PORT ORCHARD — The Kitsap County Department of Human Services Division of Aging and Long-Term Care (ALTC), is seeking community input on their draft update of the four-year plan for local aging residents.

The draft includes accomplishments from 2020-21, information on ALTC’s COVID-19 response, and program, service and staffing updates, according to an ALTC news release.

Tawyna Weintraub, a planner for the agency, said seeking public comments is an opportunity for the county to receive feedback for future planning and to better understand community priorities and goals. She called it an “opportunity for information exchange,” saying that comments from community members will enable her and others to direct them to appropriate services.

“It’s a community education match where we’re able to say, ‘Actually, what you’re speaking about is a service that already exists, and this is how you might access it for you or other family members,’” Weintraub said.

Updates for the four-year plan include a listing of service providers operating in the community, staffing changes and updates to the 7.01 plans that the county formulated in partnership with Port Gamble S’Klallam and Suquamish tribes.

Perhaps the biggest pivot for the plan has been addressing and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. A COVID-19 response services and support issue area was added to the plan to show how ALTC responded to this crisis.

One of ALTC’s contractors, Meals on Wheels Kitsap, continues to provide nutrition and socialization services for seniors in the county. The nonprofit has partnered with ATLC for more than 40 years, said Deborah Horn, executive director of Meals on Wheels Kitsap, and has received funding through ATLC from the federal Older American Act to provide senior nutrition.

Before COVID-19, the nonprofit organization operated nine in-person dining sites for Meals on Wheels clients, Horn said. Because of social distancing requirements, those locations were closed on March 18, 2020, and have yet to reopen.

But that didn’t stop meal service.

Five of the nine locations became curbside pickup sites for frozen meals, Horn said, and the various delivery programs the organization offers have continued to operate by shifting to less frequent models because of social distancing restrictions. They still are delivering the same volume, however.

These changes haven’t come without challenges. Meals on Wheels clients have lost out on the in-person socialization that is vital to the organization’s mission, Horn said. To ease some of the isolation, the organization started Kitsap Phone Friends, an outreach program where volunteers call clients at least once a week.

The program has been a success for volunteers and clients, Horn said, allowing volunteers to connect with clients they know and check in on each other. During the pandemic, Horn said, “It’s been a blessing to continue operating without skipping a beat.”

These updates, more of which can be found in the updated draft, are important to inform people of services they or their families can use in the county, Weintraub said.

“The focus really for all of our work is making sure that people even know that there are services that might support their situation,” she said.

Weintraub said she has already received a broad range of comments, some opinions about long-term care and questions about services.

According to the news release, comments are being accepted until July 26. The draft is available on Kitsap County’s website; a printed copy can be requested by calling 360-337-5700. Residents can send comments via mail to the Kitsap County Division of Aging and Long-Term Care, 614 Division St. MS-5, Port Orchard, WA 98366, or by emailing them to Weintraub at TWeintra@co.kitsap.wa.us.

The draft will be presented during the Aging and Long-Term Care Advisory Council meeting on Aug. 18, and during the Board of County Commissioners’ work-study meeting, from 10 to 11 a.m. on Sept. 8. Both meetings are open to the public.