In 2020, after years of questions and complaints from struggling families, advocates and reporters regarding the state’s administration of a federal program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the public found out where at least some of the money went.
Agents from the state auditor’s office arrested six people on Feb. 5, 2020, alleging they conspired to steal more than $4 million in federal block grant funds intended to help Mississippians escape poverty. One has pleaded guilty, another tried to plead guilty, but a judge rejected the deal, and four remain innocent until proven guilty. Trials are set for coming months, but additional delays are likely.
While the auditor’s office says its still investigating the case with the FBI, no one else who received roughly $94 million in questionably spent welfare funds has been charged with a crime. It’s possible that had they no knowledge of the overarching scheme or the source of the funds, they may not be accused of wrongdoing, officials have explained to Mississippi Today.
The subsequent revelations about how Mississippi runs its public assistance programs span further and wider than the ongoing criminal case. Here’s what went down:
January 2016
Instead, prosecutors are accusing former MDHS Director John Davis, nonprofit owner Nancy New and four others of conspiring to make millions of dollars worth of "absurd" purchases. The auditor uncovered millions more in questionable spending and has alluded to possible further charges.
John Davis
January 11, 2016
Then-Gov. Phil Bryant appoints John Davis to lead the state’s welfare agency, the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
June 2, 2016
MDHS approves a $1 million extension to an existing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families subgrant with Nancy New’s nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center to operate a Families First Resource Center.
Most of the alleged theft and misspending occured within the TANF program, using the "Families First" program as the vehicle. View the agreement here.
October 18, 2016
Flanked by Phil and Deborah Bryant and other state officials, Nancy New cut the ribbon on the first Families First for Mississippi office in Jackson.
November 16, 2016
MDHS makes the first large, lump sum TANF payment on record — of $4.9 million — to Mississippi Community Education Center, signaling the beginning of unprecedented up-front funding for Families First for Mississippi.
View the payment here.
January 2017
Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative releases a report examining the 20-year history of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in Mississippi, first analyzing and publishing the state’s 1.4% approval rate of TANF applicants.
View the report here.
February 16, 2017
Then-MDHS Director John Davis hires former pro-wrestler Brett DiBiase as a deputy administrator at a $95,000 salary, Clarion Ledger first reported.
April 13, 2017
Think Progress, a national progressive news website, breaks the story that Mississippi has been denying almost all applicants for TANF cash assistance.
Read the story here.
May 12, 2017
John Davis sends an internal memo to his staff describing the new “Generational Approach to Human Services,” which is branded as “gen+”. He introduces a new division called “Transformational Change” and places Brett DiBiase as its director.
June 2017
MDHS conducts “gen+” training for the division of economic assistance, where he introduced the staff to Families First for Mississippi.
June 1, 2017
Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi enter a joint contract with Priceless Ventures, the company owned by former professional wrestler and close John Davis associate Ted DiBiase Jr., under the name “Families First of Mississippi” from June 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2017, according to the state auditor’s report.
October 3, 2017
Reporter submits a public records request to MDHS for TANF expenditures and performance reports. Read the communication here.
October 4, 2017
Then-MDHS Director John Davis signs new $21 million subgrant with Mississippi Community Education Center to run Families First for Mississippi’s southern region through Sept. 30, 2018. The agency eventually modified the subgrant down to $18.8 million.
View the subgrant here and the final modification here.
October 12, 2017
The Legislative watchdog, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, sends a letter to MDHS on behalf of lawmakers and asks John Davis to explain his new Families First for Mississippi initiative and its funding.
October 19, 2017
Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approves the transfer of a lease from University of Southern Mississippi to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, according to board meeting minutes, which planned to sublease to Mississippi Community Education Center for $5 million in MDHS funding for the purpose of building a new volleyball stadium. Read the stories Mississippi Today broke here and here.
October 26, 2017
Mississippi Community Education Center’s Nancy New signs a 5-year, $5 million sublease with the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation so that it can build a new volleyball stadium on campus called the Wellness Center.
Media reports had previously credited former NFL quarterback and Mississippi native Brett Favre with raising funds for the new stadium at the university, where his daughter played volleyball.
Read the stories Mississippi Today broke here and here.
October 30, 2017
MDHS responds to reporter’s request for TANF records by sending vague, incomplete reports that do not show how the agency spent the funds. It does not send any performance reports as requested.
View the full tweet here.
November 6, 2017
Mississippi Community Education Center pays the first of two $2.5 million installments to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation to build the volleyball stadium, the audit said.
November 9, 2017
Families First for Mississippi announces it is partnering with a nonprofit run by the DiBiase family called Heart of David, which also received $2 million from the welfare agency, Clarion Ledger first reported.
December 2017
Mississippi Community Education Center pays Brett Favre $500,000 “to appear at several events, record promotions, and provide autographs for marketing materials”; however “auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events,” according to the state auditor’s report.
December 5, 2017
Mississippi Community Education Center pays the second installment of $2.5 million to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation to build the volleyball stadium, the audit said.
December 6, 2017
Then-MDHS Director John Davis signs a $20 million subgrant with Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi to run Families First for Mississippi’s northern region through Sept. 30, 2018. The agency eventually modified the subgrant down to $17.6 million. View the subgrant here and the final modification here.
December 19, 2017
John Davis responds to follow up questions from PEER, including “what is the explanation for the approximate $14 million increase in expenditures (to the Families First initiative) from FY 2017 to FY 2018?” He explained that the funding would be used to open and staff new Family Resource Centers.
January 29, 2018
Clarion Ledger publishes a story about how MDHS returned $13 million in child care funding because the agency did not provide sufficient matching state dollars.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars could have been used to supplement the Child Care Development Fund.
Read the story here.
February 8, 2018
Lobbyist Will Longwitz registers Mississippi Community Education Center as his client. Though he reported receiving $0 in fees from the nonprofit, a state audit eventually revealed the nonprofit paid his firm nearly $320,000 from 2018 to 2019.
Read that story here.
February 26, 2018
Mississippi Community Education Center paid $171,000 to the Marcus Dupree Foundation, owned by a 1980s-era star running back and one of the nonprofit’s employees, according to the auditor’s report. Shortly after, the foundation placed a down payment of almost the same amount on what appears to be a personal residence for Dupree, the report said.
April 1, 2018
Mississippi Community Education Center begins paying a $9,500-a-month lease on a horse ranch in Flora, shortly before the property is purchased by the foundation of former football star Marcus Dupree.
MCEC paid Dupree an additional $198,846 in salary from 2018 to 2019 and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi paid him $119,000.
Read the story Mississippi Today broke here.
May 18, 2018
Mississippi Community Education Center opens the Families First for Mississippi center inside the Jackson Cash & Carry grocery store in west Jackson.
June 2018
Mississippi Community Education Center pays Brett Favre another $600,000 “to appear at several events, record promotions, and provide autographs for marketing materials”; however “auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events,” according to the state auditor’s report.
June 15, 2018
Then-MDHS Director John Davis signs a $2 million-a-year lease with Hertz Jackson City Centre, moving MDHS offices from a renovated hotel on State Street to a high-rise in the heart of downtown.
July 9, 2018
Reporter files a second public records request with MDHS for TANF spending reports, this time specifically requesting a list of subgrantees. Read the communication here.
August 8, 2018
Reporter files a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission alleging MDHS’ continual violation of the Mississippi Public Records Act. Read the complaint here.
September 18, 2018
Reporter files a third
public records request with MDHS for TANF spending reports, this time specifically requesting a list of program expenditures. The reporter also requests the number of TANF applications received and approved or denied by MDHS. Read the requests
here.
The news organization eventually receives an incomplete list of subgrantee payments and TANF statistical reports that showed the agency approved roughly 25% of applications in 2017 and 2018. The agency refused to explain why the rate was so much higher than in previous years or why the TANF caseload, then, continued to drop in the same time frame.
Read the report here.
September 20, 2018 — October 20, 2019
Mississippi Community Education Center officials Nancy New, her son Zach New and accountant Ann McGrew begin conspiring to funnel at least $2 million of the nonprofit’s funds to private companies owned by the News, indictments allege.
September 26, 2018
Reporter files a public records request for the Families First for Mississippi contracts and information about the employers participating in the TANF work program. The contracts do not appear on the state transparency website, which is supposed to house all such agreements.
A month later, the agency eventually turns over its subgrant agreements with Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi, but says the employer information does not exist.
October 1, 2018
Mississippi Community Education Center enters a $1.4 million contract with former football player Paul Lacoste’s company Victory Sports to conduct free “boot camps.”
He eventually received $1.3 million, the audit said.
October 4, 2018
Mississippi Today interviews Nancy New at her office to get clarity about the dramatic increase in welfare funding to Mississippi Community Education Center to run Families First for Mississippi. Read portions of that interview here.
October 5, 2018
Then-MDHS Director John Davis signs new $10.6 million subgrant with Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi to run Families First for Mississippi’s northern region through Sept. 30, 2019.
October 10, 2018
Reporter files a public records request for the list of denial reasons for rejected TANF applications in 2017 and 2018. MDHS first supplied a document in response, then said that it was inaccurate and provided
these reports. The records show, inexplicably, that the agency approved a much greater percentage of applicants in 2017 and 2018, compared to numbers recorded in its annual reports, however caseloads reported to the federal government continued to drop. The agency refused to explain.
Read Mississippi Today's report here.
October 12, 2018
Then-MDHS Director John Davis signs new $10.6 million subgrant with Mississippi Community Education Center to run Families First for Mississippi’s southern region through Sept. 30, 2019.
October 15, 2018
Reporter files a public records request for internal records showing the number of TANF applications submitted, approved and denied from 2014-2016, in an attempt to reconcile the data from the previous request. MDHS said it did not possess the record.
December 2018 — January 2019
At some point in December 2018 or January 2019, former NFL quarterback and Mississippi native Brett Favre
hosts a meeting at his home with Jake Vanlandingham, founder of a Florida-based biomedical startup called Prevacus, the scientist's associate, then-MDHS Director John Davis, nonprofit owner Nancy New, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Favre’s agent.
Favre notably sponsored Prevacus, which is developing a treatment for brain injury caused by concussions and was the largest recipient of allegedly stolen welfare dollars.
Officials have not publicly accused Favre or Prevacus officials of any crime within the alleged scheme.
December 10, 2018
Then-Gov. Phil Bryant staffers communicate with Jake Vanlandingham of Prevacus to schedule a dinner,
emails obtained by Clarion Ledger show. Prevacus, which is developing a treatment for brain injury caused by concussions, was notably sponsored by former NFL quarterback and Mississippi native Brett Favre.
Officials have not publicly accused Bryant or Favre of any crime within the alleged scheme.
December 10, 2018
Mississippi Department of Human Services’ contract with Brett DiBiase’s company, Restore2, begins. Then-Director John Davis allegedly directs the fraudulent payments of $48,000 under the contract while DiBiase is in drug treatment in Malibu, indictments and the state audit allege, with the help of employee Latimer Smith. DiBiase has pleaded guilty.
December 17, 2018
Then-MDHS Director John Davis schedules a placeholder on his calendar, writing, “Nancy New to let me know either 14th or 17th. USM Wants to show their appreciation to Mr. Davis and Ted,” according to
emails Mississippi Today obtained.
Former professional wrestler and Davis’ close associate Ted DiBiase Jr. is copied on the email.
December 18, 2018
Then-Gov. Phil Bryant awards Nancy New the Mississippi Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the second highest honor the governor grants.
December 26, 2018 — December 30, 2018
Prevacus founder Jake Vanlandingham and then-Gov. Phil Bryant meet for a dinner, likely between these proposed dates, according to emails Clarion Ledger obtained.
January 2, 2019
Then-MDHS Director John Davis sends an emailed calendar invite, writing, “This meeting was requested by Brett Favre and the Governor to discuss the Educational Research Program that addresses brain injury caused by concussions. They also want to discuss the new facility at USM,” according to emails Mississippi Today obtained.
Former professional wrestler and Davis’ close associate Ted DiBiase Jr. is copied on the email.
Read the story Mississippi Today broke here.
January 15, 2019
In reponse to the reporter's complaint, Mississippi Ethics Commission ruled that MDHS violated the Mississippi Public Records Act by failing to respond to requests within 14 days.
January 18, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $750,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to Prevacus, the first of six payments to the company and its affiliate PreSolMD, which eventually total $2.15 million, indictments allege. The auditor alleged that the News purchased personal investments in the companies.
February 2019
Mississippi Community Education Center begins wiring $40,000 a month to pay for Brett DiBiase’s substance abuse treatment at a luxury rehabilitation facility in Malibu, according to the
auditor’s report, as part of an alleged conspiracy between then-MDHS Director John Davis and the nonprofit.
The nonprofit makes five payments to the facility through June.
The nonprofit also pays Brett DiBiase a salary of $208,000 in 2018 and $250,000 in 2019, the audit said.
March 28, 2019
Mississippi Today publishes an investigation into the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC) at Mississippi State University, a contractor that is supposed to help state agencies track the impact of public programs. Mississippi Today eventually learned that at least a portion of MDHS's NSPARC contract was paid for using welfare dollars.
Read those stories here and here. See reference to the center in the audit here.
April 8, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $500,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to Prevacus, indictments allege.
April 15, 2019
Nancy New signs a no cost sublease with Mississippi Department of Human Services to occupy the space on State Street. Read the sublease here.
April 24, 2019
Mississippi Today publishes a story about how the state is using welfare dollars to supplement college scholarships for students of middle class families.
The story reads: "Mississippi also awarded two nonprofits, Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi, which together make up an entity called Families First, $27.6 million, or over 25 percent of annual TANF dollars, in 2018 to create resource centers to serve people up to 350 percent of the poverty line."
Read the story here.
May 2, 2019
Then-MDHS Director John Davis conducts a meeting of the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) board, which he chairs, and announces his intent to use Mississippians’ personal data to tackle poverty. When approached by Mississippi Today, who was trying to obtain the data they were discussing, Davis said the news organization could not retrieve the information it sought.
“I want exactly what you want,” he said. “Because as an agency head, it’s not like I’m sitting back saying, ‘Oh, I don’t want to help these people.’ My job is to help people. I don’t get paid any more not to help people.”
Read that story here.
May 10, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $250,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to Prevacus, indictments allege.
June 21, 2019
After an internal audit by the agency’s inspector general, MDHS leadership take concerns about misspending to Gov. Phil Bryant, who turns the information over to State Auditor Shad White, according to White’s office.
July 8, 2019
Then-MDHS Director John Davis announces his abrupt retirement after 28 years with the agency.
July 16, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $400,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to Prevacus, indictments allege.
July 25, 2019
Gov. Phil Bryant appoints former FBI director Christopher Freeze to replace John Davis as director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
September 10, 2019
Mississippi Community Education Center opens the Families First State Street center in the building where MDHS offices used to be located.
September 24, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $100,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to PreSolMD, indictments allege.
October 7, 2019
Nancy and Zach New transfer $150,000 in welfare funds from their nonprofit to PreSolMD, indictments allege.
October 15, 2019
Reporter files a fourth public records request for TANF expenditures from MDHS.
November 5, 2019
MDHS supplies TANF expenditure reports, which consist of vague spending reports to the federal government and lump sum grant amounts to subgrantees like Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi, but does not provide a ledger of the nonprofit’s actual purchases. View the responsive documents
here,
here,
here and
here.
Reporter requests Families First for Mississippi outcome data from MDHS.
December 2019
MDHS issues a notice of award, indicating it planned to grant new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families subgrants to Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi. View the notice here. Officials eventually sound the alarm and the contracts are never inked.
January 14, 2020
Then-MDHS director Christopher Freeze announces his resignation. He is replaced by the deputy director, Jacob Black.
Read the press release from MDHS here.
February 3, 2020
Reporter files a public records request with MDHS for any new Families First contracts with Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi.
February 4, 2020
Reporter files a public records request with MDHS for Families First for Mississippi outcome data.
February 4, 2020
A Hinds County grand jury indicts John Davis, Latimer Smith, Brett DiBiase, Nancy New, Zach New and Ann McGrew.
10:00 AM February 5, 2020
Mississippi Today visits the Families First State Street center to observe its operations.
View a Tweet thread with photos here.
4:00 PM February 5, 2020
Officers from the State Auditor’s Office announce the arrest of six defendants in connection with a sprawling welfare embezzlement scheme.
Read about the arrests here.
Read Mississippi Today’s follow up story about the alleged scheme here.
February 9, 2020
State Auditor Shad White announces his office will meet with the FBI to turn over information about the embezzlement case to the federal authorities.
View the announcement here.
February 12, 2020
New Learning Resources, Nancy New's private school company, announced New had stepped down as director, Clarion Ledger reported.
Read the story here.
March 4, 2020
Gov. Tate Reeves names Bob Anderson, the former director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the State Attorney General’s Office, the director of Mississippi Department of Human Services. Read Mississippi Today’s in-depth interview with the director here.
March 13, 2020
Clarion Ledger publishes a report on spending by the Mississippi Community Education Center after obtaining one of the nonprofit’s ledgers attached to an email the newspaper requested.
Read the story here.
May 4, 2020
State Auditor Shad White releases his office’s annual single audit, which questioned $94 million in Mississippi Department of Human Services spending, much of which fell under the umbrella of Families First for Mississippi. Read the story here.
June 22, 2020
The U.S. Department of Justice files a lis pendens in an attempt to seize Ted DiBiase Jr.’s $1.5 million home, the Clarion Ledger first reported, signaling that federal authorities believe a crime was committed in relation to the property.
The notice was filed in conjunction with a federal lawsuit that appears to be sealed. Officials have not publicly accused Ted DiBiase Jr. of a crime.
Read the story here.
July 16, 2020
Mississippi Today publishes two reports examining how the Mississippi Department of Human Services has spent welfare funds since former director John Davis’ retirement -- including payments to Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of Northeast Mississippi, the Families First nonprofits, and NSPARC -- and how it plans to spend the funds in the near future.
Read them here and here.
November 6, 2020
Mississippi Community Education Center’s Nancy New told reporters that someone directed her to make payments to the concussion research firm Prevacus and PreSolMD.
Read the Nov. 14 story here.
November 9, 2020
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes its annual Temporary Assistance for Needy Families caseload data, which showed that MDHS continued to approve fewer and fewer families for cash assistance in 2020, amid a global pandemic, a national economic crisis and new incoming leadership at the agency.
Read the story here.
November 16, 2020
Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Faye Peterson enters a gag order in Nancy New’s case, prohibiting any parties, representatives or witnesses from speaking to the media, following Mississippi Today and Clarion Ledger’s Nov. 14 story.
Read the story here.
December 16, 2020
Ann McGrew, Mississippi Community Education Center's former accountant, notifies the Court that she would accept a guilty plea offer from the state.
December 17, 2020
Brett DiBiase pleads guilty to making fraudulent statements, his role in the larger alleged welfare embezzlement scheme. During his plea, DiBiase says MDHS paid him $48,000 up front to conduct “drug addiction training," but before he could deliver on the contract, the former wrestler found himself back in rehab. He kept the money anyway.
Read the story here.
January 26, 2021
Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Wooten rejects the guilty plea deal that Ann McGrew and the district attorney's office agreed upon. McGrew is one of the state's most important witnesses in the case against other defendants, as she would have some of the most direct knowledge of who directed which funds to go to which sources. Read Mississippi Today's report on this here.
January 28, 2021
Ann McGrew's attorney and an assistance district attorney request a continuance for the case, which had been set for Feb. 1.
January 28, 2021
Lawmakers advance legislation to increase the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program's cash assistance benefit from $170 to $260 for a family of three, the first increase since 1999. They also advance legislation to ease eligibility determination requirements for public assistance programs. Read Mississippi Today's report here.
February 2021
Trials may be underway in 2021. By February, former MDHS director John Davis' trial was set for Mar. 29, and Nancy New's trial was most recently set for April 1, but additional continuances are likely.
-- Article credit to Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today --
