People in the world of Big Bend children’s services noticed late last year that they hadn’t seen Courtney Atkins for a while. It turns out that Atkins, who had served as executive director of Whole Child Leon since 2009, had been fired. Now she’s suing the organization for defamation and breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims.
A bitter split
Whole Child Leon says Atkins was fired after the board learned she had requested and received an extra $8,772.59 paycheck that the board never approved or knew about. The paystub, which was shown to WFSU, lists a net amount of $7,077.77 issued to Atkins on March 2, 2023. Atkins never paid back the money, and the board didn’t learn about it until October.
“The Whole Child Leon Executive Committee was made aware of allegations that our longtime Executive Director had misused funds for her personal benefit. We took steps immediately and unanimously as a full board to suspend our ED pending a full review by an outside law firm. After being presented with the results of the review, our board voted unanimously to terminate our relationship with her, and unanimously agreed to refer the matter to law enforcement, save for our board chair who abstained from that vote,” the organization said in a statement to WFSU.
Atkins says she requested a paper check from the group’s accountant after she didn’t receive her regular pay on time. She says in her complaint against Whole Child that she contacted the accountant to “arrange for repayment,” but it's unclear in the complaint when that conversation took place. In response to a request for clarification from WFSU, Atkins wrote back, “I have no idea why the comptroller/accountant did not follow through to correct this subsequent salary payment until confronted by [Whole Child Leon board chair] Natalie Kato on November 1, 2023 in a meeting where she accused me of stealing.”
A dozen people were interviewed for this story, and all declined to go on record except Natalie Kato and Atkins herself. All of the people interviewed by WFSU on background expressed respect and admiration for Atkins’ work, but also expressed concerns about her management of employees and finances. The sources provided statements but did not want their names published because of past and current relationships within the local child advocacy community.
According to several of those sources, Atkins had, in the past, requested and been denied a pay advance. One source said that at times, Atkins would “float” money from one part of the organization’s budget to another to cover expenses until revenue came in. Another said of Atkins’ financial management, “She has many strengths, but budgeting isn’t one of them.” WFSU allowed both Atkins and Kato to review a draft of this story before its final form and publication.
Blurring the lines
Atkins had been with Whole Child Leon for 15 years, helping the group form partnerships and win grants. Whole Child focuses on child well-being and works specifically with families of children from birth to age five. The group’s work has been widely praised, and Atkins has called it “my identity and my passion.”
Atkins was executive director of Whole Child Leon at the same time she was serving as interim executive director of the South City Foundation, which may have blurred the lines between the two. Whole Child also acted as the fiscal agent for the South City Foundation.
According to Atkins’ complaint, she sent a memo to the four members of Whole Child’s executive committee on October 30, 2023 alleging that her administrative assistant, an independent contractor who was also working with South City Foundation, had committed theft. Atkins charged that the assistant had invoiced the Foundation for work Atkins says was not done and had been overpaid an estimated $16,000 to $18,000. Atkins has repeatedly accused that assistant–whom she hired and who has a felony record for a financial crime–of theft, both in her comments to WFSU and in her legal filing. WFSU is not naming that person, who has not been charged with a crime.
Accusations of theft, financial mismanagement
Natalie Kato, the Chair of Whole Child Leon’s board, says she was already aware of the payments to the assistant before Atkins raised concerns about an alleged theft. She says she learned of them from the South City Foundation’s treasurer. She then brought up the matter with the assistant, who provided Kato with paper checks bearing Atkins’ signature.
“On Oct. 25th I called the South City Foundation treasurer to discuss a number of issues. During that conversation, he told me the administrative assistant–who served both South City Foundation and Whole Child Leon–had received payments from South City and Whole Child. He told me that the payments had been approved by the Executive Director of the South City Foundation, who was Courtney Atkins at the time. Subsequently, I asked the administrative assistant to provide me evidence of this, and she produced two checks that were signed by Courtney, made out to that administrative assistant. I have personally reviewed those checks.”
Atkins says she did not see or approve any of those invoices. She also says she notified the South City Foundation treasurer around October 3rd about payments to the assistant that had not been approved. However, that claim is not included in Atkins’ complaint against Whole Child Leon. According to at least two sources familiar with Atkins’ allegations, no theft by the assistant occurred, with one stating that the assistant “was loyal to Courtney and would do anything she [Atkins] asked because she [the assistant] did not want to go back to jail.”
In her interview with WFSU, Atkins said, “I don’t know why I didn’t get an opportunity just to talk to the board or even the board chair about this memo–this report of the theft. The minute I found out about that theft, I called the accountant, who admitted that she didn’t have anything in writing to prove those invoices but that this person had said I said it was okay. Well, that’s not our policy and procedure. I stopped it, I called the employee in, what has happened, what have you done, this has to stop… The organization that was being impacted by this theft, the South City Foundation, I let the treasurer know immediately this happened,” Atkins said in the presence of her attorney, Marie Mattox.
Lost confidence raises questions
The blowup between Atkins and Whole Child Leon has already affected a $4 million grant. At the time of her termination, she had been working on an application to submit to the Children’s Services Council of Leon County. The application required her to obtain letters of support from various community partners, including the City of Tallahassee, the Leon County Government, and the Leon County Schools.
“We were all very, very excited to get the highest score and be ready to negotiate that [grant], and when all of this happened [neither] myself nor the co-author, Cori McGooden, were asked to give any comment to the grant, to the board, that we could have explained some things…and to me that just shows that the best interest of the organization wasn’t looked at,” Atkins said.
During its Jan. 18, 2024 meeting, CSC members repeatedly expressed concerns about the readiness and ability of Whole Child Leon and the Children’s Home Society to administer a program that would create centers in certain neighborhoods where families could receive social and financial support. The award process has undergone several iterations, but sources close to the process say Whole Child’s leadership issues were a factor. When the CSC learned that Atkins was no longer with Whole Child and that it was likely due to a financial matter, they decided that the Children’s Home Society would be the lead organization with Whole Child Leon as a subcontractor. The CSC postponed that decision at its meeting on Jan. 18.
“Whole Child Leon was very pleased with our grant application and its score in the initial round,” said Kato, Whole Child’s board chair. “We know that the nature of the competitive bid process is that there are no guarantees, but were honored to have been invited to continue to the negotiation phase even in light of our personnel changes, of which the CSC was fully aware. During the subsequent negotiations, we began to discuss with the other finalist the potential for a partnership, as both organizations brought different strengths to the bid. We were excited by the news that the CSC wanted to explore a contract that involved both organizations, with WCL in a subcontractor role. We look forward to continuing these discussions in the coming weeks.”
“The organization, at least in these last two months, has lost a lot of credibility,” said Atkins. “So, it’s just a damn shame. And the damage to me…I’ve been leading with integrity for 15 years, and it’s my passion, and then just to be treated so poorly and then to be defamed in the community – it’s horrible.”
Doubling down
Whole Child, meanwhile, remains firmly behind its decision to fire Atkins and is refusing to settle with her over her complaint. In their statement to WFSU, board members reiterated that the decision to terminate Atkins’ employment was made unanimously.
“Whole Child Leon remains committed to the children in our community,” they said. “During this transition, our programs have remained strong and functional, our summit on children in November was a great success, and we are already planning our next developmental screening. All of this is a testament to the talent and dedication of our staff. We are also looking forward to new partnerships with other community organizations that we will be able to announce soon.
“We certainly do wish the circumstances were different. But any opportunity to bring in fresh eyes and new ideas makes an organization stronger, and we are optimistic that our strategic initiatives and programming will be expanded and will ultimately support even more children in our community.”
Said Atkins, “This is so not about them terminating me. It’s just the way they handled it. I mean, it is about them terminating me, but…I don’t know what’s wrong with the world…we, people treat each other like this…it’s just not…I don’t understand it.”
