Senior Services of NKy closes, effective Friday, for lack of resources; officials have stopgap plan

By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune Managing Editor

Senior Services of Northern Kentucky (SSNK) announced today that it will discontinue all services, effective Friday, due to a lack of funding.

Leonard Eppel of Financial Resource Associates, a consultant brought in by SSNK to evaluate its finances, said the board of directors made the decision Wednesday to discontinue services. A meeting to inform elected officials and community stakeholders took place today at the Boone County Library Main Branch in Burlington.

“It is recognized that SSNK is no longer in a position to continue operating,” said Eppel. “For some time, it has operated using its own reserves to subsidize the losses that have been incurred because of a shortfall in funding revenue for operating expenses.”

Employees of SSNK were notified this morning of the closing. The names of SSNK administration and board members were removed from its web site as early as last evening.

SSNK operates 10 senior centers and provides Meals on Wheels service in an eight-county area.

SSNK also operates a food pantry in Covington for low-income seniors and provides Medicaid transportation services in Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Kenton, Owen, Grant, Gallatin and Pendleton counties for residents age 60 or older.

Reaction among those in attendance ranged from disappointment to shock.

Florence Mayor Diane Whalen questioned why, if SSNK was in such dire financial straits, officials weren’t informed when funding was approved for the current fiscal year, which began July 1.

“This is not a new issue,” Whalen said. “You say you are running out of money, but this is not an issue that just popped up. Why was there not some discussion in July of the fact that we are operating outside of our means, we can’t provide what we have been providing without additional funding, rather than a week’s notice for your staff and all of the people in this room?”

Eppel said he could not answer that question because he was not involved with SSNK in July.

After the meeting, Lisa Cooper, director of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, met with several of the elected officials in attendance to discuss alternatives that might avoid an interruption of services.

Among those in the meeting were Judges-executive Gary Moore, Steve Pendery and Kris Knochelmann, of Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties, respectively, Whalen and Williamstown Mayor Richard Skinner.

The officials emerged after about 20 minutes, and Cooper said they had worked out a stopgap plan to continue providing most services on an interim basis.

“We’ll continue to meet with our board and providers to make sure there is as smooth a transition as possible,” Cooper said. “We have options in place with the goal of not having any disruption in service, whether that be senior centers or meals. We are putting together a plan to transition and our elected officials are all on board.”

The Medicaid transportation services are provided by a company called LKLP and those who use the service are encouraged to call them directly at 1-800-245-2826 to determine schedules and availability.

NKADD case managers who deal with senior clients on a daily basis will be reaching out to them personally, so they can answer any questions they may have.

“This certainly came as a shock to us, but we believe we have ideas and plans in place that can make this as smooth a transition as possible,” Cooper said. “We certainly have ideas and we will be reaching out to our many assets in the community, to make this transition as smooth as possible. We will be working with the state – these funds originate at the state and federal level – if there is a necessity to come in. We will look at any finances that have been provided to SSNK and cooperate with them to make sure they have all the answers they need as well.”

Cooper added that the goal is to have a plan in place that will allow for a transition, without disruption of services, by January 1.