County closing homeless ‘bank’

Charles Jones knew he wouldn't be able to kick his drug habit and get off the streets if he continued receiving his $802 Social Security check in a single monthly sum.

It was just too tempting to spend the money on drugs.

So when the 57-year-old disabled man got out of rehab earlier this year, he asked Clark County to take control of his finances, making sure his rent and other bills were paid and giving him a $50 weekly allowance for groceries.

"I said, 'I need some help,'" Jones said of his decision to request that the county's Representative Payee Program handle his money.

Jones has been sober about a year and now has his own apartment.

But the county, because of tight economic times and budget cuts, is eliminating part of the program that manages the finances of nearly 300 people such as Jones -- some of whom have been required by Social Security to find someone else to take charge of their money.

"We had to make some hard decisions," said Clark County Public Guardian Kathleen Buchanan, whose office oversees the 17-year-old payee program in which Jones is enrolled. "I know how good this program is. But times are just too tough right now."

The county will no longer provide representative payee services to people younger than 60. Services to those older than 60 will still be available, Buchanan said.

Those affected have been receiving letters from Buchanan's office stating they need to identify a "trusted individual" to take over as their payee. The letters specified Nov. 14 as the date by which the individual must be identified, but Buchanan insisted there was no official deadline.

"This is a letter to say 'You need to get the ball rolling,'" she said. "We're going to stay with these people until they've selected somebody."

But those who work with the homeless and the mentally ill worry about the hundreds of people like Jones, who now must find someone else to manage their money.

Some don't have a reliable family member to help and aren't equipped to handle their own finances, said Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the Straight from the Streets homeless outreach program.

"Obviously a lot of people in the street are not good money managers," she said. "The problem is finding somebody trustworthy to handle things."

Jones wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he said he doesn't feel strong enough to be in charge of his own money.

"If it ain't one thing, it's another," he said.

Cutting the program will save the county about $94,000 a year, Buchanan said. One affiliated part-time position will be eliminated, and one full-time employee will be reassigned.

The county must provide guardianship and estate services for people who have been deemed incompetent by the court and don't have reliable loved ones, Buchanan said. That would include those who suffer from dementia, psychosis or extreme bipolar disorder.

But the county is not required to provide representative payee services to help the homeless or those who suffer from drug, alcohol or other addictions.

The county has maintained the program, Buchanan said, because "it was the right thing to do."

"Some people just don't make appropriate decisions," she said. "We live in a gambling town, and it's very easy for them to take their monthly Social Security check and, for example, just lose it in one day at the casino, and then they're on the street."

The program was able to ensure such people "had a roof over their heads and food on the table," she said.

"It's a very valuable service, and it's horrible for this office" to have to terminate it, she said.

Lera-Randle El said agencies such as hers are too small and don't have the staff to take over the county's payee program. At this point, she said, she knows of no other agency that has stepped forward to take over the program, leaving hundreds of people scrambling to find alternatives.

But Buchanan said she believes people will come forward.

"I have faith in our system and in other agencies that work with these individuals," she said.

Buchanan also didn't rule out the possibility of the county resurrecting the program if the economy improves.

In the meantime, people such as 36-year-old Hans Uruci aren't sure what they'll do.

The formerly homeless Uruci has mental health issues that have repeatedly landed him "in the psychiatric ward" and left him unable to adequately manage his monthly Social Security payments, he said.

The county's representative payee program "took care of everything so I wouldn't waste money and made sure I took care of myself," he said.

"I just don't think I could save my money. I don't even have a bank account."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.