On the backdrop of the 38th Annual Pennyrile Senior Games in Hopkinsville, and the upcoming biennium budget season, regional officials have been notified that as of October 1, funding will evaporate for the continuance of home delivered meals through senior citizens centers across the Commonwealth.
This, of course, includes the nine-county Pennyrile region — the state’s second-most dependent of the critical needs service.
Thursday afternoon, officials with the Pennyrile Area Development District and the Pennyrile Allied Community Services jointly announced and confirmed a “significant reduction” in state funding will force immediate changes to the region’s Senior Home Delivered Meals program.
This is a result of state funding reductions recently communicated by the Kentucky Department for Aging and Independent Living, in which the Pennyrile alone faces a shortfall of nearly $1.5 million for the program’s existence.
Following “careful review and joint discussions,” PeADD and PACS staff determined that the funding reduction cannot be absorbed without these “substantial cuts to service.”
As of Thursday, more than 750 seniors in nine counties receive home-delivered meals five days a week, and as of September 2, more than 110 were still on a waiting list in Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd and Trigg counties.
Under the new funding reduction, the number served could fall below 300 clients — a more than 50% cut — leaving many vulnerable community members without consistent access to what officials believe is an essential program.
In a joint statement with PACS Executive Director Harold Monroe, PeADD Executive Director Jason Vincent called it a “heartbreaking, unavoidable decision,” because he knows the hardships this will cause for many senior and families across the region. He said his office will continue to advocate for the funds to be restored. Monroe, meanwhile, noted the daily meal delivery is more than just nutrition, because “it’s also a wellness check and human connection.”
During his Team Kentucky update Thursday afternoon, Governor Andy Beshear confirmed the cuts were coming, noting all belts had to be tightened at least until the Kentucky General Assembly comes into session for the biennium budget — that this is a senior program that didn’t exist in its current form, until the pandemic hit in 2020 and long waiting lists were exacerbated.
The challenge with a budget, Beshear added, is that it sets an upward limit of the dollars needed.
He said there is only one “shorter solution” to this problem.
Beshear said the state must take a “really hard look” at costs per meal, costs per delivery, and if the meals are going to appropriate families and direct needs.
The goal, Beshear said, is a “zero sum” waiting list.
Trigg County Senior Center Executive Director Cissy Lawrence confirmed that her staff has already been made aware of the concerns. By next Tuesday, September 30, all 110 Trigg County home-delivery meals recipients will lose the service.
While congregate meals remain available in south western Kentucky, citizens have already been alerted that curbside services are also ending October 1.
PeADD and PACS officials are reportedly communicating directly with all recipients to explain the reduction in service.
NOTE:
Those wishing to express concerns about the funding reduction should contact the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, CHFS Listens at 1-833-372-0004 or by email at CHFS.Listens@ky.gov.
If you need assistance with food resources, please contact the Pennyrile ADRC at 1-866-844-4396.
PeADD and PACS leadership emphasized that they are actively seeking additional resources to support the program and will keep the community informed as developments occur.
