Countywide : $15,000 Awarded to Troubled Program

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has awarded a $15,000 contract to a financially troubled drug- and alcohol-recovery program in Ventura. That was $5,000 less than the program had requested.

In a unanimous vote this week, supervisors agreed to pay Khepera House Inc. $10,000 in advance for services due, and the other $5,000 for services rendered after the advance is exhausted.

The county cut off all funding to the 44-bed Khepera House in October, 1990, because of mismanagement by former Director Thomas E. Chaloupka.

Chaloupka, who had served as director for eight years, was sentenced in late October to 90 days in the county’s work-furlough program for falsely obtaining $13,000 in county grants.

Dale McFadden, Khepera’s new executive director, cautioned supervisors of the program’s fiscal plight in an Oct. 15 letter.

He said he would recommend that the program file for bankruptcy if the county did not provide $20,000 in emergency bailout money by Oct. 22.

McFadden said this week that he is pleased with the supervisors’ decision, but added, “It’s not enough. We’re going to have to raise money. . . . It’s a daily struggle.”