Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Coordinating Council

Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Coordinating Council on School Mental Health Brent Wolfingbarger Director of Government Ethics (202) 481 -3411 April 26, 2018

What We Do Ethics Training Advice

What We Do • Investigate alleged violations of the District government’s Code of Conduct. • Jurisdiction currently limited to District employees and public officials. • However, some officials have advocated expanding the Code of Conduct to require District contractors comply with its provisions as well.

“A significant disparity currently exists between the ethical standards applicable to government employees, which are comprehensive and consist predominantly of specific rules, and those applicable to contractor employees, which are largely developed and applied on an ad hoc basis and involve significantly vaguer standards. ” Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), Compliance Standards for Government Contractor Employees – Personal Conflicts of Interest and Use of Certain Non-Public Information, at 5 (June 17, 2011).

What We Do Investigations Enforcement

Sanctions & Penalties § Violations of the Code of Conduct may result in a variety of sanctions and penalties, including: § Censure § Admonition $ Fines $ § Remediation § A probationary period § Fines of up to $5, 000 per violation

Ten Principles of Ethical Conduct 1. Public office is a public trust 2. Avoid financial conflicts of interest 3. Avoid representational conflicts of interest 4. Avoid gifts and payments from interested parties 5. Avoid outside payment for government work

Ten Principles of Ethical Conduct 6. Act impartially 7. Safeguard government resources 8. Safeguard confidential non-public information 9. Disclose waste or illegal conduct by government officials to the appropriate authorities 10. Abide by revolving door restrictions

1. Public office is a public trust § Don’t use title or position for personal gain of self or others. § i. e. , When calling Comcast to complain about a cable bill, do not say: “Do you know who I am and what I can do to you? ” Also – do not send an email with your auto signature and government title to anyone if it involves a personal matter (i. e. , mortgage company). Also – Fundraising for private non profit entities – NOT ALLOWED Hatch Act (Political Activities): Mayor is exempt but you are not Do NOT engage in fundraising activities Do NOT endorse anyone in your official capacity Do NOT campaign on government time, property or using government resources. Do NOT run for Mayor, AG or Council (ANC is okay).

2. Avoid financial conflicts of interest § Do not take any action that could benefit you or someone close to you financially § i. e, business partner or family member. § Federal criminal penalties apply as well. § Recusal is the proper recourse when something lands on your desk.

3. Avoid representational conflicts of interest § DO NOT CONTRACT WITH THE DISTRICT GOVERNMENT § Also, be mindful, if you own a business that does business with the District government, you will be prohibited from representing that business (signing contracts, signing grant agreements, resolving contract disputes, etc. ) before the District government now that you are a District government employee. § Do not represent anyone against the District. § i. e. , as a lawyer or in any other capacity like signing a grant application on behalf of a nonprofit with which you might be involved.

4. Avoid gifts and payments from interested parties (also called bribery) § This means don’t accept gifts from prohibited sources: § i. e. , prohibited sources include: Lobbyists Vendors Contractors Developers Those who are regulated by the District like Pepco, Comcast, etc. Anyone who wants to do business with the District. §Unsolicited Gifts should be returned, donated to the District or destroyed. §Exceptions exist for symbolic or de minimis items so please contact BEGA for advice.

5. Avoid outside payment for government work § Also called the Salary supplementation rule: § No one should pay you for your District work except the District. i. e. , Contractor says, “I know you have been working extra hard on this contract and that your agency is having budget issues and can’t pay overtime. Let me help out a bit. ” or “You did such a great job for us, now that the project is done and we are no longer city contractors let us take you out to dinner to say thank you for all your hard work. ” § Also a Federal Criminal law with criminal penalties.

6. Act impartially § Don’t give preferential treatment to friends, neighbors or acquaintances or political donors/allies (of course family and business associates would also fall under the financial conflict of interest provision). § This does not mean that you can’t provide excellent constituent services. Just be sure that it is not for a personal or improper reason. § * The Job of the Executive Branch is to keep the government running smoothly, efficiently and in a manner highly responsive to the citizens of the District.

7. Safeguard government resources § Don’t misuse government property. § Anything that costs the government money is a violation: i. e. , using printer toner for personal matters; improper appropriations expenditures (food and beverage); using the Government Credit Card for personal matters with intent to pay it back. Email policy: Mayor’s Order in place that says you must use official email account for all government business, not private email.

8. Safeguard confidential non-public information § Don’t leak non-public information. § This includes talking about your job on Social media like twitter.

9. Disclose waste or illegal conduct by government officials to the appropriate authorities § Affirmative obligation to report to BEGA and/or the IG “credible” violations of the Code of Conduct. § Failure to do so is itself a violation. § Cooperation is mandatory. § Retaliation is a separate ethics violation.

10. Abide by revolving door restrictions § When coming into District government, you are prohibited for 1 year from working on any District government contract held by your former employer. § Once you leave government, you must abide by certain restrictions for differing periods of time, i. e. , 1 year, 2 years and in some cases permanently. § Complicated – Call BEGA before and after you leave. § Be mindful of former government employees calling you. § Free safe-harbor Post-Employment advice for life.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS REGARDING POTENTIAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL’S INITIATIVES § This portion of my presentation does not reflect the views of BEGA or any other governmental agency. § All views and opinions expressed hereafter are strictly my own. § When in doubt, reach out to DHCF, DBH, etc. for guidance: “Trust, but verify. ”

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS REGARDING POTENTIAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL’S INITIATIVES § Based on the posted documents, it appears the Council’s intent is to provide full transparency of the funding at recipient schools. § However, it doesn’t seem clear what the allocation method will be, or which services are already available at each given school, or what additional services will be made available as a result of the funding of expanded services. § Recommendation: Clarify and quantify the need, current services, proposed funding, and proposed additional services by school. Doing so would demonstrate objectivity and hopefully improve the stakeholders’ collaboration with one another.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS REGARDING POTENTIAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL’S INITIATIVES § How does the program intend to address if there is a service need within a particular school, but based on the school’s assessment, that particular behavioral service isn’t offered by the school’s program? § Are the schools coordinating and/or sharing resources? Could children receive services elsewhere within the school-based services program or fall through the cracks? § Recommendation: There should be a protocol for shared services, to minimize the risk that a series of unfortunate events may culminate in extremely negative media headlines that easily could have been avoided.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS REGARDING POTENTIAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL’S INITIATIVES § It appears the expanded services that are Medicaid billable will be submitted for reimbursement to further supplement the allocated funding. If this is a correct assumption, it presents conflict of interest concern. § (1) I didn’t see anything in the documentation that addressed how the utilization resulting from the expansion would be monitored. § (2) The documents addressed clinical metrics, criteria identification, training, and mentorship. However, there was nothing related to the administrative aspect of claim submission requirements. § (3) How does the Council plan to address the issue of council members that have a financial interest in the expansion? (e. g. practitioners that work within the schoolbased clinic and also practice in the community) § (4) How does the Council plan to measure the success of the expansion? Are the schools coordinating and/or sharing resources? Could children receive services elsewhere within the school-based services program or fall through the cracks?

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS REGARDING POTENTIAL ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL’S INITIATIVES § Recommendation: Establish an early dialogue related to: 1. Utilization monitoring 2. Claim submission requirements (e. g. - ORP requirement for therapy services --- see LEA Medicaid Guidelines p. 9 -10) 3. Billing provider NPI --- see transmittal 16 -05 advising of enrollment under Q 2 & LEA Medicaid Guidelines p. 4 & Clinic Billing Manual advising of provider types p. 15, section 5. 2) 4. Proper enrollment/screening (see transmittal 16 -05 advising of enrollment under Q 1, etc. ) 5. Self-referral (e. g. , for cases that require a referral outside the school-based clinic setting, what is the protocol and who monitors to ensure referrals are appropriate and not prohibited under the self-referral regulation? ) 6. Longitudinal study to monitor and provide insight on whether the expansion is actually improving student behavioral health outcomes. What are the criteria to be measured?

Contact Us For advice or to make a complaint § Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (“BEGA”) § BEGA Hotline: (202) 535 -1002 § BEGA Email: BEGA@dc. gov § Main Number: (202) 481 -3411 § Address: 441 4 th Street, NW, Suite 830 South Washington, D. C. 20001 Brent Wolfingbarger – Director of Government Ethics