KULPMONT - The paychecks are starting to come in. Finally.
Aides that assist special needs patient Michael Procopio, of Kulpmont, have begun to see their paychecks after a six-week snafu prevented the aides from receiving them.
Procopio, 36, who was born with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, needs round-the-clock care. and his mother, Betty, was worried that care would be taken away if the women who assisted Michael were not compensated for the service they provide.
"We've finally got some checks coming in, so it seems to be working out," aide Carol Bills said Sunday afternoon. "This past Thursday, we all received checks in the mail, so the problem is starting to be corrected."
"I'm thankful for everything that Vinny Clausi and the newspapers did for these girls and for me," Procopio said. "The girls are getting their checks and I hope that everything is straightened out."
Pennsylvania Department of Welfare spokesperson Donna Morgan said in a voicemail message Friday that they had been in contact with the financial management agency in charge of paying the aides, Christian Financial Management Inc., of Pittsburgh, and that "most of the issues had been resolved."
Anne Fariello, another aide for Procopio, who assists Michael's mother, Betty, with his care, received some of the paychecks she was owed, but is still awaiting two or three weekly checks.
"It's tough, because I'm a widow at 40 years old, with two small children," Fariello said. "Utilities and food cost money."
The caretakers' payday problems started in July when Christian Financial Management, Inc. took over the accounts of over 1,700 aides throughout the state in a Department of Welfare move to reduce the number of financial management service providers from 37 to three. The providers turn state and federal Medicaid funds into paychecks for the caregivers.
The problem came when Christian Financial and the former company, Community Resources Inc., had no transition plan in place before the July 1 switch.
"When Community Resources Inc. was doing it for the past 11 years, there was no problem," Betty Procopio said last Friday.
"When Christian Financial stepped in, with that gap in the transition and no plan in place, there was a backlog, one which we worked to end," Morgan said last week.
Though their wages are starting to come back, it wasn't as smooth as they hoped it would be.
"Anne and I both got a couple checks that weren't signed," Bills said. "We had to send them back to them and the company cut us new checks."
"I can't get mad about it," Fariello said. "People are doing the best they can and things are getting fixed."