MAHONING COUNTY Seniors assured on help

The council on aging was abolished last week in a cost-cutting move.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County's senior citizens are casting a wary eye on the future, but a county official says they needn't worry.
With their liaison to the county commissioners' office gone, some seniors wonder who will be there to hear their voices when they call.
"Kerry was our only advocate for seniors down there," said Judy Sieber, director of the Mahoning County Senior Center. "People always knew they could call her for answers and she'd know what to do. She helped a lot of people."
She was referring to Kerry Collins, laid off last week as director of the Mahoning County Council On Aging. Commissioners abolished the department as a cost-cutting measure. Collins was the only employee.
But Joseph Caruso, assistant county administrator, said seniors can rest assured that their needs will be met, even though the council on aging no longer exists.
"We don't want seniors to panic," Caruso said. "They are a very vulnerable group already."
Reactions to cut
The council on aging, created by commissioners in 1989, is the only county department so far to fall prey to the budget ax. That has caused some seniors to wonder why it was targeted.
"I was shocked," Sieber said.
Jean Bailey, 67, of Sebring, said she thought the budget cut sent a negative message to seniors, who make up more than 22 percent of the county's overall population.
"The elderly always seem to get kicked to the side," she said. "I think it's a shame."
Agnes Mastronarde of Campbell said she felt like commissioners were "picking on seniors" and trying to "make an example" of them. She said it appeared that commissioners blamed the elderly for failure of a 0.5 percent county sales tax renewal at the polls last month.
But Caruso said that's not the case at all. He said even though Collins is gone, commissioners still will see to it that seniors are served.
To continue funding
He said commissioners will continue funding a prescription assistance program for senior citizens. The program, launched some 10 months ago, has resulted in a savings of nearly $1 million on prescription costs for the county's aged, Caruso said.
Commissioners also will provide money again this year to help fund operation of the senior center on Fifth Avenue and its three satellite centers in Sebring, Boardman and New Middletown.
Sieber said commissioners provided $5,000 last year, which mostly helped pay for health screenings. She said the money also provides occasional lunches for seniors who visit the facilities.
Caruso said commissioners can provide only $3,200 this year. They haven't signed the documents to officially appropriate the money, but Sieber said she expects that to be done next week.
The senior center gets the bulk of its funding from the District XI Agency On Aging, a four-county senior advocacy agency.
"The commissioners are not by any stretch of the imagination turning their backs on seniors," Caruso said. "We will support those programs to the best of our abilities."
Commissioners helping
Sieber said Caruso has been on the telephone with her and other senior advocates, pledging support by helping them look for grants and other alternative funding sources to help keep senior programs going.
With Collins no longer available to help, Sieber said she had planned to eliminate the health screenings at satellite offices. That, she said, would have been devastating, especially to low-income seniors who can't afford to pay for the screenings out-of-pocket.
But she said the commissioners' office has vowed the see to it that help is provided to keep the screenings going.
"There still will be a voice for seniors," Caruso said, noting that the District XI Agency On Aging still is working on behalf of seniors. Assistance also is available by calling HELP Hotline or the commissioners' office, he said.
"I don't have any issues with anybody politically," Sieber said. "All I want to do is provide those services for our seniors."
bjackson@vindy.com