Co-mingling of Resident Social Security Funds with Facility Payroll Account
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to properly manage and safeguard a resident's personal funds by allowing the resident's Social Security benefits to be deposited into the facility's payroll account and used for employee paychecks over a six-month period. The resident, who had Parkinson's disease, moderately impaired cognition, and was dependent on staff for ADLs, had Social Security payments totaling $27,568.37 deposited by the Social Security Administration into the facility's payroll bank account on multiple occasions. Bank statements showed deposits made on behalf of the resident in one large lump sum followed by monthly deposits, all going into the payroll account rather than a separate resident trust or personal funds account. The business manager who discovered the issue while reviewing payroll bank statements reported that the deposits occurred over several months and informed the former administrator, the facility owner, and the payroll assistant, but no efforts were made to return the funds to the resident's estate. A subsequent review by a new business manager confirmed there was no evidence that the resident's Social Security funds had been returned, and no check had been issued from the payroll account to the resident's trust account. The current administrator acknowledged that the resident's Social Security funds were co-mingled with the facility's payroll account and stated that the appropriate action would have been to return the funds to the resident's trust or estate. The facility's undated policy on resident trust funds stated that money deposited to the account should not be used or combined with facility funds, which was not followed in this case.
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