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One of New York’s largest LGBTQ non-profits has lost $10 million in state funding after an investigation, first revealed by The Post, found it was mishandling the millions in taxpayer dollars it received each year.
The LGBT Network of Long Island, helmed by prominent gay activist David Kilmnick who sources say long bragged about his many political connections, lost seven contracts with the state Department of Health Friday following an investigation that began in 2019.
“The Department of Health takes our contract oversight responsibilities very seriously. Since 2019, when the Office of the State Comptroller asked us to look into [The Network’s] contracts with us, the organization has repeatedly failed to provide the Department with required documentation to show it has spent state funding efficiently and effectively,” DOH spokesperson Jeffery Hammond said in a statement.
“As a result, the Department has terminated current and future contracts with [The Network]. We are working with other providers to ensure that comprehensive LGBTQ services are available to the people who need them on Long Island.”
The DOH will end five current contracts with the organization that are set to expire on April 8, will not extend two other contracts and will rescind another that was recently offered, according to an email on the matter that was reviewed by The Post. In all, the contracts amount to $10 million in funding that was to be doled out over several years, the DOH said.
“[The state’s decision is] not surprising but still extremely tragic for the community because ultimately it’s the LGBTQ community that loses because of David Kilmnick’s failings,” said a source familiar with the non-profit.
“This was a long time coming, this was a nuclear option so to speak.”
The group, which received 99 percent of its funding from taxpayers, has long billed itself as the premier LGBTQ provider on Long Island that fulfilled a range of crucial services to the vulnerable community, including housing, substance abuse help and HIV prevention services.
But when it came time to file paperwork to the state proving they were using grant money effectively, the state Comptroller and DOH found “serious accounting issues” and the group was unable to provide records showing they were properly using state funds, according to the email.
They filed incomplete time and effort reports, didn’t provide substantial information about its use of subcontractors, billed for “unexplained costs” and kept an inadequate general ledger, the email says.
The DOH tried to work with the organization to fix the issues but ultimately, they remained unresolved.
“DOH is taking this action because DOH has no confidence that the important LGBTQ services supported by this funding are being adequately managed by [The Network],” the email states.
“By ending these contracts, DOH can reallocate this funding to other service providers.”
State Sen. Brad Hoylman gave kudos to the DOH for “finally having the guts to stand up” to Kilmnick and the organization.
“It’s unacceptable that social services organizations don’t do the job they’re paid to do,” Hoylman (D-Manhattan) told The Post.
“It’s extremely troubling that an organization with this much impact on LGBTQ New Yorkers is potentially mired in controversy and I hope this doesn’t impact the delivery of those services.”
Kilmnick, who started the organization in 1993, has worked aggressively over the years to expand The Network and the services it provides but was frequently overly ambitious in his plans and unable to deliver on his many promises, according to former employees and the source.
“It was never a question of, can we deliver on this contract? It was get the money and we’ll figure it out later,” the source explained.
“There was so much lost potential because frankly by all accounts it seems like they were not delivering on the promise of what they were contracted to do and those are vital services that are still desperately needed across the region…. The [LGBTQ] community deserves better.”
Kilmnick didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
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