ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 20, 1996 TAG: 9607220119
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
The New River Valley's publicly operated home for adults is experiencing a double-edged financial squeeze that officials say threatens the 70-year-old facility's future.
Hanging in the balance are Fairview Home residents, most of whom are indigent and incapable of independent lives.
New state regulations for adult homes may force Fairview Home into expensive changes that would raise both the level of training and the minimum-wage salaries of its staff.
More immediately, the facility is attempting to untangle a series of accounting errors that have left its finances in disarray and prompted the state Department of Social Services to cite Fairview Home for mismanagement of funds.
Zane Jones, chairman of Fairview Home's board, said he's "very much concerned."
"It's a good facility. What is going to happen to those 60 people?" he said of the home's residents.
Fairview Home, located on Cougar Trail Road in Pulaski County, is one of more than 500 adult homes in Virginia where mentally ill, retarded or elderly adults who cannot live on their own receive room, board and supervision.
Jointly owned by Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and Craig counties and Radford, it is one of only three adult homes in Virginia not privately owned.
Patient care is not an issue in the present crisis. The only recent complaint about Fairview Home involves the facility's financial condition, but it is serious enough to place the home's license in jeopardy, said Marian Davis-Johnson, human services director for the state Department of Social Services.
Fairview Home's chairman, Jones, credits its administrator, Kathy Crews-Robertson, with operating the home at a profit for the first time in years, reversing a lengthy slide that nearly depleted the facility's financial reserves.
However, officials say the home's financial picture remains clouded because of faulty accounting practices by a former bookkeeper, who has resigned.
At this point in the home's continuing internal investigation, it appears that poor training and a lack of administrative oversight - not a willful attempt to conceal funds - led to the accounting mistakes, officials said.
An independent accountant's financial review of Fairview Home's books for 1994-95 fiscal year found incorrect financial statements and numerous errors. It also said that the home's business records were being stored off the facility's premises at the bookkeeper's residence, and that the home's credit cards were used to temporarily cover personal expenses. Late financial reports have resulted in Fairview Home being a fined between $700 and $800 by the Internal Revenue Service, said Jess Cantline, Radford's finance director.
Cantline said an employee in his office has been hired by Fairview Home's Board of Directors to help straighten out the books and establish proper accounting methods.
Davis-Johnson said the state directed Fairview Home to take financial "corrective action," and is monitoring the facility's progress.
With the accounting system's disarray, Jones said Fairview Home's board hasn't had the chance to focus on new state regulations that will affect how the facility cares for its residents.
The state says adult homes must be certified to meet two new categories: residential, for mentally or physically impaired residents who need only minimal assistance and supervision; or assisted living, for moderately to severely impaired residents who need more intensive help with basic tasks, but not constant medical care.
The new regulations will force many adult homes to hire more staff members with a higher level of training, said Michael Osorio of the Virginia Adult Homes Association.
Facilities that don't conform to the new standards may lose their state license and their eligibility for grants that help adult home occupants - including many at Fairview Home - pay their monthly residential fees.
Presently, Fairview Home is certified for ambulatory care, which generally means its residents must be able to exit the building in an emergency on their own, said Mark Miller of the Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.
Jones is concerned about the new regulation's financial impact on Fairview Home. Most of the home's staff will have to be trained more and paid higher salaries to meet the requirements, he said.
Osorio said the new regulations are an example of an inadequately funded state mandate that may force a number of adult homes out of business.
However, Ray Goodwin, deputy commission of the state Department of Social Services, said the regulations are designed to assure a decent minimum level of care for adult home residents.
Officials of Montgomery County, one of Fairview Home's co-owners, agree. In a November memo to the county administrator's office, Community Services Director Stephania Munson called the new state regulations "not unreasonable."
Munson is also quoted in a December memo from County Administrator Betty Thomas saying it would be "smart planning" for Fairview Home to accept the new regulations by upgrading staff salaries and qualifications.
Even though the new regulations took effect Feb. 1, Goodwin said their practicality and costs are still being negotiated with state adult homes. Once Fairview Home's financial review is completed, "We'll be glad to sit down and look at costs," he said.
Jones said he's motivated to see Fairview Home through because of the facility's occupants. "They're there because they have nowhere else to go. It's home to them, and they like it. Anyone with a heart would be concerned."
Opened in 1927 as replacement for old "almshouse" for the poor. Relocated in present building on Cougar Trail Road in Pulaski County in 1976.
Facts about Fairview Home
Capacity: 64 residents (40 men, 24 women)
Present occupancy: About 60, a figure that varies almost daily, as residents arrive or depart or become hospitalized.
Owners: Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and Craig counties and Radford. Facility operates on self-sustaining basis. Localities pay only for physical plant improvements.
Budget for 1994-95 fiscal year: $478,635.*
Staff: 34 as of December 1995, generally paid from $4.75 to $5 per hour.*
Board of Directors: Chairman Zane Jones, Craig County Board of Supervisors; members Joe Stewart, Montgomery County Board of Supervisors; Mason Vaughn, former member Pulaski County Board of Supervisors; Larry Blankenship, Giles County Board of Supervisors; and David Worrell, Radford City Council.
History: Originally established as a self-sustaining farm. Most of the acreage has been sold and subdivided to generate revenue for Fairview Home. Former co-owners: Botetourt County (withdrew in 1989) and Smyth County (withdrew 1992). Complaints of inadequate patient care and staffing promoted the state to revoke Fairview Home's license for several months in 1985. Auditor's report in 1987 says the home had unpaid debts and was not using "generally accepted accounting principles." Heating and cooling system failed in 1993 and was replaced at cost of $90,000. State fire marshal required smoke detection system to be installed in all residential rooms in 1994 at a cost of $9,000.
*Source: Montgomery County statistics, December 1995.
LENGTH: Long : 138 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Alan Kim. Fairview Home in Dublin on Cougar Trail Roadby CNBis experiencing a financial squeeze due to bookkeeping problems and
new and stricter state regulations.