Senior levy services forthcoming


By Peter H. Milliken

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Preparations are well underway for the July 1 start of services to Mahoning County senior citizens under a new 1-mill, five-year real-estate tax levy the county’s voters approved in March 2016.

The levy, which passed by a 55-percent favorable vote, costs the owner of a $100,000 home about $36 a year and will generate about $4.1 million in annual revenue.

Generation of these revenues began with this year’s first-half tax collection.

“My vision is to ensure that services are available in Mahoning County for older adults who need services. We want to make sure that the services they get are from providers that are background-checked,” said Joseph Rossi, chief executive officer of the Niles-based Area Agency on Aging 11, which will administer the levy funds.

“They’ll be background-checked. They’ll be trained. They’ll know how to do everything they need to do,” said Rossi, who is president of the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

The area agency has advertised for bids from agencies seeking to provide home-delivered meals, recreation, wellness programs, support services and guardianship services under 18-month contracts starting July 1, with a Friday bid submission deadline.

Wellness programs include state-approved fall-prevention and chronic disease self-management education programs.

Supportive services are provided by social workers at senior centers or community centers, who help senior citizens fill out applications for prescription drug and home energy assistance programs.

The area agency will background-check bidders and monitor the performance of successful bidders.

A five-member advisory council, whose next meeting will be at 1 p.m. April 14 in the Mahoning County commissioners’ office, will make recommendations, and the area agency’s board will award the contracts.

The advisory council members were appointed by the county commissioners.

Most services under the levy will be provided without charge to any Mahoning County resident who is 60 or older and in need of that service, regardless of income or assets, Rossi said.

Fees may be charged for some services, such as home modifications, Rossi said.

Rossi added that his goal is to serve with levy monies those who aren’t poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but aren’t wealthy.

The primary goal of the services will be to allow senior citizens to remain in their own homes, Rossi added.

“My vision is one of hope. It’s one of hope for people who, too often, feel forgotten. As they age, I don’t want them to feel that they’ve been discarded. This levy is going to help them be able to get those small services that they need to feel dignity and to feel that they still belong in the community that they built,” said Lisa Solley, the agency’s communications director.

“It could be as simple as cutting the grass. It could be as simple as helping them put grab bars in their bathroom, so that they don’t fall,” Solley said.

To coordinate services under the levy, three case managers will be assigned to a rented Mahoning County office that is scheduled to open before July 1, Rossi said.

Two of the case managers have already been hired by the agency and are being trained to assess senior citizens’ service needs, he added.

Two locations in Mahoning County government-owned buildings are under consideration for the office containing at least 1,400 square feet, which will require no renovation, Rossi added.

Rossi said administrative costs, including office rent, won’t exceed 5 percent of levy revenues, with the remaining money going for services.

Mahoning County residents seeking services may call the area agency now at 330-505-2300, and ask for the community resources department, Solley said.

The agency hopes to begin assessing senior citizens’ service needs before July 1, Rossi said.

The new levy likely will eliminate waiting lists for senior services, which now total about 1,000 county residents, within the first six months of service delivery, Rossi said.

The new levy revenue comes at a time of uncertainty in federal and state funding for senior services, which now totals about $900,000 and $300,000, respectively, each year for Mahoning County, not including Medicaid dollars, he said.

“The federal dollars have dwindled,” in recent years, he added.

“We have heard that there’ll be [funding] reductions to the Older Americans Act,” at the federal level, Rossi said. “This levy really was [passed] at the right time for the people of Mahoning County,” he added.

“The levy’s going to provide that [safety] net that’s going to help people still get meals, still get a bath, still get some help in the home, so that they can stay in their home, which, in the end, is cheaper for taxpayers,” than nursing home care, Solley said.

Even before the July 1 official start of Mahoning County’s levy-funded senior services, the area agency is offering the county’s residents over age 60 coupons that will let them acquire $50 worth of free fresh produce this year at local farmers markets, Solley said.

The coupon program is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will be expanded using levy funds, Solley said.

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