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Harvey County hearing: aging services ask commissioners to match stipends after contractor withdrawal
Summary
Harvey County Department on Aging told commissioners that Everfull is ending its nutrition contract serving the CPAAA region; the department asked the county to match CPAAA stipends ($5,000 per site) to sustain congregate meal staffing, a request that would cost $15,000–$20,000 depending on whether Halsted is included.
Lona Kelly, director of the Harvey County Department on Aging, told the Board of Commissioners that Everfull — the area’s contracted Older Americans Act nutrition provider — has ended its contract covering the Central Plains Area Agency on Aging (CPAAA) region, which serves Harvey, Butler and Sedgwick counties. Kelly said the change threatens congregate and home‑delivered meal operations in Newton, Hesston and Sedgwick and that CPAAA is proposing Trio Community Meals as a replacement.
Kelly said Trio’s staffing model requires local sites to provide an on‑site staff person for congregate meals or to allow Trio to deliver home‑delivered meals; CPAAA offered a $5,000 stipend per site to support that local staff. "We would like to propose a matching dollar for the stipend that CPAAA would extend to the senior centers," Kelly said, asking commissioners to consider $5,000 for each of three sites (total $15,000) and noting that inclusion of Halsted would raise the county match to $20,000.
Newton Senior Center director Lynn Beth described the meals program as “critical” for nutrition and socialization and said the center would need to hire staff if it took on the added responsibilities; she warned $5,000 would not be sufficient to cover a full‑time hire. County staff provided service counts cited during the discussion: Hesston (about 450 congregate meals per month), Newton (329) and Sedgwick (416); home‑delivered counts were also reviewed.
Commissioners asked about kitchen capacity, regulatory requirements tied to Older Americans Act equipment and possible city or church partnerships to share costs. Kelly said some center kitchens contain federally purchased appliances that would revert if the site ceased OAA participation, and that commercial kitchen availability across the region is limited.
No formal funding decision was made at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to consider options and the impact on the 2026 budget. Kelly characterized the county match as a short‑term stabilizing measure to maintain local staffing while CPAAA and Trio implement the new contract.
