08/18/2026
JEFFERSONVILLE — Community Action of Southern Indiana will relinquish its state and federal awards to another organization and officially dissolve as an independent entity next year.
Executive Director Adrian Jamieson told the News and Tribune on Monday the organization’s board of directors voted unanimously July 29 to endorse Ohio Valley Opportunities as the successor provider of Community Action services in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, taking over Jan. 1. The decision was made in part as a response to financial mismanagement revealed in a 2024-25 audit linking back to decisions made under previous leadership several years ago.
“The transition is related to that history in that it formally separates CASI’s programs from any lingering concerns tied to that period, placing them with a partner organization on fully current footing,” CASI stated in a question-and-answer document shared with the News and Tribune Monday. “It reflects the Board’s judgement about the years ahead, made from a position of strength rather than crisis.”
Jamieson sat down for an interview with the News and Tribune ahead of an official announcement planned to be made public on Tuesday. She said in light of the audit performed by Fishers-based accountant Comer Nowling and Associates, CASI’s board concluded its operations would be more secure inside a larger organization that could sustain itself in a way CASI couldn’t while providing consistency to its hundreds of clients.
“There’s a lot of benefit to having a larger organization that can manage things like audits,” she said. “If one person leaves, nothing’s going to fall through the cracks, and there’s just buying power in your bigger organizations. I’m really excited about the opportunity to grow access for our programs.”
Once the change takes place, Jamieson will depart her role at CASI, along with Chief Financial Officer Gerald Milligan and the organization’s director of human resources. Seats from CASI’s Board of Directors will be added to OVO’s existing board.
Originally founded in 1965 under the name Clark County Community Action, CASI operates programs intended to support children, seniors, people in poverty and other vulnerable populations. The organization is one of more than 1,000 Community Action Agencies operating across the United States, private and public non-profits serving low-income individuals and families.
CASI funds its programs through streams including federal block grants, local philanthropic support, regional grants and private resources, receiving much of its backing from the federal Office of Head Start and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
Those two organizations hold most of CASI’s regular awards, Jamieson said, such as its energy-saving Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income homeowners and renters and its Section 8 program.
Those federal and state awards cannot be directly transferred between organizations, meaning CASI must not renew them ahead of the takeover by Ohio Valley Opportunities. Once CASI is dissolved, OVO will apply for those awards, which the federal Office of Head Start and IHCDA will grant.
Current CASI programs affected by the change include Head Start, Early Head Start, the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 program, Weatherization Assistance, Individual Development Accounts, Community Services Block Grant and the Minority Health Program.
Jamieson emphasized that while these programs will be changing hands and the “CASI” name will be no more, people and families receiving services from CASI should experience no interruption in care.
Choosing OVO as its successor was not an easy decision, she said, but was one made after looking at various organizations with a similar investment in CASI’s work.
“We looked at things like commitment to mission, making sure that they share the same values and commitment to our clients that we do,” she said. “We really had to find a partner that was prepared to take on a portfolio this large while still maintaining the work and not allowing it to be disrupted in any way.”
OVO, which Jamieson called an “outstanding candidate,” is a neighboring Community Action Agency that works across eight counties to make utility bills more affordable, help people secure housing and provide free preschool, among other services. The organization already operates its Energy Assistance Program out of CASI’s building.
In a media release, OVO Executive Director Brad Wood said the agency holds CASI in deep respect.
“This transition is about two organizations coming together proactively to build a stronger, more resilient anti-poverty network for our region,” Wood stated.
Families enrolled in CASI programs do not need to take any action at this time, Jamieson said, emphasizing the Head Start and Housing Choice Voucher programs will continue to operate in their current spaces.
Participants will be notified directly of any future changes. Laura Jo Graves, chair of CASI’s board of directors, said the transition this winter was intended to take place during a period of natural downtime to avoid disruption in services.
Graves said while changes in other staffing will depend on the future of various awards, CASI and OVO are working on an agreement to offer employment to as many people as possible with wage and benefit protections during the transition.
A community open house will be held in October for residents and partners to meet OVO leadership directly. A date for the event has not yet been set.
“One of the things that OVO has really spoken about highly about CASI is our commitment to community, which is something we want to make sure we preserve, and our staff culture,” Jamieson said. “I feel very confident that those things are still going to be here, regardless of what logo is on the door.”
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE AUDIT?
The independent audit by Comer Nowling, comprised of financial statements from fiscal years 2024 and 2025, found several instances of noncompliance with federal requirements and weaknesses in internal operations that led to mismanagement of public funds.
The auditor’s report found numerous instances of this mismanagement, most of which took place during 2020 and 2021 in a period of high turnover at CASI. Many of the issues appeared to be at the helm of the former executive director, Phil Ellis, along with the former board treasurer and former chief financial officer, all of whom no longer work at CASI.
All of the issues raised in the audit have been resolved completely, current director Jamieson said, and the auditor’s report details steps CASI’s new leadership has taken to acknowledge and address the errors they inherited.
Among Comer Nowling’s findings was unpaid federal taxes, penalties and interest related to filing errors, including late filings and outstanding debts to the Internal Revenue Service.
During the period of time this took place, Jamieson said, herself, Graves and most of CASI’s executive leadership were not present, and several chief financial officers came and went from CASI. Combined with remote work and pandemic conditions, she said, some audit documentation became delayed and payroll filings were incorrect.
“There were several CFO transitions, which is still not acceptable,” she said. “You should have systems in place that take care of those things. But that’s the reason that it wasn’t filed as it should have been.”
Another problem raised in the audit was about $77,000 in funds from multiple Individual Development Accounts used to purchase CASI’s Head Start building in Charlestown, money that was not properly reported in financial statements.
Individual Development Accounts are a program through IHCBA in which individuals can work with an agency toward a saving goal such as home ownership, a car or a small business. While dormant IDAs are supposed to be returned to the funder or reused, Jamieson said CASI’s new executive leadership discovered in document reviews some of that money was applied to expenses the IDA program deems unallowable using protected funds.
“The documentation that should have supported it wasn’t done, I would assume, due to that turnover,” she said.
“As soon as we knew about it, we reported it and worked to resolve it. There’s no entanglement with our current Head Start award or that building today because those funds have been completely repaid.”
One area of mismanagement that did take place since Jamieson joined CASI was duplicated vendor payments.
After stepping into leadership that January, there was a vacancy in the chief financial officer position during the month of February before a hire was made in March.
Jamieson said there was inadequate documentation of the process to make payments to vendors, and she did not have a good sense of what expenses were expected, leading her to make a duplicate payment that was ultimately applied to the balance for the next one.
Also documented in the audit were missing Section 8 eligibility files, leaving 24 out of 25 participants missing proper documentation due to a premature purge in 2023 where Jamieson said previous leadership did away with documents too soon.
She said upon joining CASI, she did not see a document retention and destruction policy, but CASI’s executive leadership and CFO have since implemented all-new fiscal policies, receiving training from several funding partners and establishing written processes outlining how and when documents can be destroyed.
Jamieson said all of CASI’s audits are publicly available on its website, and the organization believes strongly in financial transparency.
“All the issues that we’ve discussed are from a period well before current leadership was here, and while we inherited some challenges, we’re really focused on the future of the agency and are excited for these next steps,” She says
JEFFERSONVILLE — Community Action of Southern Indiana will relinquish its state and federal awards to another organization and officially dissolve as an independent entity next year.
