HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-03-2009 - Info 1
Memorandum
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Laura Blackmon, County Manager
FROM: Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager
RE: Senior Congregate Meals -Transition to the Department on Aging
Proposed in FY09-10 Budget
DATE: February 24, 2009
This memorandum provides further background and an additional preview of a proposed
change in service delivery contemplated for the Manager's recommended budget in
FY09-10. The re-deployment of existing Federal and County funds to effect the transfer
of the senior congregate meals program from Joint Community Action Agency (JOCCA)
to the Department on Aging (Aging) was referenced as a priority goal of the Department
and endorsed by the Aging Advisory Board in the annual report to the Master Aging Plan
(MAP) presented to the BOCC at its meeting on February 17, 2009.
JOCCA is the private, non-profit organization established in 1996 to seek funds,
administer programs, and provide services to low-wealth families and individuals in
Orange and Chatham Counties. Their services have included the congregate nutrition
program, Workforce Investment Act Programs (adult, dislocated workers, and youth),
weatherization and heating appliance repairs/replacements, and community services
assistance.
Since incorporation JOCCA has administered the congregate nutrition program for
seniors in both counties providing hot lunches on a daily basis to low-wealth seniors. The
meals are offered at no cost to registered seniors although donations are also accepted.
Historically meal locations in Orange County have included Northside (Chapel Hill),
Chapel Hill Senior Center (The Galleria), Efland-Cheeks, Northern, and Hillsborough.
However with the opening of the Seymour Center, senior meals at Northside and the
Chapel Hill Senior Center merged. The same consolidation took place with the opening
of the new Northern/Central Orange Senior Center in the Meadowlands; senior meals wre
combined at the new facility in Hillsborough.
Just as Aging and JOCCA worked together over the past 12-18 months to prepare for the
consolidation of operations at the two centers, they have also worked (Aging with the
Advisory Board on Aging, a special Food Services Innovations Committee, the
Manager's Office, and Budget; and JOCCA with its Board of Directors) to develop a new
approach to food services and delivery. The Food Services Innovation Committee has
included senior meal participants, JOCCA, and the leadership of community non-profits
and County departmental representatives. The Committee wants to update, streamline,
and "green" the Orange County program. The plans is to make maximum use of the
commercial kitchen at the Seymour Center, cultivate and utilize local food products, and
cater to changing dietary needs and interests among the elderly. Ultimately the plan
would incorporate jobs readiness and training in the culinary arts for Work First
participants from Department of Social Services.
JOCCA currently receives the bulk of its annual funding to operate the senior congregate
meals program through a Triangle J COG (TJCG) pass-through under the Home and
Community Care Block Grant (HCCBG). JOCCA has contracted with a caterer,
Bateman, in Cumberland County to prepare and deliver the meals at the Orange County
sites. JOCCA has also secured annual appropriations from the County and the Towns
through their outside agency application process to further underwrite senior congregate
meals. In FY08-09 JOCCA received $338,439 in HCCBG funding and $45,000;
$18,900; and $7,000 respectively from Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro.
Aging is finalizing a proposed budget (business plan) for assuming operation of the
program starting on July 1, 2009 using funds currently appropriated from all sources to
JOCCA. Aging has alerted the Towns to the proposed change and submitted applications
under their outside agency application process. JOCCA will remain responsible for its
dislocated worker and weatherization programs in Orange and Chatham and is continuing
to seek outside agency support from the County and Towns for those purposes.
County Management and Aging remain in direct contact with Sandy Sanchez, the
Executive Director of JOCCA, regarding a smooth transition should the proposal meet
with BOCC approval in the budget process. Transition plans call for assimilating the
permanent JOCCA staff associated with the senior congregate meals program and
maintaining collaboration and consultation, staff to staff, to ensure the seniors being
served continue to be well served.
If there are additional questions please contact Gwen Harvey or Jerry Passmore.
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