Nutrition sites get cut

Meals reduced from five days a week to four

BY STEVE METZER
STAFF WRITER
SMETZER@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM

Concerns are rising in small towns across Oklahoma and at the state Capitol about funding cuts for local senior nutrition sites.
The sites provide meals for tens of thousands of Oklahomans each day and are considered vital pieces of the social fabric of many communities. They’re administered by Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) with state and federal funds channeled through the Oklahoma Department of HumanServices. A precipitous decline in state revenues over the past year resulted in a recent cut in funding for senior nutrition programs of $7.4 million. The budget hit, due to take effect Nov. 1, for the AAA that administers 32 nutrition sites in Comanche, Caddo, Cotton, Grady, Jefferson, McClain, Stephens and Tillman counties amounted to $502,309, according to its director, Ken Jones.
Jones said more than $53,000 of the cut was absorbed by the staff at the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments, which oversees the local AAA. The remainder of the cut had to be passed on to 10 projects administered by the AAA, including:
n Comanche County Nutrition, cut by $99,584 from $427,555 down to $327,971;
n Tri-County Nutrition, cut by $210,000 from $886,690 down to $677,990; and
n Delta Nutrition, cut by $126,701 from $540,913 down to $414,212.
Smaller cuts affected Lawton’s Center for Creative Living, senior centers in Grandfield, Tuttle, Minco and Tipton, the Great Plains Caregiver program and a Legal Aid program for seniors.
None of the local-area nutrition sites have been closed, but Jones said all 16 of the sites in the Tri-County Nutrition Program area have already reduced meal service from five days a week to four days a week. The Delta Program has reduced staff by one at each of its nine sites.
The decline in state finances, brought on by a severe downturn in oil and gas production taxes and other taxes and revenues affected by the bad economy gripping the nation, has resulted in cuts at every level of state government, impacting everything from spending on education to substance abuse treatment. But perceptions that cuts at nutrition sites may leave some senior citizens going hungry have been especially hard for some to take. State Sen. Patrick Anderson, REnid, called Wednesday for Gov. Brad Henry to use “discretionary funds” that he controls related to the federal stimulus to shore up nutrition program funding.
“I can’t think of a better use for the governor’s discretionary money than to help ensure that our seniors don’t have to go without a meal,” Anderson said in a press release.
Three Lawton-area lawmakers said Friday that they wouldn’t be opposed to exploring such an option to benefit nutrition sites, though some pointed out that applying money tied to the federal stimulus could result in an offset of other federal dollars coming into the programs.
Rep. Don Armes, R-Faxon, and Sen. Don Barrington, R-Lawton, said another option might be to tap the state’s Rainy Day Fund, though both said they would favor only very targeted use of the fund. Such an action would require the governor to call a special session of the Legislature, supported by leaders in both the House and Senate.
“If they call a special session, I certainly would be one to advocate for nutrition sites,” Barrington said. He pointed out, though, that with the state’s finances declining by hundreds of millions of dollars the Rainy Day Fund would not be large enough to offset all of the across-the-board cuts at state agencies.
Armes agreed. While he would favor tapping the fund to shore up senior nutrition sites, he would discourage using it in many other areas.
“This economy and this budget situation are very real,” Armes said, “and we don’t know if next year might be worse.”
Added Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow: “Every Oklahoman should face the reality that there are some tough days ahead. To be perfectly honest, I fear agencies have more and bigger cuts to make in the future. The Oklahoma Constitution requires a balanced budget. We cannot go into debt like the federal government continues to do. We have to spend only what we have. Revenues are down around 30 percent compared to last year. If that continues, agencies will have to balance the budget by making more cuts or the Legislature would have to dramatically increase taxes. Those are our options.”
Holland said he has received a handful of letters and e-mails and met with “probably a dozen” constituents who don’t want to see nutrition sites cut, and he said spreading cuts out a little more across the DHS may be yet another way of lessening the negative impact on seniors.
“(But) at this point it looks as if the cuts will go into effect,” he said. “The senior nutrition sites should certainly plan for that reality. I am hopeful that a resolution might be developed in the near future, but there is the real possibility that it will not happen as long as our state revenues continue to decline.”