Funding for senior services not increasing despite growing senior population

Despite Butler County’s growing senior population, funding for the Butler County Area Agency on Aging has remained stagnant, meaning services like those offered at area senior centers have had to decrease.

Beth Herold, who has worked with the Butler County Area Agency on Aging for 14 years, said while attendance at senior centers has generally increased over the years, stagnant funding has forced the county to reduce operating hours. Currently, none of the senior centers are open more than three days per week or more than five hours at a time.

“The days and the hours that we’re open have decreased over the years, because we don't have the funding to keep them open more days or longer hours,” Herold said.

She explained the agency is struggling to keep up with the growth of the senior pop