Carolina Journal News Reports
CJ Series

The Citizen-Soldier Support Program

North Carolina's congressional delegation has poured $10 in taxpayer funds into a UNC-Chapel Hill program that's produced few tangible results. A Carolina Journal investigation reveals how the Citizen-Soldier Support Program has misappropriated funds to irrelevant activities and paid fat salaries to its employees with little oversight or accountability.

(9.14.10) Curious Travel Continues for Soldier-Support Program
RALEIGH — Once in January and again in March, a top employee in the taxpayer-funded Citizen-Soldier Support Program drove from her home in northern Virginia to Chapel Hill and got reimbursed for mileage. But rather than use her personal vehicle to attend meetings in the area, she rented a car and expensed it, apparently leaving her own car unused.

(6.17.10) Kerner-Hoeg To Leave Embattled Citizen-Soldier Support Program
RALEIGH — An internal university review released last year condemned the program for having an “ambitious and ill-defined” mission, misappropriating funds to irrelevant activities, and potentially overpaying its employees. That led to cutbacks and layoffs.

(12.07.09) UNC-Chapel Hill Reimbursed State Employee $27K for Commute
RALEIGH — A military-aid initiative at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reimbursed one of its employees at least $27,000 to commute between North Carolina and her home in Virginia, even as questions about the program’s effectiveness and use of resources lingered.

(11.13.09) UNC-Chapel Hill Gives Citizen-Soldier Program a Face-Lift
RALEIGH – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is trimming back a controversial initiative meant to assist veterans and their families after an internal review found evidence of waste and abuse in the program.

(10.09.09) Delegation Denounces Excesses in Citizen-Soldier Program
RALEIGH – An embattled university program meant to assist soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan must shape up or lose its taxpayer funding, say many of the same North Carolina congressional lawmakers who supported the program’s initial federal commitment five years ago.

(8.31.09) Review Blasts Price Earmark Waste
CARRBORO — UNC review of a program funded with an earmark obtained by Rep. David Price finds haphazard management and wasteful spending.