The loosely-structured program has no budget or list of employees, and its fund-raising arm has failed to file required tax returns.
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TALLAHASSEE — For four years, Hope Florida, the passion project of First Lady Casey DeSantis, has boasted of saving millions of taxpayer dollars by weaning thousands of people off welfare and hooking them up with community organizations and religious nonprofits that can better serve their long term needs.
But the loosely-structured state program, seen as a springboard for the First Lady’s potential entry into politics, has failed to back up those claims of success or provide a full accounting of its finances despite repeated requests from the Orlando Sentinel and other news organizations.
