By John McCallum
Managing Editor 

Connecting the transit dots on the West Plains

Federal grant program seeks to provide for unmet needs of the elderly and individuals with disabilities

 

Last updated 7/12/2018 at 12:12pm

New Special Mobility Services mobility manager Allie Lance has a unique position - she works for SMS, but not exclusively.

Lance is operating under a federal 5310 grant that seeks out unmet transportation needs of the disabled and elderly and connects them with organizations that can provide those services. While SMS provides transportation services to Medicaid clients who are attending Medicaid-paid medical appointments, Lance is looking to go further to help all Spokane County residents.

"Our efforts in Cheney are to see where there is a lack of services so if there's any wiggle room we can provide for it or lobby to do it," she said.

The Federal Transit Administration administers 5310 grant funding to states for the purpose of assisting private, nonprofit groups in meeting transportation needs of the elderly and people with disabilities when other transportation services are unavailable. Funding is given out based upon each state's share of these two population groups.


According to the FTA website, the grant program supports transportation services for seniors and individuals with disabilities in all areas - large urbanized (over 200,000), small urbanized (50,000-200,000), and rural (under 50,000). Eligible projects include both "traditional" capital investment and "nontraditional" investment beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit services.

For areas with populations under 200,000, the state's governor designates a state agency to be responsible for administering the funds. Over 200,000, a designated recipient, such as SMS, applies and is chosen by the federal agency.


Lance has received her grant through March 2019 - with 80 percent of the funding federal and the rest local - and is looking to make contact with organizations in Cheney, Medical Lake, Airway Heights and other parts of the West Plains to see what services are out there, what's lacking and how that can be remedied.

So far, Lance has presented information to the Cheney City Council as well as to the West Plains Chamber of Commerce. She said she has also arranged to present to the Medical Lake council sometime this fall, and has spoken with several private nonprofit organizations such as CHAS.

SMS transportation services for Medicaid clients include fuel vouchers, bus passes and non-transit ride requests. There are qualifications involved, and some restrictions on the use of these tools, such as fuel provided at a ratio of one gallon of gas for every 10 miles to and from appointment., with the voucher good for two days before or after the appointment.

SMS also provides limited community shuttle service on a weekly basis to Davenport, Ritzville, Deer Park - via both Highway 2 and State Route 395 - and Newport. At the Cheney council meeting, Lance provided a packet of information about these options as well as others, such as free transportation possibilities for the West Plains elderly and disabled via Care Cars and Volunteer Chore, along with private pay services such as GoGoGrandparent, Catholic Charities, Lyft and Uber.

Lance said it's "awesome" that SMS accepted the federal grant to pursue unmet transportation needs, adding they want to be able to service these two populations through collaboration.

"It's 'we can't serve you, but who can?" she said. "We want to be able to see if there are resources, and if not, how do we develop them."

Lance can be contacted via email at allil@specialmobility.org or at (509) 217-9375.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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