National Church Residences and the John Glenn Foundation provided $30,000 to launch Stay UA as a six-month pilot program last April. The John Glenn Foundation has provided funding to extend the program for an additional six months.

In the program's current form, a part-time service coordinator fields non-emergency calls received by the Upper Arlington Division of Fire and makes referrals to social-service agencies that assist senior citizens with everything from preventing falls to home maintenance. The service coordinator is an employee of InCare, a subsidiary of National Church Residences.

A council subcommittee has met over the past couple of months to explore options for Stay UA's long-term viability. The committee convened a forum Oct. 15 at the Upper Arlington Senior Center that brought together social service agencies to brainstorm on ideas to continue Stay UA.

At the committee's most recent meeting on Oct. 26, members Linda Mauger, Mary Ann Krauss and Erik Yassenoff discussed funding options with local service providers.

Mauger, who chairs the committee, suggested that the city fund the program with $30,000 to $40,000 drawn from estate taxes annually and send out bids for social service providers to administer the program.

"It would be a competitive process and an opportunity for everybody to step up," Mauger said.

Mauger also suggested that the city create an advisory board with representatives of Northwest Counseling and the Upper Arlington Commission on Aging, an appointee representing the long-term care industry and a city council representative. The advisory board would screen agencies that submit bids to administer Stay UA and establish guidelines on how to award the contract.

Yassenoff said a social service agency that was awarded the contract would be criticized by competitors for a perceived conflict of interest, as has been the case with InCare.

"I think it would be problematic if one community home health provider applied and got the contract. It would be InCare or someone else," he said. "We're still stuck with the image of a conflict of interest."

Yassenoff said he would support adding a condition that the successful bidder would not be able to make self-referrals.

"I think that would have to be a requirement of the (bid), not being able to do self-referrals -- yourself or your subsidiaries," he said.

Mauger suggested indicating in the bid process that proposals that don't require city funding will be considered most favorably.

The committee is scheduled to conclude its work on Nov. 9 and make a recommendation about how to fund Stay UA at city council's Nov. 16 budget hearing.

cbournea@thisweeknews.com