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Trumbull County Official: I’ll try to help SCOPE centers
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
While there is no guarantee it will be successful, Trumbull County’s senior-citizens levy administrator says she is going to try to help SCOPE Inc. of Trumbull County keep its six senior centers open.
Diane Drawl, an accountant hired by the county commissioners to oversee levy funding since October 2009, said she had a successful meeting Monday with Ralph H. Smith, SCOPE’s new interim project manager, and SCOPE’s accounting staff.
Former SCOPE Executive Director Janet Schweitzer announced her resignation a week ago.
SCOPE is a 50-year-old nonprofit organization that uses local, state and federal money to operate six senior-citizen centers and provide other services.
Drawl, in consultation with county Auditor Adrian Biviano and the county prosecutor’s office, has drawn up several requirements for SCOPE to follow to keep some of its county levy funding.
One is for SCOPE to provide documentation of background checks having been completed on all SCOPE employees whose work is being submitted for payment with levy funds.
Another is for SCOPE to provide weekly financial reports to Drawl “similar to a bankruptcy situation,” so that Drawl can “watch how they spend their levy dollars and keep them from going under.”
The first part may be painless, Drawl said, because SCOPE has said its background checks and documentation are in order.
The second part could be more difficult because SCOPE, as a non-profit corporation, has resisted attempts to allow outsiders to see its finances.
Helping SCOPE keep its six senior-citizen centers open is a high priority, Drawl said, adding, “If the whole organization goes under, the centers would close.”
A smaller part of SCOPE’s past levy funding was for services provided by SCOPE employees in the homes of county senior citizens, such as chore services.
But those funds are being cut off as a result of SCOPE’s failure to report to the county commissioners that they had been sanctioned by the Ohio Department of Aging in November, Drawl said.
Other organizations can provide those same services, Drawl noted.
SCOPE’s current contract for county senior citizens levy money, which runs through June 30, awarded SCOPE up to $175,200 to provide in-home services and up to $457,525 to operate the community centers.
On April 9, the Ohio Department of Aging reported that it found problems in February with SCOPE employee background checks and noncompliance with other rules, which resulted in SCOPE recently losing funding for two programs that paid the organization $487,890 in 2011.
Garland Bradshaw, a SCOPE board member and spokesman, said it’s not clear why Drawl needs to see SCOPE financial information because the Ohio Department of Aging found nothing wrong with SCOPE’s finances.
SCOPE plans to appeal the ODA’s findings from April 9, Bradshaw said, adding, “It’s my understanding we were doing all the [background] checks across the board.”
Drawl said she believes part of the problem ODA encountered was that SCOPE failed to respond adequately to problem areas the Ohio Department of Aging first reported to SCOPE last year.
Bradshaw said he could not provide salary information for interim project manager Smith at this time, because his contract has not been finalized.