Manitoba to evaluate the Link after current, former staff share mismanagement allegations

The province of Manitoba is hiring a third party to evaluate the Link, an organization that helps youth and families in crisis, after employees raised allegations of mismanagement and issues with the board of directors. 

In December 2022 the Instagram account @darksideofthelink was created by current and former staff who alleged institutional racism with the lack of Indigenous senior managers or board members, questionable financial activity and harmful leadership practices. 

On Jan. 6, they sent a letter to the Families Minister Rochelle Squires and Premier Heather Stefanson, urging a review of the organization. 

"We strongly encourage a team of investigators come and anonymously interview each employee one-on-one, including the large number of employees who have recently left the organization," the letter says.

The group wants current CEO Kerri Irvin-Ross, chief operating officer Diane Ward and the entire board of directors to resign and be replaced by Indigenous staff, since the majority of the clients of the Link are Indigenous families. 

Minister confirms review

Squires confirmed she received the letter and is going ahead with a review of the organization, which receives $13 million annually from the province — making it one of the largest youth organizations in Manitoba. 

"We greatly value the work that the Link does. They provide services to many vulnerable children and youth in the province of Manitoba, and many families depend on the services that they provide," Squires said in an interview.

"We certainly know that there have been some anonymous allegations that have been made and some concerns raised that we felt that it was in the best interest that we perform a third-party evaluation." 

The province said they want to have an evaluator in place this week, and to have the evaluation complete by the end of March. 

The group of employees raised concerns about a provincial review, since Irvin-Ross — the current CEO — used to be the minister of families for the former NDP government. 

"Obviously there's similar experiences and … we've crossed paths many times, but that doesn't have any bearing on what is taking place here," said Squires. 

Management of the Link said it's open to the third-party probe. 

"On behalf of the 10,000 youth who count on us, we will fully co-operate and collaborate with the evaluators and follow any and all recommendations presented to us as a pathway to the continuous strengthening of our service agency," CEO Kerri Irvin-Ross wrote in a statement to CBC. 

"Throughout the year, there are a number of internal and external reviews that occur focused on programming and financials."

Irvin-Ross confirmed that as an organization licensed by the provincial Department of Families, "all licensed programs are reviewed annually including home inspections, program outcomes, incident reports and communication logs."

Allegations of racism 

The group behind the Instagram account said the actions of management show a lack of awareness of how their actions are not supportive of Indigenous staff and youth coming to the Link. 

Many staff CBC spoke to said there needs to be an overhaul of the mostly non-Indigenous management and board of directors. 

"For an organization that serves youth that are over 80 per cent Indigenous youth, the organization should be Indigenous-led and run," said a current employee whose identity CBC is protecting as they fear losing their job for speaking out. 

"There needs to be a huge overhaul."

According to employees CBC spoke to, there are currently no Indigenous employees in senior management, and the few Indigenous employees who are in supervisory roles are underpaid. 

One allegation outlined in the letter to the province was that on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, managers and directors were given the day off, but Indigenous front-line staff were forced to work.  

CBC also spoke to an Indigenous youth who said they felt that Kerri Irvin-Ross exploited their life story for a photo opportunity. That sentiment was reiterated in the letter to the province, which said other youth had the same thing happen to them.

Staff turnover

The Link employs over 300 people, and the group of employees behind the Instagram account allege that since September 2021, more than 150 staff have left the organization.

They say that many of the positions are not being filled, or are being filled with people who are unqualified. 

"What's happening is just a constant revolving door of unqualified and untrained staff who are not meeting the needs … the complex needs of these youth," said another staff member who CBC has agreed not to name because they fear their job is at risk. 

CBC spoke to five former or current employees, all from different departments at the organization. 

Irvin-Ross denied that there are excessive staff vacancies at the Link. 

"We are fully operational serving over 10,000 families annually with very few vacancies in our staffing component, which is filled with qualified, dedicated individuals," Irvin-Ross wrote in a statement. 

Questionable financial decisions 

Most of the current and former staff of the Link told CBC that while there wasn't any illegal use of funds, many decisions seemed to go against the intent of the organization to help families in need. 

In particular, staff brought up a recent remodelling of the Link office that they saw as excessive and unnecessary. 

"What I would say is there's very bad judgment and very bad decisions being made, and I think the $28,000 on couches is a classic example," said a former employee. 

"We do have other monies, private donations, other foundations … so it's easy to say we didn't spend the $28,000 using provincial money, which would be a violation of the funding agreement." 

CBC asked CEO Kerri Irvin-Ross about the money spent on the remodelling, and didn't receive comment on it. 

In addition to accusations of mismanagement of funds, staff say that the directors of programs are not allowed to see their budgets, making it difficult for them to run their teams. 

"No other director has access to their budget, they're not allowed to see the line-by-line budget, they're not allowed to know how much money they have, what their budget is, or how much money is left," said a current employee.