PENNSYLVANIA – Today, watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability sent a 24-page public complaint to Governor Wolf, Attorney General Shapiro, and Secretary of Human Services Miller calling upon them to terminate the state contract with Real Alternatives, the Harrisburg-based organization that oversees a chain of “crisis pregnancy centers” across Pennsylvania.
The public complaint outlines egregious misuse of taxpayer funds, a deeply troubling lack of transparency, and woefully inefficient operations.
According to the complaint:
- RA’s advertising budget and executive compensation have skyrocketed while serving fewer clients
- Under RA’s administration, fewer than one client per day receives any services at each of the provider sites, at a rough average cost of $320 per client
- In each of the last four years, RA has left over half a million dollars unspent that had been budgeted for services
- Over the last five years, an average of $24,800.80 has been annually allocated for operating RA’s hotline, which serves an average of 156 callers per year
- RA used taxpayer dollars to pay its legal fees in the effort to hide public records from taxpayers
So far, Real Alternatives has received more than $100 million dollars from Pennsylvania taxpayers to run crisis pregnancy centers. CPCs are ideological and often faith-based organizations which are banned from discussing contraception and providing referrals to abortion care.
“We urgently need to help low-income pregnant people in Pennsylvania, where the unintended pregnancy rate is higher than the national average and poverty is rampant,” says Susan J. Frietsche, senior staff attorney and director of WLP’s Western Pennsylvania office. “It is horrific to see that Real Alternatives, the organization our state government has entrusted with our tax dollars to supposedly provide that help, has so shamelessly mismanaged this program.”
“The ineptitude of Real Alternatives is even more appalling when you see that even Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the safety-net program for low-income pregnant women and children, is plundered for money that is subsequently wasted by Real Alternatives or funneled directly into exorbitant executive salaries,” says Amal M. Bass, WLP director of policy and advocacy. “The complaint is eye-opening, especially in light of the years-long, ongoing litigation wherein RA fought so hard to legally hide some financial records.”
“We advocate to improve the lives of low-income pregnant people every day through both policy advocacy and direct representation,” said staff attorney Christine Castro. “These people deserve honest, unbiased information, uncensored referrals, and real help—NOT Real Alternatives.”
As stated in the complaint, “RA has had more than ample time to develop an efficient and effective process for providing … services, but has failed to do so.”
The Women’s Law Project joins Campaign for Accountability in calling on Governor Wolf, Attorney General Shapiro, and DHS Secretary Miller to terminate the state contract with Real Alternatives and immediately investigate CFA’s findings.
For more information or to request to speak to an attorney, contact tmurtha@womenslawproject.org.
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