WILMINGTON — The Council on Aging (COA) of Southwestern Ohio will continue to administer the levy funds for senior services in Clinton County.
The COA is the only agency to enter a bid to administer the funds generated from the senior services levy. The deadline to make a bid was 10 a.m. Monday.
The Clinton County Community Action Program had indicated previously it might submit a proposal to administer the funds for senior services, but in the end it did not.
Clinton County Community Action Program Board of Directors President Randy Riley attended the Monday morning opening of bids at the county commissioners office. The Community Action board held lengthy discussions about the possibility of making a proposal, he said.
The decisive factor, said Riley, is that the Request for Proposal precludes the levy funds administrator from becoming a direct service provider of home-based care services.
“That’s what we want to do. That is what Community Action does. We do more the direct hands-on care,” said the Community Action board president. Because Community Action cannot do both — administer the funds and also be a service provider — its board chose to focus on providing services, added Riley.
So instead Community Action will be bidding to perform senior services such as delivering meals, homemaker services, minor home modifications, emergency repairs, personal care and caregiver relief, he said.
Clinton County Commissioner Brenda K. Woods asked Riley whether Community Action would be interested in performing case management intake. Riley replied yes, and that Community Action had done that service in the past.
Woods said that in talking to several individuals, case management intake is part of the system “that’s not working the best right now, so we possibly could improve.”
In 2016, Clinton County’s Elderly Services Program helped 476 older adult residents with services such as home-delivered meals, transportation and homemaking assistance.
As the only bidder, COA is the presumptive recipient of a contract with the Clinton County commissioners. The contract’s duration is for three years with a two-year option. Commissioners added the option provision in order to provide accountability within the contract, said Clinton County Commissioners President Kerry R. Steed.
The two-year option means commissioners have a right to end the contract after three years if they so choose, added Steed.
The COA proposed that it be paid $83,000 next year to remain the Elderly Services Program administrator, he said. COA contracts with area businesses and not-for-profit organizations to deliver in-home care services to clients enrolled in the Elderly Services Program.
Elderly Services Program Advisory Board Chairperson Kathi Spirk said that volunteer group will review the COA’s bid proposal to make sure it meets all the criteria spelled out in the Request for Proposal.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
