Failure to Protect Resident From Financial Exploitation of EBT Food Benefits
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to protect a resident from financial exploitation by a staff member. The resident had multiple diagnoses including adult failure to thrive, type 2 diabetes with complications, alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, anxiety, and depression, and had a BIMS score indicating moderate cognitive impairment, though she was always able to make herself understood and to understand others. She was totally dependent on staff for substantial assistance with repositioning, transfers, and was unable to stand or ambulate. Her care plan identified that she had difficulty coping with lifestyle changes, limitations in functional abilities, and the loss of her husband as caregiver, and that she needed assistance with problem solving and psychosocial support. The events leading to the deficiency began when the resident, who received monthly EBT food stamp benefits, asked a CNA to use her EBT card to purchase snacks for her and told the CNA she could also buy items for herself with the card. The resident did not specify an amount the CNA could spend, did not know exactly what the CNA purchased for herself, and recalled the total purchase being a little over $100. Some purchased items required refrigeration and were placed in a refrigerator outside the resident’s direct control, and the resident later reported she had lost track of those items. The resident stated she did not think she had done anything wrong and was unaware at the time that designated facility staff were available to shop for residents. Interviews and document review showed that the CNA acknowledged using the resident’s EBT card at a grocery store, spending a little over $100, and purchasing food for both the resident and herself, but could not clearly recall all items she bought for herself. A grocery store receipt showed 68 items purchased for a total of $268.93 with the resident’s EBT card. When the receipt was later reviewed with the resident, she identified several items totaling $115.96 that she stated she had not requested and believed were purchased for the CNA. Other staff, including another CNA/Restorative Aide, stated they knew it was wrong to use a resident’s resources or accept gifts from a resident based on dependent adult abuse education. The facility’s abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation prevention policy required protection of residents from exploitation and misappropriation of property, development of protocols to prevent and identify such incidents, and investigation of possible misappropriation, underscoring that the resident’s funds were wrongfully used by staff despite these policies.
We Help Long-Term Care Teams Stay Survey-Ready
We process and analyze inspection reports and plan of correction using AI to extract insights and trends so providers can improve care quality and stay ahead of compliance risks.