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Carroll County approves FY26 area plan and grant applications for Bureau of Aging and Disabilities
Summary
The Board of Carroll County Commissioners voted to authorize submission of FY26 area plan and related grant applications for the Bureau of Aging and Disabilities and to accept the awards, following a county presentation on senior services, nutrition costs and potential federal funding cuts.
The Board of Carroll County Commissioners voted May 1 to authorize submission of the fiscal year 2026 area plan and individual grant applications for the Bureau of Aging and Disabilities and to accept the resulting awards.
County officials told commissioners the bureau coordinates senior centers, home-delivered and congregate meals, veteran services, ombudsman work, Medicaid-funded home- and community-based programs and several federally funded counseling and outreach lines. Gina Valentine, bureau chief of Aging and Disabilities, told the board the bureau served more than 50,000 meals across congregate and home-delivered programs and has 1,600 senior-center members.
The commissioners’ vote came after a presentation outlining the bureau’s funding streams and service highlights. The presentation listed federal Title III allocations (congregate and home-delivered meals), state nutrition dollars, state and federal ombudsman grants, the senior care program and other line items such as the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Valentine said the unit had seen substantial cost increases for meals since fiscal 2022 — congregate meals rising from $4.83 to $6.31 and home-delivered meals from $6.91 to $7.93 — translating to roughly $49,000 more per year to serve about 33,000 congregate meals.
Commissioners and staff also discussed the bureau’s successful veteran services program — which staff said has helped recover roughly $80 million in pension and compensation claims for local veterans — and the Collard Foundation older-adult emergency fund that subsidizes emergency needs such as utility and food assistance.
Valentine warned that a leaked federal budget draft would zero out several programs important to the bureau, including ombudsman funding, health-promotion grants and SHIP-related lines, potentially reducing about $60,000 statewide from those programs. County staff said advocacy is under way with national and state organizations to protect the grants.
After questions, Commissioner Gordon moved to approve submission and acceptance of FY26 area plan and grants; the board approved the motion by voice vote.
Commissioners and bureau staff said they will continue monitoring potential federal cuts and coordinating advocacy through state and national associations as needed.
