A decision by the Western Illinois Agency on Aging to remove the Henry County Senior Center’s designation as a Community Focal Point (CFP) will affect thousands of area seniors and eliminate two positions that provided outreach and assistance.
HCSC Director Cassandra Schmoll said the positions that will be cut due to the designation loss provide vital services to seniors seeking assistance with Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, SHIP counseling and license plate discounts. One position also manages community outreach and assessments for the Home Delivered Meal program.
“There’s a lot involved,” Schmoll said. “Until they get another nonprofit to do what we are doing, they’re going to have to go to another county to get these services.”
The center received notice in a March 30 letter from WIAAA stating that, after reviewing weekly reports, updated performance data and service delivery projects, the board determined that “while improvements were noted, particularly within the last three months, the board ultimately determined that services were not being delivered at the level necessary to fully meet the needs of older adults in Henry County.”
WIAAA’s purpose is to empower and support older adults, adults with disabilities and their caregivers by providing quality services, resources and opportunities to maintain independence and elevate quality of life.
The agency receives federal, state and local funding, which allows it to provide a wide array of services. Each year, WIAAA submits an area plan to the Illinois Department on Aging to secure funding for programs that support older adults and adults with disabilities. The organization emphasizes accountability, advocacy, ethics and inclusivity in all its operations, ensuring that programs are responsive to the diverse needs of the community.
The Kewanee-based senior center had been designated as a CFP, a site that is funded to provide coordinated, accessible services that help seniors live independently and with dignity. But as of Sept. 30, 2026, the center will no longer hold that designation and will be relieved of “all duties, responsibilities and authorities associated with that designation,” according to the letter.
The letter from the WIAAA board also stated the center will be ineligible to reapply for CFP status in the next fiscal year.
Schmoll said programs assisting seniors will be affected, noting that the WIAAA board cited low participation in four programs in particular—Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, T‑Care, Stressbusters and Caregivers—as the reason for the decision.
Despite advertising efforts to increase participation in those programs, including outreach in Geneseo, the Stressbusters program drew only two of the five participants required.
“Because of the lack of participation in these groups, the CFP designation was taken away,” Schmoll said. “WIAAA said that because we couldn’t do those four programs as projected, we shouldn’t be doing any of them.” She added that the center met projections for seven other programs used by county seniors.
The future of the Home Delivered Meals program also remains uncertain. Volunteers currently deliver meals to county seniors five days a week, and the center’s meal program contract runs through Oct. 30, 2027. Those services will continue under the existing agreement, but the letter noted that “continuation beyond the current contract period is not guaranteed” and that future services will be subject to competitive bidding for fiscal year 2028.
Schmoll said she’s less worried about the center losing the meals program, as it’s successfully bid on the program for years.
“I think the meals program will be good. I don’t see that being a problem,” Schmoll said. She added that there is a push by the WIAAA board for frozen meals to replace the hot meals currently being delivered.
What happens next with both the designation and meals program will most likely rest in the hands of someone else. After 16 years as director, Schmoll will retire at the end of the fiscal year. She hopes her successor will be able to reapply for the CFP designation and restore the programs and services to Henry County seniors.
“We were put between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “We tried and we tried and for them to say we haven’t is the toughest part of this.”
