June 2024 ARPA Senior Center Funding Opportunity Update:
This past legislative session, the General Assembly chose to forgo formal adjustments to the state’s biennium budget. Instead, the legislature re-directed more than $370 million in unspent federal pandemic relief grants to support ongoing core programs like health care and social services (Public Act 24-81). Unfortunately, this included reducing, from $10 million to $6.5 million, the ARPA funds initially awarded to our agency for distribution to, and in support of, Connecticut senior centers.To date, the Aging and Disability Services Department (ADS) has approved nearly $5.3 million of this ARPA funding for senior center projects. With the remaining $1.2 million, we are only able to fund project submissions received through May 7, 2024, when the funding reduction became effective. This also means we currently do not have enough funding to support submissions received after May 7th or any statewide senior center initiatives, as originally planned.
While ADS is disappointed with the reduction, our focus now is to implement the program within the resources we were allotted, in a manner that best delivers impact to Connecticut older adults and maximizes funding to local senior centers.
To see what this means for your community, or senior center, click on the June 2024 Communication to Municipalities_Senior Centers.
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April 2023
ADS is excited to announce $10 million in American Rescue Plan funds is available to support senior centers in Connecticut! Letters were sent to municipal leaders regarding this funding and we encourage both municipal and non-profit senior centers to take advantage of this exciting funding opportunity.
The state is making $9 million of this funding available for municipalities to support their local senior centers through:
- Facility improvements, which can cover a variety of capital improvements, including air and HVAC systems, lighting, accessibility features, vehicle acquisition, maintenance, and repurposing; and
- Programming, which can include the acquisition of program registration software, web design renovation capability, extended senior center hours, special or focused entertainment or programming, while also encompassing expanded staff hours to support those programs, when applicable.
For the purposes of this funding opportunity, senior centers are defined as those that provide multiple services including the core services of information, referral, and assistance. Additional services could include nutrition, wellness, educational, social, and recreational activities.
The remaining funding will be used by the Connecticut Department of Aging and Disability Services to support our statewide senior center activities. These activities might include improving online services for senior centers, supporting senior center events, and developing media campaigns that promote engagement at senior centers.
Detailed information can be found in the letters that were sent out to municipal leaders:
There is also a chart which clearly shows the allocation of ARPA funds for each municipality:
Senior Center Allocation Chart
To obtain funding, municipalities and senior centers (including non-profit senior centers) must develop a plan and submit a Beneficiary Information Form to the Connecticut Department of Aging and Disability Services’ Unit on Aging. Proposed plans will be accepted through June of 2024. To access the Beneficiary Information Form or to seek more information, municipal officials should submit an email to stateunitonaging@ct.gov.
In April 2023, ADS-SUA hosted two Information Sessions that provided some historical background regarding the funding, information around ARPA ‘eligible uses’ and walked through the Beneficiary Information Form (BIF) process; these sessions were recorded and one of them is available on the Department of Aging and Disability Services’ YouTube page HERE.
The Department on Aging and Disability Services,State Unit on Aging has compiled some answers to frequently asked questions associated with this funding opportunity. They are available below: