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Senior Services Task Force delivers 267‑page report urging MSU study, more millage outreach and expanded case management
Summary
The Genesee County Senior Services Task Force presented a 267‑page final report to the Board of Commissioners recommending an MSU‑led assessment, increased millage outreach, funding for case managers at senior centers and a development function to pursue grants. Task force members stressed collaboration and pilots for homebound services.
Richard Richardson, chair of the Senior Services Task Force, presented the group's final report to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, saying the document 'is 267 pages and summarizes a year of meetings and data collection.
The task force's top recommendation was to commission a Michigan State University senior assessment research study to inform future funding and program decisions; Richardson and other members said the study would produce data the public and commissioners could use when considering a future millage. Sandra Murphy, vice chair of the task force, said the MSU study drew the most support in the group's dot‑voting prioritization process.
Murphy and other task force members also urged greater public education about what the senior millage funds. 'We heard the words collaboration and cooperation over and over,' Murphy said, and argued the public generally associates the millage only with senior centers rather than the range of services the millage supports.
The task force recommended funding case managers embedded in senior centers to provide deeper, in‑person assistance beyond intake and referral; Lynn Radelokowski, the county's director of senior services, confirmed current intake and referral/case management for homebound seniors is contracted to the Valley Agency on Aging but said colocated case managers or social workers inside centers could provide more intensive, private one‑on‑one help.
Task force members flagged several operational issues and priorities: reallocating or increasing the share of millage dollars that go to senior centers (historically about 33.3% was cited in the presentation), developing a grant‑writing/development capacity to pursue state and federal funds, expanding programs for homebound seniors, and improving transportation coordination. The report recommended piloting action teams to bring stakeholders together on high‑need issues such as transportation.
Commissioners questioned details and next steps. Commissioner Brown asked about reinstating a county "ramp program," and Lynn Radelokowski explained the county had funded a ramp program for about four years but did not renew the contract after problems with a subcontractor and a screening process that produced permanent, expensive wooden ramps rather than the intended temporary aluminum ramps; Radelokowski said ramps previously cost in the range of $4,000 to $10,000 each and that an aluminum, reusable ramp can cost roughly $3,000 and be reused across homes.
Several commissioners praised the task force's work and urged that the recommendations be folded into the upcoming budget process. Chair (unnamed in the transcript) told the task force the commission would use the findings to inform budget decisions for the senior millage and county allocations.
The task force's recommendations are nonbinding; the board must decide which items to fund or advance. The report and materials were presented in public and will be available for review by commissioners and the public ahead of budget hearings.
