Others to try to fill SWADC void
The mood was sad as employees and the executive director inventoried vans Wednesday at Southwest Arkansas Development Council.
The vans were used to provide the elderly and people with limited income with transportation to medical appointments and senior citizen events. That all changed July 21, when the council, which had served
12 counties, ceased operations.
“The programs providing vans were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty started in the mid-1960s. … We’ve served thousands of people in 48 years,” said Jim McPhaul, SWADC executive director.
However, SWADC’s customers will not be left in the lurch.
“The good news is the sister agency, Central Arkansas Development Council in Benton is one of 16 community-action centers in the state and will assist and assume the functions of the agency,” McPhaul said.
SWADC also will reach out to other agencies for assistance.
The closure of SWADC, a nonprofit organization, culminates a decade of challenges, including the loss of several major programs.
“The loss of Southwest Arkansas’ Head Start early education program, as well as the Department of Energy’s Weatherization program several years ago, were primary among the causes of the agency’s ultimate closure,” said McPhaul. “Coupled with changes to payment methods in its Medicaid-funded NonEmergency Medical Transportation program, as well as increasing competition from for-profit entities in its Home Health Program, the agency could no longer afford to operate.”
The resultant inability to pay the agency’s 166 employees was an especially devastating blow.
“We can’t miss a payroll. It’s not acceptable to miss a payroll. That’s why we ceased operations,” he said.
McPhaul, who was hired by the Board of Directors in August 2015, said he inherited a agency severely strapped for cash and with declining revenue. It was a “very difficult situation at best and a herculean task at worst.”
“We tried everything possible with very limited resources. Unfunded, governmentally mandated minimum wage increases also were a significant cost for us. With no off-setting increases in our revenue stream, we found that we were unable to meet our ongoing responsibilities to our suppliers on a timely basis.”
In an effort to curb losses at the agency’s 17 senior centers, the board directed McPhaul to terminate the agency’s contract with the Area Agency on Aging of Southwest Arkansas in October 2016.
“Despite this cost-saving initiative, our revenues continued to decline, making it impossible to stay open,” McPhaul said.
On July 21, the agency laid off everyone except “a few administrative employees” tasked with closing the agency’s facilities and consolidating all of its remaining assets for eventual sale and disposition.
“It is important to note that SWADC will eventually meet all of its current financial obligations,” McPhaul said. “However, this is a process that will take time to dispose of the agency’s assets and collect all of its remaining accounts receivable.”
Vendors will be contacted individually to discuss account settlements, he said.
Overall, “morale is good,” McPhaul said. “Employees are optimistic another entity will come in and they will get a job.”