ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230056
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
An accountant hired to untangle Fairview Home's financial records says there's no evidence of missing funds at the adult care facility.
Rebecca Stump, Radford's city accountant, was hired last month by Fairview Home after the state Department of Social Services cited the facility for financial mismanagement.
Officials of the home discharged a former bookkeeper and launched an internal investigation after a number of accounting errors were found earlier this year.
After a month of reviewing Fairview Home's books, Stump said Thursday it is "abundantly clear" there was no embezzlement of funds from the facility or from patients' individual accounts.
"That sounds mighty, mighty good," said Zane Jones, chairman of Fairview Home's board. "I always had a gut feeling there was no money missing. It was just a matter of poor bookkeeping."
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 receive room, board and supervision.
However, the 70-year-old facility - originally established to replace an old "poor farm" - is one of only three in Virginia that is publicly owned. It is jointly held by Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and Craig counties and Radford.
Concerns were raised about the future of Fairview Home and its 66 residents when the financial problems were discovered. Most of the residents are indigent and incapable of caring for themselves, and officials said they may have had nowhere else to go.
The financial crisis placed the home's license in jeopardy. Stump said she's been working closely with a Department of Social Services official to ensure the license is retained.
Plans are to hire and train a new bookkeeper as soon as Stump finishes her work, said Kathy Crews-Robertson, Fairview Home's administrator.
At that point, Fairview Home will have to turn its attention to new state regulations that may force the facility into expensive upgrades of staff training and wages.
Jones said he worries that compliance with the new regulations might force the home out of business.
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