Schuylkill County commissioners on Wednesday approved block grant programs aimed at food and shelter safety nets for residents.

The agreements run from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019.

They are with Schuylkill Community Action, Pottsville, to serve as lead agency for the state food purchase program and the emergency food assistance program.

Schuylkill Community Action will provide administrative oversight for the food programs and county food pantries.

They also approved a program funded agreement with Schuylkill Community Action for bridge housing and outreach case management services with a contract cap of $172,574; $138,972 to operate the bridge housing program and $33,602 to operate outreach case management.

In other matters, commissioners on behalf of the juvenile probation office approved a grant-in-aid application to administer pass-through funds for the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission for improving juvenile justice services in Pennsylvania.

The grant package, for $1,767,671 (Schuylkill statewide impact), will be effective July 1 to June 30, 2019.

This is a continuation of the Juvenile Probation Services grant agreement which runs from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2022.

In a related move, the commissioners also approved, at the request of the county Juvenile Justice Office, a motion to execute the juvenile probation services grant agreement from the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission for improving juvenile justice services in the county.

The award is for $250,042 and will be effective July 1 to June 30, 2019.

Also on Wednesday, commissioners accepted a proposal from Maximus Consulting Services Inc., Harrisburg, to prepare the county’s annual cost allocation plan and Government Accounting Standards Board No. 34 report for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The total contract for the three-year period is $45,300.

The GASB No. 34 report requires government entities to report infrastructure assets in their statement of net assets.

County Finance Director Paul E. Buber said the cost is the same as in the previous contract.

Commissioners also issued a proclamation marking October as National Bullying Prevention Month.

“We urge all young people and adults to take seriously how bullying affects others and don’t just be a bystander, stand up to bullying,” the proclamation says.