FAIRHAVEN Options sought for $3M loss in funds

A change in Medicaid rules will send money directly to intermediate care facilities.
WARREN -- The Fairhaven program stands to lose $3 million July 1 because of a funding change at the federal level.
The Trumbull County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, which runs the Fairhaven school and three workshops, is taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding on laying off staff, said Superintendent Dr. Douglas Burkhardt.
The superintendent also will look for alternative money sources.
At issue is $3 million in annual Medicaid support for the county's Habitation Center Services program. This money serves 149 adult clients and requires the services of 24 employees.
"We cannot absorb $3 million," Burkhardt said.
Right now, the MRDD board bills four intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded for the weekday use of Fairhaven services. The federal government sends money directly to the MRDD board. The money helps provide for a client's 24-hour, seven-day-a-week care.
The care facilities
The four care facilities now using the county's two Niles and one Champion workshops are Boyd's/The Kinsman Home, Kinsman; Orange Village Care Center, Brookfield; The Enrichment Center, Warren; and Youngstown Developmental Center, Mineral Ridge.
If the care facilities choose to contract with the MRDD board, then the adults come to the Fairhaven program during the day for rehabilitation.
Come July 1, the federal government would instead send the dollars directly to the intermediate care facilities. It's then up to those facilities and the Fairhaven program to negotiate a competitive rate for them to use the MRDD board's services.
Burkhardt said he will be negotiating with the facilities, perhaps toward an intermediate service agreement that would avoid the July 1 drop-dead date. The facilities have been sent a 60-day notice of the deadline.
"The biggest thing, for us, is that these adults have been coming to our program, some for 20 years. I would really hate to see that service disrupted," he said. "Unless something occurs by July 1, we can't continue the service."
There's no point in laying off staff "until we know," the superintendent added.
At the same time, the MRDD board is directing the superintendent to review individuals' service and facility needs, look at resources available for the balance of 2005 and 2006, take steps to identify additional funding sources "within the county and outside the county" and make recommendations to the board.
Trumbull County is not alone in this financial challenge: The Medicaid rules affect all Ohio counties, Burkhardt said.