Friday, July 25, 2003

Contracts for senior services approved

Senior services for Fulton County's 150,000 elderly will be provided in 2003-2004 by eight agencies approved last week by the Board of Commissioners.

The board approved contracts totaling $3.1 million, of which $1.4 million will be paid with county funds, and the remainder with federal and state grants.The four incumbents and four new providers will do everything from managing senior centers, to scheduling homemaker and personal care assistance for seniors confined to their homes, to arranging respite services for caregivers.

Recommended and coordinated by the County Human Services Department's Office of Aging, the agencies were selected through competitive bidding for the first time, and will enhance Older Americans Act services in North, Central and South Fulton. The 1965 and 1972 federal law prescribes services that help seniors live as independently as possible as they grow older.

Older Americans Act funds are channeled through the Atlanta Regional Commission. As the ARC's designated senior services provider since 1991, Fulton County Government coordinates and implements service delivery through the Office of Aging. County staff operates four senior multipurpose facilities directly, and oversees the neighborhood senior centers.

Senior services agencies did not exist in 1991, so the county created nonprofits Senior Services North Fulton, Central Fulton Senior Services, and South Fulton Senior Services to deliver the services.