Cruz: Feds questioning some LRGVDC programs

WESLACO, Texas – Manuel Cruz, executive director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, has acknowledged that some of the group’s programs are now in question due to changes in the way the federal government operates.

However, Cruz said earlier fears that funding the region’s Area Agency on Aging could be in jeopardy appear to have subsided.

Cruz spoke briefly on the topic when addressing the LRGVDC’s Small Cities Coalition. 

“I know the landscape of the federal government is not looking too bright right now. I know we have a couple of programs that are in question here at the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council. One of them is our Triple A – the Area Agency on Aging. But as of I believe last month, we received somewhat of good news. And so those programs are backlogged. It’s just a matter of the federal government restructuring that and finding the right agency to oversee the funding that we receive for that service,” Cruz said.

“As you know, we service 1.3 million, almost, in population, and so we need to make sure that we move forward with any and all of our programs, so they continue to provide services and new resources for all of our community.”

Here is an audio recording of Manny Cruz’s remarks to the Small Cities Coalition:

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The Area Agency on Aging is one of twenty-eight (28) Area Agencies on Aging in the State of Texas under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended. It is the representative agency of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for the Lower Rio Grande Valley and functions as the coordinating and planning agency for services to persons who are 60 years of age and older and their family.

The objective of the Counsel of Government’s Area Agency on Aging is to provide an opportunity for a high quality of life of older persons through the development and expansion of a comprehensive and coordinated social service delivery system at the regional level.

Concern over funding for the Area Agency on Aging. was expressed in a letter sent by the then-president of the LRGVDC, Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda back in May. Here is the letter:

LRGVDC letter, Page One

LRGVDC letter, Page Two

LRGVDC Letter, Page Three

At the same Small Cities Coalition meeting, Melisa Gonzales, assistant director of Community & Economic Development for the LRGVDC, spoke about the Economic Development Administration potentially changing policies that could impact her group’s programs and some of the LRGVDC’s strategic plans. Click here to watch her presentation. 

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