Thursday, June 21, 2012

The state's social services department is asking an independent living center that serves much of southern Kansas to pay $228,184 within a month, with a potential for hundreds of thousands of dollars in more debt.

The head of Prairie Independent Living Resource Center says the service will close if the requirement stands.

Others say the fines are retribution by the state social services department for complaints from independent living centers across Kansas about waiting lists.

SRS spokeswoman Angela de Rocha says no wrongdoing is suspected. She says the problem is inadequate record keeping and the agency offers training to avoid such issues.

Chris Owens, Prairie Independent's executive director, said it also faces the potential of repaying $987,362 for the federal portion of Medicaid payments.