Social Security clients will be OK: Check-services agency suddenly closed, but money will come through ? eventually

By Josh Brodesky

Apr. 3, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Hundreds of elderly and disabled Tucsonans, left in the lurch when the company that was supposed to safeguard their Social Security checks suddenly shut down, should not lose any money.

Social Security Administration officials said it will take a little time to sort through the financial morass left behind when SCOPE Payee Services closed its doors, but the clients will be protected.

Meanwhile, SCOPE clients have been scrambling to set up replacement checks with the Social Security Administration while making sure their bills are current.

SCOPE was supposed to receive their checks, pay bills and provide, on request, day-to-day living expenses to clients who are not fully competent to manage their own finances.

Meanwhile, Social Security investigators have yet to find SCOPE President Robert Skaggs.

"We have not had any confirmed contact," said Jim Pavletich, public information officer for Social Security in Arizona.

Numerous efforts to speak with Skaggs, including two visits by the Arizona Daily Star to his East Side home Wednesday, were unsuccessful. Calls left with his sister, who worked at SCOPE, according to several clients, were not returned.

While up to 600 people could be affected by the closure, Pavletich said investigators do not yet know the actual amount of money Social Security may ultimately need to reimburse.

Several SCOPE clients have said they had been under the impression bills had been paid, only to learn that wasn't the case, perhaps for months.

"At this point we are still investigating, and we don't have any way to determine the extent of arrears," Pavletich said.

But he did say that whatever the final tally is, Social Security will be responsible for it.

"Ultimately, the beneficiary is protected by the agency," he said.

Social Security is asking SCOPE clients visit the agency's two local offices to meet with staff members. Replacement checks might be issued, Pavletich said.

But Social Security can also intercede with creditors as well as connect SCOPE clients with several other agencies that manage checks.

Pavletich said the department has a list of SCOPE clients, and in a few days officials will begin searching for clients who don't show up on their own.

Skaggs has had a history of financial issues, including a bankruptcy filing in 1995 for his for-profit company, Specialized Creative Opportunities for Personal Environments, and a personal bankruptcy a few years earlier.

The U.S. Attorney's Office also filed a civil suit against Skaggs and Specialized Creative Opportunities for unpaid 1996 income taxes and other payments. In March 2007, a federal judge signed an order for Skaggs to pay $166,266.

The Arizona Corporation Commission dissolved SCOPE's status as a non-profit corporation in November after it failed to submit annual reports and pay fees.

Pavletich said he didn't know if Social Security was aware of the previous financial issues.

"That I can't comment on," he said. "I can say ... in the recent past there hadn't been any indication that we had been aware of as an ongoing or imminent problem" with SCOPE.

But Candace Garrett, whose adult daughter has severe bipolar disorder and was a SCOPE client, said there were several times her daughter was misled or given erroneous information by SCOPE about the status of her checks. Garrett said she complained to Social Security, but nothing came of it.

"I've told them several times myself that there was something really fishy going on at this place," she said, adding the business was often closed.

Many of SCOPE's clients have mental-health issues or struggle with substance abuse, and Neal Cash, president and CEO of Community Partnership for Southern Arizona, the region's behavioral-health authority, said his chief concern was making sure the SCOPE clients, like Garrett's daughter, find the resources they need.

"It's strange how this happened so suddenly," he said. "From our perspective, right now we are most concerned about the members that we are serving making sure that they are getting their needs met."

FOR HELP

The Social Security Administration is asking SCOPE clients to contact Social Security's local offices, preferably in person.

--North Side office: 3500 N. Campbell Ave., 321-1167.

--South Side office: 2716 S. Sixth Ave., 670-5880.

SCOPE clients can also call Social Security's toll free number, 1-800-772-1213.

--Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 807-7789 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0014-24227344