Human Services Committee approves contracts, grant acceptances and staffing actions

The Allegany County Human Services Committee voted to approve a package of contract amendments, service agreements, grant acceptances and staffing actions during its regular meeting.

Committee members authorized increased spending and contract extensions for aging and home-care services, accepted several grants for public health and child services, and approved two registered nurse hires for the county health department. Motions on each item were made and carried by voice vote.

Why it matters: the approvals authorize spending, extend service continuity for clients of county programs (including personal emergency response services and home-care vendors), and allow the county to accept grant funds and reallocate unspent grant dollars for public-health and lead-hazard work.

Committee action highlights (votes at a glance): - Amendment to increase the maximum payable to the Center for Elder Law & Justice from $8,900 to $12,000 for 2025 (motion carried). - Extension of the Total Senior Care/Daybreak agreement through 12/31/2025 with no other term changes (motion carried). - Resolution to enter an agreement with Annette Harding for powers of attorney and health-care proxy work at $75 per hour, maximum $12,000 (motion carried). - Contract with Highland Park Day Program (medical day services/respite) at $104 per day; transportation options $52 two-way or $28 one-way; correction to a typographical error was noted and motion carried. - Agreement with Legal Assistance of Western New York for legal services for people 60+ at $158 per hour, maximum $12,000 (motion carried). Committee clarified these funds come from state legal funds and are not billed to clients. - One-year extension of Life Station personal emergency response (PERS) agreement (motion carried) to allow time for an RFP-based procurement and possible transition for current users. - Contract with WellCare to provide home-care personal care (PC) services under multiple county funding streams; rates discussed and the motion to accept the contract carried. - Ratification of a letter of commitment to Casa Trinity as part of a HRSA rural opioid response grant application (motion carried). - Data-use agreement with the New York State Health Department for access to EMS PCR reports to support public-health analytics (motion carried). Committee described the project as a student-supported, web-based biospatial analytics tool aimed at prehospital data such as substance-use incidents and Narcan administration. - Adoption of state-set increases for preschool evaluation rates with a 10% administrative takeback retained by the county (motion carried). - Reappropriation of $1,356 in unspent public-health infrastructure grant funds (motion carried). - Amendment to resolution 29324 to standardize a provider's name to their LLC to match insurance certificate (motion carried). - Reappropriation and rebudgeting actions for the HUD lead-hazard grant (committee noted a sizeable amount of funds remain and an estimated ~$350,000 is earmarked for repairs in the later phase of the grant) (motion carried). - Approval to apply for a $1,500 Allegany County Area Foundation grant to purchase radon test kits and begin radon awareness outreach (motion carried; chair ratified an earlier signature required by a short application turnaround). - Approval to fill two registered nurse vacancies in the public health department (motion carried). Committee members noted the positions are largely state-funded. - Acceptance and appropriation of a technical grant for the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) for equipment (iPads, external drives, a Microsoft Surface Pro and camera-system upgrades) and relocation planning for the CAC mobile unit; motion carried. - Acceptance of an Office of Children and Family Services award for foster-parent recruitment and retention (motion carried).

All motions were presented during the meeting and carried by voice vote with members answering "Aye." The committee did not record roll-call vote tallies for each item in the transcript; the meeting opened with six members present.

Committee members asked clarifying questions on cost-sharing, funding sources, contract terms and transition planning for services that serve county residents. Staff clarified which programs are state- or grant-funded and which services accept suggested contributions instead of mandatory fees.

The committee moved into an attorney–client session at the end of the public meeting.