Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.
The embattled Economic Opportunity Board moved Monday night to take several actions to stop the hemorrhage of red ink from the nonprofit agency's operations.
The board, at a meeting held at the EOB Community Action Partnership, 3680 N. Rancho Drive., closed the Hollyhock Adult Day Health Center, terminated its first-time homebuyer program and halted its catastrophic leave policy.
In addition, Bank of America gave the board a six-month extension on its line of credit, until March 31, including two existing mortgages on properties at E Street and on Sixth Street.
The agency, which oversees a $60 million budget and about 30 social service programs, has been under fire after it was revealed that $2.1 million from a child-care assistance program was not accounted for, obliging the EOB to pay the money back to the state.
The board has been directed to sell off property to get itself out of debt and was obligated to consolidate services to save money.
A real estate agreement to sell the Sixth Street property fell through, the board learned Monday.
Closing Hollyhock will save an extra $50,000 in operating funds, plus monies for repairs, board members were told.
Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, an EOB board member asked, "Where are the people from Hollyhock going to go?"
He was told that Hollyhock's registered clients have already been transferred to another EOB adult day care facility and other community resources.
For Hollyhock Administrator Mary Jo Greenlee, closing the 17-year-old building at 380 N. Maryland Parkway near Bonanza Road is bittersweet.
"We've been closed since the flood," Greenlee said after the meeting.
Plagued by decaying walls, dwindling numbers of clients and a six-figure debt -- the center closed after an Aug. 14 storm resulted in a sewage odor that was considered a public health hazard.
For clients such as 62-year-old James Thompson, disabled and relying on Medicaid, there was no place else to go.
But Greenlee said the former Liberian national police officer will get services.
"Mr. Thompson receives treatment and social activities at the Lied Senior Care Center," Greenlee said. Lied is also operated by the EOB at 601 N. Jones Blvd.
Lied has waived its fees for Thompson, who is on Medicaid, Greenlee said.
Hollyhock had cared for 70 to 80 clients a day since it opened in 1987 until about five years ago, Greenlee said. In the past two years, fewer than 25 per day arrived.
"The service (at Hollyhock) is very much needed, but I don't know if I would ever send a loved one there," EOB vice chairman and Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly said. "It's deplorable."
Weekly credited the staff with transferring Hollyhock's clients and making them feel comfortable in new surroundings. Some have spent their entire adult day care experience at Hollyhock.
Of six young people from Hollyhock who were not eligible for Medicaid, four have been placed in other adult care centers, Greenlee said.
Harrah's Entertainment had offered 200 volunteers to help rebuild Hollyhock to keep the senior day care center going, the board learned. EOB Board Chairman Claude Logan suggested that if the resort is willing, it could offer its services to Lied, which also needs an upgrade.
Another $300,000 will be saved by ending the EOB's first-time homebuyer program, the board decided.
The EOB had issued $10,000 checks to 300 buyers in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County since the program's been in place. Then staff was obligated to follow the homeowners for up to five years.
The process to reimburse the EOB for the housing checks took up to nine months.
Since the EOB has no unrestricted cash in its account, the board voted unanimously to cancel the home buyer program.
Another program that was ended because of restricted cash flow was a catastrophic leave policy that allowed employees to donate their time off to a fellow employee. There is no separate account to place the leave funds, so the program was cancelled.
In April the state Welfare Division extended by six months a $9.8 million contract with the nonprofit group to provide child care to low-income families.
The EOB is currently the sole child-care contractor in Clark County. The state wants more than one contractor to deliver child care to the poor because of the pace of growth in Southern Nevada.
The EOB has been under fire for almost a year after unaccounted child care funds were discovered.
The agency's Head Start programs, with a $300,000 deficit, have also been under scrutiny. The federal Department of Health and Human Services is investigating the shortfall.
Other issues brought up in board of directors meetings included concerns about problems named in a federal review of the Head Start program; the need to correct deficits in other programs; and credit cards issued to staff members whose use and payment were unclear.
The EOB was created as an anti-poverty organization in 1964. It handles a number of programs, including senior day care, early childhood education, job training and drug rehabilitation.
Most of its budget comes from federal grants, with other funding from the state, some local government grants and private donations.
Financial consultants are preparing a presentation on an upcoming audit to the EOB board next week.
archive
