Wareham’s Council on Aging may receive much-needed financial assistance from the state in the form of a $50,000 grant to hire a full-time department director.

Council on Aging programs have suffered several blows starting in 2014 after a round of budget cuts.

In March, the town’s Supportive Day Care Center Director Deborah Ramos announced her resignation.

The grant money is earmarked in the House of Representatives budget, which legislators unanimously approved on April 27.

State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R-Wareham) added the funding to the $39.5 billion state budget by request.

“I was asked by the members of the Council on Aging Board of any funding may be available from the state,” Gifford said. “We did some research and decided to seek the funds.”

Gifford said there is is still a ways to go before the money is approved.

“There is no guarantee for an earmark,” she said.

Gifford said that the money would be part of a one-time grant for fiscal year 2017, provided it’s not cut while the Senate and governor draft their versions of the state budget.

“So, it is a process and one we are to complete by July 1,” she said.

Ideally, the earmark will be requested in the Senate budget by an amendment, Gifford explained. If adopted by the Senate, then a committee of six members from both the House and Senate will work out differences between their respective versions.

The budget now moves to the Senate, which is expected to release its own spending proposal in mid-May.