Sedgwick County staff on Sept. 3 briefed commissioners on a suite of aging- and behavioral-health-related items that will appear on the upcoming agenda, including a pass-through Older Americans Act grant, contract updates with Comcare partners and a vendor contract for in-home services.

Staff described a roughly $3.5 million pass-through grant from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) for Older Americans Act services. The grant will pass through the state via the Central Plains Area Agency on Aging (CPAAA). Sedgwick County’s match was listed at a little under $92,000; Butler and Harvey counties were identified as partner counties with proportional matches tied to population.

Commissioners were told an item will give signature authority to the county’s new aging director, Steven, for KDADS reports; staff noted Annette previously held that authority. Tim, a county staff member, explained that KDADS uses a single-contract approach in which one area agency acts as lead for administrative case-management billing. In this arrangement, Northwest Kansas AAA (NW AAA) serves as the lead contractor and the other 10 AAAs subcontract with NW AAA for administrative case management so KDADS billing can flow through the lead.

Separately, staff said Comcare had updated an agreement with the Mental Health Association (MHA), which took substantial internal work to revise. Staff also listed a vendor contract with Homebody to provide in‑home services for seniors and said backup contract documents were in the meeting packet.

Staff briefly acknowledged an opioid-litigation item sent via email; county staff said there is not a defined dollar amount yet and that the county’s item pertains to an acknowledgment of the agreement through the Kansas attorney general’s office rather than a local settlement. The item relates to the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy and the Sackler settlement and will require board approval, staff said.

Next steps: the Older Americans Act grant, Comcare contracts and the Homebody vendor contract will appear on the consent or regular agenda; staff will present the signature-authority item for the new aging director and follow up with additional partner contracts.