabilitate a nine-mile stretch called the Greenway into a recreational area, funded by $67 million in ARPA CSFRF Funds. The project will convert nine miles of disused rail lines into a park with recreation and transportation amenities.
Monitoring $52.5 of ARP CSFRF funding of the Liberty State Park project, which will focus on upgrading the park’s grounds and facilities along the Hudson River, with an emphasis on building resilience to flooding caused by climate change. This revitalization will bring more than 100 acres of active recreational, arts, and cultural improvements.
Providing oversight of $302.3 million in ARP CSFRF funds for the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDEP) Water Infrastructure Program. The Program is a principal forgiveness loan that provides funds to communities for clean water and drinking water projects, particularly those that benefit disadvantaged communities and improve resiliency against the effects of future climate change.
Providing integrity monitoring services to the NJDEP for the Middlesex Reservoir Reclamation Project, a $30 million, two-phase project designed to address the former reservoir's future preservation, conservation, and recreational development.
Monitoring funds used to expand and renovate pre-schools through the New Jersey Department of Education's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program. We conducted a risk assessment of the NJDOE's policies and procedures, organizational structure and capacity, internal controls, and previous audits. We are also monitoring selected districts to ensure expenditures are adequately monitored in accordance with Federal and state requirements.
Monitoring $40 million in ARPA funds used to build an Athletic Complex and Multi-Purpose Venue at Middlesex College in New Jersey. As Integrity Monitor for the NJDCA, we are reviewing document retention policies and procedures; providing fraud prevention/detection, and data analytics; monitoring the construction; and conducting a procurement/expenditure review.
Featured Project:
A Corporate Client
Saved a corporate client between $5 million to $7 million a year after analyzing approximately $40 million in credit card expenditures and identifying 145 suspect users, some of whom were criminally charged.
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Investigated theft of half a million dollars from a client processing millions of dollars in checks. Worked with the client to obtain a written confession, and supported the efforts of the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office in indicting the employee responsible, who was part of a multi-million-dollar Nigerian bank fraud ring.
Performed more than 175 investigative projects for a Fortune 500 company, including a series of allegations relevant to compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2001, insider trading, kickbacks, unauthorized diversion of scrap, conflicts of interests, procurement fraud, accounting fraud, and self-dealing.
As a subcontractor, conducted assessments of seven American manufacturing plants in China, Malaysia, and Singapore to prevent product diversion to the black market. Designed and conducted security audits of seven plants, and co-authored recommendations for development of a security compliance program.
Gathered intelligence concerning a company claiming revenue growth from $19.4 million to $155 million in three years. Uncovered multiple instances of fraud and mismanagement, including nearly 80 civil actions and a scheme to inflate revenues to obtain hundreds of millions of investment dollars. Liabilities totaled $800 million; the client who requested the investigation escaped the losses.
Saved a maintenance company $1.6 million in union contributions by documenting errors in a union audit that claimed the company owed the money. Reconstructed data from hundreds of purchase orders to demonstrate the audit was faulty.
On behalf of a client, conducted background investigation of a partner in a potential sales initiative with a foreign government agency. Uncovered prior convictions for war crimes and ongoing allegations of steering bids, leading the client to terminate the relationship.
Conducted investigations into complex inventory fraud schemes in American manufacturing plants in Shanghai, China, and in Guadalajara, Mexico. Used data analysis to show disparities in Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) entering the manufacturing line compared with COAs attached to product coming out of the Mexican plant. After one investigation, six employees in the Mexican operation were dismissed.
Prior to a $150,000 investment by the client, investigated an entity promising to raise tens of millions in capital. The investigation detected numerous inconsistences and improprieties, including connections to an infamous overseas cult leader implicated in sex abuse crimes and black market organ trade.
Analyzed payroll records for approximately 50,000 school employees for evidence of fraud.
Identified hundreds of instances of fraud, including employees paid for more than 250 hours per week or residing cross country from assigned work locations.
Reviewed and recommended improvements in more than 20 major functions, ranging from information technology and recruitment to financial management systems, in multi-billion dollar organizations throughout the government and corporate sectors.
Served as the outsourced Inspector General of the Public Building Commission of Chicago.
Served as a subject matter expert for the government of Indonesia in designing software with built-in algorithms to detect fraud in its procurement system.
Trained investigators from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, South Africa, Haiti, and Central America on investigative report writing.
Conducted investigative intelligence on a list of small businesses and identified indicators of fraud in dozens of small business certifications. One small business was described online as a division of another company that received nearly $78.2 million in U.S. defense contracts from 2000 to 2009.
Identified trends in bribery and kickbacks in Mexican real estate transactions to inform decision-making of a publicly owned Real Estate Investment Trust in its consideration of entering the Mexican marketplace. And in a related project, identified major risks associated with a Mexican hotelier whose family businesss had been engaged in nefarious business dealings.
Supported a $2.5 billion insurance company by providing a forensic analysis of a fraudulent claim.
Conducted investigative intelligence to locate a group of individuals who provided false identities as owners of a recycling operation that diverted product from a manufacturing plant. The product had improperly been deemed scrap.
Conducted research into a manufacturing company's former employee who was rumored to be pitching the company's signature patented product to a national chain. We investigated and documented what amounted to a confession of the scheme when the former employee advertised anonymously for new employees, stating she and a colleague started the company to "take advantage of opportunities unrealized by our former employer."
Conducted a forensic audit of more than $6 million in expenditures in connection to an investigation of allegations of fraud. Out team reconstructed and mapped financial data. We concluded that while numerous accounting errors occurred in an extremely complex accounting environment, no fraud had occurred.
On behalf of a Federal agency, located 1,300 individuals, 70% of whom had no date of birth or Social Security number listed on agency records.
"We were hired by an art gallery to find a customer who stole more than $100,000 of artwork. With only a name and no permanent address, the Vander Weele Group was able to locate the thief's family in an off-grid country home fueled only by a wood burning stove."
Our Clients
