Rockingham County commissioners on Nov. 6 discussed a short-term funding arrangement to keep transportation services available to participants in the county's adult medical day programs after a state pilot is scheduled to end in December.

Jessica, who introduced herself as a representative of the adult medical day program, told the board that transportation — not program fees — is the primary barrier that could prevent attendees from continuing to use the service once the pilot ends. She said the program would need roughly $35,000 to cover drivers' salaries for January 1–June 30, 2026, and described several pathways the operator uses to avoid turning anyone away: "We never tell somebody they can't get transportation because they couldn't afford the time lapse," she said, adding that the program would seek grant support for cases where a small rider fee (about $10–$15) would be unaffordable.

Commissioners and staff discussed shifting money from an existing adult medical day-care budget line. A county official noted that the department has a roughly $100,000 line for adult medical day services and proposed moving $25,000 immediately to cover transportation while the board gathers actual Q2 utilization data. Commissioners favored asking the provider to submit monthly invoices for driver hours and said the board would vote monthly to pay those invoices as an interim step rather than making a longer-term appropriation at the meeting.

Board members emphasized the need to balance funds for both transportation and program fees. One commissioner cautioned that funding only transportation without enough program participants would not solve the underlying problem; staff proposed monitoring attendance and utilization to determine whether to continue or adjust funding in the fiscal-year budget process. The board’s approach leaves longer-term funding contingent on the coming invoice data and further budget deliberations.

The immediate procedural outcome was an agreement in principle to accept monthly invoices and to consider a $25,000 near-term allocation from the adult medical day care line to sustain transportation through the first half of 2026. The board did not adopt a final long-term funding commitment at the Nov. 6 meeting; commissioners directed staff to track utilization and return with budget recommendations.

Clarifying details: the program representative requested approximately $35,000 to cover driver salaries for a full year (program fiscal year Jan–Dec) and identified $35,000 as a pro rata amount for Jan–June; the county's adult day-care budget line discussed in the meeting was cited at approximately $100,000 with prior-year underspend creating some one-time flexibility.

Next steps: provider to submit monthly invoices for driver hours; county staff to report utilization and recommend any line-item adjustments during upcoming budget reviews.