Senior meal program in Ramsey County faces money woes The clarification of a federal policy may mean some disabled residents will lose their reimbursed meals.

Jean Hopfensperger

Jun. 15, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- A longtime senior nutrition program in Ramsey County that serves about 120,000 meals a year is facing a financial crisis that is threatening to trim back the program.

The "congregate dining program," which offers warm meals and social time for seniors at apartment complexes and community centers, had been erroneously giving meals to too many disabled people under age 60, according to a clarification issued this year on federal requirements.

Up to $1.6 million was spent on the meals for disabled and low-income residents since 2004 who were later found not to be eligible for reimbursement, said Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman, who is on the board of directors of the agency running the dining program, Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties.

It's unclear whether the money will need to be repaid.

Under federal guidelines, disabled people can get the reduced-cost meals as long as seniors comprise more than 50 percent of the occupants of their apartment building. A shift in the makeup of people living in senior housing buildings meant nine of 17 buildings in Ramsey County no longer met that standard, said Kirk Hayes, acting executive director of the Community Action Partnership.

In addition, the meals program, like many others across Minnesota, is already being squeezed by rising food and fuel prices. It's a big reason the Ramsey program was facing a $240,000 deficit by the end of this year.

"My phone has been blown off the hook with seniors calling about this," said Rettman, noting the calls began when the partnership this spring considered ending congregate dining.

It's a "very, very unfortunate discovery," said Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter.

While Hayes said the agency is no longer considering shutting down the program, consolidation and other options are being considered.

The seniors relaxing in the dining room at the Front High Rise in St. Paul this month said it would be devastating to lose the lunch program and social hour they've relied on for years.

"I can't get on a bus [because of severe back injuries] and get groceries, so having a meal here is important," said Roberta Garberding, 68, after eating barbecued chicken, potato salad, fruit and baked beans. "I suppose I can always have bread and butter."

For years, seniors made up the majority of residents in this apartment complex, which also housed many disabled people.

But people with disabilities and others now are the majority, making anyone under age 60 ineligible for the meals.

Outside of Ramsey County, the seven-county metro area had only one other building affected by the demographic shift.

"We were lucky: We had just one site," said Nancy Christianson, director of the senior nutrition program for Volunteers of America of Minnesota, which oversees congregate dining in Hennepin and Anoka counties. "I think that's because we're more diverse [with our meals locations]. Just 10 of our 30 sites are in subsidized senior housing."

That said, the demographics at those sites may shift down the road, she said.

Hennepin and Anoka are grappling with rising food and fuel prices, she said.

The clarification of policy

The Community Action Partnership wasn't violating any laws when it served and billed for the meals, said Dawn Simonson, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging, which distributes the federal funds to the agencies that deliver the meals.

The Older Americans Act, which created congregate dining, "is not as clear as it could be and contradicts itself," she said. So state boards on aging make policies to fit local needs. Minnesota allowed congregate dining to serve people under age 60 if they were disabled, Simonson said, but an auditor this year asked for federal clarification of that policy.

That "clarification" was stricter than what Minnesota had been allowing, she said.

Community Action, starting this month, stopped serving disabled people in its buildings. The results were dramatic at some sites, such as Edgerton High Rise, where the number of meals dropped from 68 to six, Hayes said. At Front, they dropped from 22 to 14.

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