Governor Jenniffer González Colón said the answers and sworn statement that Blanca Medina Díaz, former head of the Family Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF), gave at a Senate public hearing lack credibility. "Evidently yes," she replied at a press conference at the University of Puerto Rico’s Molecular Center. Medina told the Senate Committee on Family, Women, Seniors and Persons with Functional Diversity and Disabilities she felt "pressured" by Family secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes to advance the process for a $38 million contract with NOLA Education to run Star Academy, an academic dropout-prevention program that would have been implemented in 25 public schools.
González Colón stopped short of saying Medina lied under oath, but defended Roig Fuertes, saying the secretary presented evidence and that state and federal agencies will carry out whatever investigations they deem necessary. She reiterated her support for Roig Fuertes to remain at the head of the Family Department despite calls for her removal, saying "the secretary of the Family Department will continue doing her job."
NOLA Education was one of three bidders evaluated by LAP Consulting Group, a firm hired to screen proposals: it scored a weighted average of 95.7, versus 55.3 for Litoral Vivo Corp. and 24.7 for Coccoloba AgroEnvironmental LLC. The program is funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. A draft contract existed, which Roig Fuertes called a "working tool," but a final version was never signed.