DAEOC PERSONNEL PRACTICES PROBED

PORTAGEVILLE -- Allegations of racial discrimination and improper employment practices have brought the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corp. under federal scrutiny.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating charges of racial discrimination brought by about a dozen current and former DAEOC employees who believe they were discriminated against because of their race. Most of the employees are black.

DAEOC is a not-for-profit community action agency that promotes self-sufficiency for low-income residents in six Bootheel counties. One of the agency's largest programs is the federal Head Start early childhood education program.

Contacted in Portageville Wednesday, DAEOC officials would not comment about the investigation. A spokesperson said Jim Link, chief executive officer last year, worked his last day at the office March 10.

Allegations of racial discrimination arose following a number of firings and demotions on the heels of a federal review in February 1999 that alleged "some deficiencies" in the Head Start program.

Harry McDaniel is deputy regional administrator of the Kansas City office of the Administration for Children and Families, which oversees Head Start programs in the region. McDaniel said his office was "aware there were firings and that some folks were probably going to grieve those." However, the office does not make personnel decisions, he said.

"We're not involved in those actions at all," McDaniel said. "We don't get involved in personnel matters, we just determine whether or not they are meeting the performance standards as spelled out in the law."

McDaniel said the deficiencies noted by his agency in the DAEOC Head Start program centered around communications within the agency and with the board, some governance issues and proper involvement of the policy council. He stressed that the issues were not related in any way to personnel.

McDaniel said his agency will contact DAEOC officials before the end of the year to determine if the deficiencies have been corrected.

Chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Sikeston, Charleston, Malden, Portageville and Cape Girardeau requested a federal investigation, claiming actions of DAEOC officials appeared to be discriminatory. Blacks represent a large proportion of people who use DAEOC's services, and the staff should reflect the community it serves, members said.

"They were created to service low-income families, and many of those families are African American," said the Rev. Anthony Green, president of the Sikeston NAACP chapter. "We send our kids there to be educated, nurtured and developed, and we had blind faith in the organization that they were treating students as well as the employee base in an equitable manner."

Green said his organization conducted interviews for several months prior to requesting the investigation. Members determined the investigation was necessary because of "a landslide of terminations and demotions" that affected people who had been working at DAEOC for years.

"The explanations they were given didn't hold water," he said. "They said they were making adjustments and people may have violated policies and procedures, but they did not provide documentation."

Following the investigation, it is likely a job discrimination lawsuit will be filed against DAEOC, Green said. U.S. District Court records indicate one such lawsuit already has been filed. Judge Rodney Sippel of St. Louis will hear the case of Carl and Melinda Russell against. DAEOC. No court date has been set.