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| The Sedgwick County Historic Courthouse, located at 510 North Main in downtown Wichita, is considered to be one of the most magnificent architectural structures in South Central Kansas. On May 14, 1971 it was placed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. The Courthouse was designed by W.R. McPherson in the Romanesque style which was popular for churches and public buildings from 1840 - 1890. It cost $250,000 to build and measured 152 by 244 feet, with the top of the dome reaching 155 feet above ground. |
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The History of Central Plains Area Agency on Aging (CPAAA) |
| The CPAAA was born out of a spirit of cooperation. The 1973 amendments to the federal Older Americans Act created a national network of local Area Agencies on Aging. Late in 1973, an inter-local agreement among the county commissions of Butler, Harvey and Sedgwick Counties created Central Plains Area Agency on Aging. |
What is the Central Plains Area Agency on Aging? |
| It is one of eleven Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in Kansas. CPAAA's area includes Harvey, Sedgwick, and Butler Counties and it has the highest number of older people of any AAA in the state: approximately 83,000 people aged 60 and over. The Older Americans Act was amended in 1973 to create a national network of State and Area Agencies on Aging. Each state has a state office (in Kansas it is the Kansas Department on Aging) and there are more than 670 Area Aging offices (AAAs) nationwide. The local AAA (the Central Plains AAA) was created late in 1973. The governing board of the CPAAA is the Harvey, Sedgwick, and Butler county Commissions; the board was formed by inter-local agreement among the Commissions. The governing board designated Sedgwick County to administer the CPAAA. |
Governing board responsibilities include: |
- Approving an annual Area Plan, which tells how Older Americans Act and State funds will be spent in the tri-county area (the Plan is sent to the Kansas Department on Aging for final approval)
- Approving any Plan revision (due to policy changes, more or less funding, etc.)
- Approving major policies of CPAAA
- Approving grants or contracts to agencies using funds in the Area Plan to provide services within the County
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The Governing Board relies heavily on the area wide Advisory council to oversee operation of the CPAAA. Area wide Advisory Council members are: |
- The Chair and Vice-Chair of each County Council on Aging
- Two members (four in Sedgwick County) elected by other Council members to terms on the Area wide Council
- A local elected official
- A representative of minorities
- A representative from the Veterans Administration
- And two service providers, usually the County Aging Coordinators from Harvey and Butler Counties
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| The Advisory Council meets monthly. Their major responsibilities include developing the budget and overseeing the services provided in the Area Plan; advising on needs and concerns of the elderly; advising on policy directions and initiatives for the CPAAA; and legislative advocacy. |
What Does the CPAAA Actually Do? |
According to the Older Americans Act regulations, this is what an AAA is to do: |
- The AAA shall be the leader relative to all aging issues on behalf of all older persons in the area;
- Shall carry out a wide range of functions related to advocacy, planning, coordination, interagency linkages, information sharing, brokering, monitoring and evaluation;
- Develop or enhance in each community a comprehensive and coordinated community based system, designed to assist older persons in leading independent, meaningful and dignified lives in their own homes and communities.
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We use funding from the Older Americans Act to do the above and try to develop other funds to do so. Counties have levied property taxes to fund services, which help meet the above objectives.
The programs and services which are currently being funded through the Older Americans Act, by the CPAAA, with the approval of KDOA, are on an attached page. These are annual grants or contracts and the agency must provide local matching funds. Since there has not been a significant increase in these federal funds in several years, most of the programs are on-going, meet critical needs, are operating satisfactorily and generally are simply fine-tuned each year as they are evaluated. |
