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Caroline County commissioners approve Upper Shore Aging’s FY26 senior care program plan
Summary
The county signed an annual plan letting Upper Shore Aging administer a $160,000 senior care grant for FY26 to serve vulnerable residents 65 and older; commissioners approved the plan by voice vote and asked the president to sign.
Caroline County commissioners voted June 24 to approve the Upper Shore Aging senior care program plan for fiscal year 2026, allowing the agency to administer $160,000 in state senior care funds for the county.
The plan, presented by Kate Stenton of Upper Shore Aging, lays out use of the grant to provide case management, gap-filling expenses and services for vulnerable residents 65 and older who meet financial and functional-need criteria. Stenton said the program exists statewide and is funded by the Maryland Department of Aging.
Stenton told commissioners that Upper Shore Aging is administering $160,000 for Caroline County and currently serves 67 county residents this year. “The senior care program is funded by Department of Aging through state funds. It's been in existence since the early eighties,” she said. She described the program’s emphasis on home visits and in-person case management, and said the grant is intended as “last-resort” funding after other benefits are explored.
Stenton provided program-level figures: about 10% of funds are allocated to administration, 37% to staff (including the county’s single full-time case manager paid by the grant), and the remainder to client services. She listed commonly funded items and approximate allocations as discussed in the presentation: medical supplies and nutritional supplements, personal care services, personal emergency response systems, chore and transportation services, and medical day-care copays. She said the program currently provides roughly $2,400 per client per year on average, and contrasted that with estimated nursing-home costs.
Commissioners asked about partnerships and capacity. Stenton said Upper Shore Aging coordinates monthly with the local health department and Department of Social Services; those partners provide in-home services and case management for certain clients, which helps stretch senior care dollars. She said referrals are increasing, the program had a small waiting list at the end of the last fiscal year (now absorbed), and that lowering the eligibility age to 60 in proposed state legislation for FY27 could increase demand.
Commissioner Bartz and others praised the program’s role in stretching limited resources and preventing nursing-home placements. After discussion, a commissioner moved to sign the FY26 senior care program plan; a second was recorded and the commissioners approved the motion by voice vote. The board said President Breeding will sign the plan when he returns and the commissioners’ office will place the document in its sign-off pool.
The approval authorizes Upper Shore Aging to administer the $160,000 allocation for Caroline County under the described program plan; no additional county appropriation was adopted at the meeting.
Stenton thanked the commissioners for the support and reiterated the program’s reliance on county and community partnerships to meet needs beyond the grant.
