Committee advances $163,000 municipal‑agent contract for seniors to full council

The Community Services Committee on June 24 voted unanimously to forward to the full City Council a proposed $163,000 agreement with Family and Children's Agency (FCA) to serve as Norwalk’s municipal agent for elderly services for the 2026–27 fiscal year (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027).

Chris Chino, senior director for community connections and senior services at FCA, told the committee the program will serve more than 940 clients in the coming fiscal year; he said 84% of those clients are over age 65 and that 99% live on incomes below $60,000 per year. Chino said FCA expects to perform about 5,200 well‑being checks, complete roughly 900 rent‑rebate applications (which FCA estimates have delivered more than $430,000 in direct financial relief), and handle energy assistance and SNAP/benefit applications on behalf of seniors.

Chino described FCA’s model as in‑person case management that combines benefits navigation, outreach and group programming and emphasized the importance of bilingual staff for accessibility: he noted that about 25% of clients list a primary language other than English and that FCA’s staff includes bilingual social workers. “we're going to serve over 940 clients. 84% of them are over the age of 65 and older,” Chino said.

Committee members asked about staffing; Chino said the contract funds two full‑time social workers (Sariah Principe and Sam Narretti) who handle casework, outreach and coordination. Chino also offered client examples to show program impact, including an example in which staff helped a client enroll in a Medicare savings program and cited figures for annual savings; the committee discussed those client illustrations during the meeting.

The committee voted to move the proposed contract authorization to the full City Council for final approval.