The board approved

contracts totaling $3.1 million, of which $1.4 million will be paid with

county funds, and the remainder with federal and state grants.The four

incumbents and four new providers will do everything from managing senior

centers, to scheduling homemaker and personal care assistance for seniors

confined to their homes, to arranging respite services for caregivers.

Recommended

and coordinated by the County Human Services Department's Office of Aging,

the agencies were selected through competitive bidding for the first time,

and will enhance Older Americans Act services in North, Central and South

Fulton. The 1965 and 1972 federal law prescribes services that help seniors

live as independently as possible as they grow older.

Older Americans

Act funds are channeled through the Atlanta Regional Commission. As the

ARC's designated senior services provider since 1991, Fulton County Government

coordinates and implements service delivery through the Office of Aging.

County staff operates four senior multipurpose facilities directly, and

oversees the neighborhood senior centers.

Senior services

agencies did not exist in 1991, so the county created nonprofits Senior

Services North Fulton, Central Fulton Senior Services, and South Fulton

Senior Services to deliver the services.