Citing an expected state budget shortfall, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration informed area development districts that distribute senior nutrition support they would not be able to maintain higher funding levels. The Sept. 8 letter means that roughly 5,000 Kentuckians will likely be put on a waitlist for meal deliveries and more than 1,600 people will no longer be able to participate in congregate meals statewide, based on preliminary estimates.
“The Area Development Districts remain committed to serving Kentucky’s seniors to the greatest extent possible,” the executive directors of Kentucky’s 15 districts said in a joint statement. “While each district’s situation may differ, we are united in our goal to keep older Kentuckians informed and supported as changes are finalized.”
Jarrett Haley, the executive director of the Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency, told Kentucky Public Radio it essentially represents a return to pre-COVID funding levels and waitlists after a historic period of growth over the last several years.
“We're going to be having to remove 900 people that are currently receiving services, and they'll have to be moved to a waitlist, and anybody new that calls in will have to be immediately put on a waitlist too,” Haley said.
In the letter to the development districts, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services said whatever state and federal funds the agency had received on June 30, 2025 would be their last for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends next June.
Scottie Ellis, a spokesperson for Beshear, said in a statement that the governor is “committed to fighting hunger” and pointed to historic increases in funding toward senior meals. But she said a potential $300 million shortfall required budget reductions.
“Kentucky law requires that the commonwealth operate on a balanced budget, which the Governor has done by creating a fiscally responsible administration,” Ellis said. “It is incumbent upon all agencies to plan and work within the dollars available.”
To combat hunger in seniors during the pandemic, Beshear used pandemic funds to eliminate a waitlist for about 7,000 meals. Once those funds were exhausted, the administration designated $36.2 million to continue to fill the gap through the following two years.
Advocates have long feared the impending budget cliff as federal COVID-19 funding runs out. Beshear has attributed the $300 million deficit to the impact on tariffs on Kentucky’s economy and top industries.
The senior nutrition program is still buoyed by traditional funding sources, including dollars under the Older Americans Act and state General Fund dollars. State lawmakers specifically set aside $10 million for this fiscal year in the budget. But Haley said it won’t be enough to maintain their current level of services — which expanded significantly compared to their pre-pandemic program. KIPDA today serves triple the meals it did before the pandemic, he said.
“We had that directive of no meal waitlist,” Haley said. “So we were outpacing our original allocation under the promise that we'd receive those additional dollars.”
The state cabinet recommended that, going forward, development districts prioritize older adults with higher nutritional needs, end drive-through meal services and reduce the number of “shelf stable or emergency meals” the programs give to Kentucky seniors.
KIPDA Director of Social Services Jessica Elkin said the organization is in the process of deciding how they will prioritize seniors. She said they will likely consider factors like age, level of need and rurality.
“We want to make sure that we're looking at them equitably across the region, because they have even less access to food,” Elkin said. “They have less access to food resource banks and ministries and things like that — alternate ways to get food.”
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
