The resident has the right to manage his or her financial affairs, and the facility may not require residents to deposit their personal funds with the facility. But many residents are unable or unwilling to manage their own financial affairs and do not have a responsible party that will manage their funds. In this case the facility must hold, safeguard, manage and account for the personal funds deposited with the facility. The facility will manage the personal allowance funds for residents when a responsible third party does not exist to handle these funds and the following circumstances exist. Each of these situations must be documented in writing.

When the facility assumes the responsibility for managing a resident's personal funds, withdrawals by family members should not be allowed. If the family makes purchases on behalf of the resident, the family can be reimbursed from the resident trust fund by presenting a receipt to the trust fund custodian. This transaction should be properly recorded in the Participant Ledger file. Families who object to following these procedures should be advised that they will have to assume responsibility for managing the resident's money. This provision should be fully explained to the appropriate family members when the participation in the resident trust fund begins. The forms referenced in Section 5 of this manual can be found in Section V of the Arkansas Medicaid Provider Manuals by clicking the hyperlink within this sentence.