Santa Rosa nonprofit Social Advocates for Youth alleges employee embezzled more than $75,000

The nonprofit organization Social Advocates for Youth, Sonoma County's leading provider of services for homeless and at-risk children and teenagers, has publicly acknowledged that a former employee is suspected to have embezzled more than $75,000.

“That money is supposed to go to youth,” Gina Belforte, president of Social Advocates for Youth’s board of directors, said in an interview. “In the form of us providing housing, meals and clothes. Think about it, it’s reprehensible. It’s absolutely reprehensible. We have more youth now in need than ever before. I think at last count we were working with over 500. It’s devastating.”

Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Chris Mahurin confirmed the department has opened an investigation into the reported embezzlement. As of Thursday afternoon, police had made no arrests in the case. Mahurin was unsure of how long it might take to complete the investigation.

Meanwhile, Social Advocates for Youth is conducting its own internal investigation, led by former Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano, who is working as a private investigator.

“He’s a skilled investigator,” Belforte said. “We are taking this incredibly seriously. And I think to let the community know we’re taking it seriously.”

Neither Santa Rosa police nor the nonprofit has yet publicly identified the accused employee. Police cited the ongoing investigation as the reason for withholding the name.

“In recent weeks, SAY uncovered financial irregularities in programs within SAY’s Youth Crisis & Career Services which were linked to a former high-level employee,” the organization said in a news release. “SAY administration met with this employee, and during that meeting, the employee admitted to activities involving misused and redirected funds for personal use. This employee was immediately terminated.”

The nonprofit’s website currently lists no director of youth crisis and career services, a position that has existed before within the organization.

The Santa Rosa-based nonprofit, founded in 1971, has an annual budget of over $7 million, according to Belforte.

That’s a sizable operating budget. But Belforte, a former Rohnert Park mayor, stressed that the missing $75,000 won’t be easy to make up.

“For us, it’s a significant amount of money,” the board president said. “We depend on donors — generous donors from our community. There are contracts we compete for with other agencies, and grants as well. We work hard to get any funding we can.”

In the short term, Belforte said, the organization might have to be “nimble in funding” to ensure that no services are interrupted.

In 2021, Social Advocates for Youth ranked 63rd among the 100 largest Sonoma County nonprofits.

The organization operates Tamayo Village, a 25-bed facility in Santa Rosa that opened in 2005, offering affordable housing, coupled with education and job services for young adults. In 2015, the nonprofit added 63 more beds, plus services, for at-risk youth and young adults when it converted the former Warrack Hospital in Santa Rosa into the Finley Dream Center.

Social Advocates for Youth also operates the Dr. James E. Coffee House, a shelter for youths 18 and under, and its Dream Center emergency site is the only dedicated shelter for transition-age youth between San Francisco and the Oregon border.

The organization’s report of employee embezzlement reflects a disturbingly common problem for the nonprofit sector. A 2020 study released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners identified religious, charitable or social services as the 15th most likely industry to be victimized by fraud, with an average loss of $639,000. In 74% of the nonprofit cases examined by the association, the perpetrator held an executive or managerial position.

“Nonprofit organizations can be more susceptible to fraud due to having fewer resources available to help prevent and recover from a fraud loss,” the report stated. “This sector is particularly vulnerable because of less oversight and lack of certain internal controls.”

Belforte wants to have a better idea of how it happened in her organization.

“Part of the reason we are bringing in somebody (to investigate) is to really understand the full scope, and to learn what additional measures can put in place to make sure it never happens again,” she said. “We’re committed to that.”

Belforte knows Social Advocates for Youth must now convince donors the organization is a safe place to send money. At the same time, its leaders are seeking to rebuild a sense of security inside the organization, she said.

“It’s absolutely shocking,” she said. “When you hire people, you have faith and trust in them. And that was eroded, taken away.”

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.