The Centre County Commissioners have applied for a state grant to help fund services for elderly citizens, an official from the Office of Aging in Bellefonte said.

Jane Taylor, service manager for the office, said the commissioners signed and submitted a grant application to the Department of Aging in Harrisburg on Tuesday in the amount of $11,085 to provide protective services to older adults in Centre County.

The grant will be filed pursuant to the Older Adult Protective Services Act, which was passed in 1987. The primary purpose of the act is to help area agencies to receive reports of abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and abandonment 24 hours a day, Taylor said.

Grants are pre-determined and allocated by the state based on the population and financial status of the elderly in the county, she said.

The Office of Aging currently operates during normal office hours, Taylor said.

The commissioners also approved an agreement between the county and Centre Home Care in Bellefonte for the services of a nurse consultant. Taylor said the nurse consultant will assist the case worker in the assessment of the physical needs of the elderly patients.

"The nurse consultant will be able to determine if the person is at imminent risk," Taylor said.

The consultant will be paid $50 per hour, effective Feb. 1 to June 30.

Gerrie Grieb, manager of administrative services for Centre Home Care, said the organization provides a multi-service visiting nurse association.

Centre Home Care has not yet received a contract from the county, she said.

The commissioners also approved an agreement between the county and the law firm of Delafield, Lisko and McGee in State College for the purchase of legal services.

Taylor said the commissioners will enlist the aid of the firm to file petitions if needed in regard to the Older Adult Protective Services Act. The firm will be contracted $45 per hour from Feb. 1 to June 30, she said.

In other business, Sylvia Lee, the executive director of the Mid-State Employment and Training Consortium in Bellefonte, said a letter of congratulations was sent to Centre County for achievement in the Job Training Partnership Act for the last fiscal year.

Lee said the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry for the state, Harris Wofford, sent the letter in recognition of the county in exceeding six out of seven standards set by the department.

The consortium provides help for young, low-income, or handicapped people who need employment, she said.

"We train them in skills that will lead to employment," Lee said, adding that the consortium joins prospective employees with industries in Centre, Clinton, Lycoming and Mifflin counties.

"We work with employees and the labor force to have the best employment picture we can in the area," Lee said.

The commission also tabled a bid for the printing and assembling of the May 16 primary election ballot, said Commissioner Vicki Bumbarger.

The only bid received was from William Penn Printing in Pittsburgh for $15,300. William Penn Printing has supplied the ballots for the county for at least 12 years, Bumbarger said, adding the commissioners will make a final decision next week.

Susie Veneziano, spokeswoman for the commissioner's office, said no other printing bids were submitted.