Mississippi Programs Aren't Created Based on What People in Poverty Need

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In Mississippi, programs are not created based on what people in poverty are telling the state that they need. So you see a lot of money being spent on things that the state is calling fatherhood programs. And so you have mentorship programs, but really that's just turned into giving celebrities money to go around and talk about the welfare program. The federal government doesn't even have the authority to sign off and approve those plans.

An extraordinary case of fraud is unfolding in Mississippi, where a chummy cadre of nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and professional athletes redirected tens of millions in welfare funds toward their own pet projects. Mississippi Today’s Anna Wolfe explains.

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh and Avishay Artsy, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey and Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Noel King.

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