Modernization of the Older Americans Act Amendments
TITLE I—MODERNIZING DEFINITIONS AND PROGRAMS UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING
Sec.101.Reauthorization.
Reauthorizes Older Americans Act of 1965 Title II programs.
Sec.102.Aging and Disability Resource Centers.
Encourages Aging and Disability Resource Centers to collaborate with Centers for Independent
Living and other aging or disability entities.
Sec.103.Assistive technology.
Modernizes the Older Americans Act to ensure programs consider and coordinate with State
assistive technology programs authorized by the Assistive Technology Act of 1998.
Sec.104.National Resource Center for Women and Retirement.
Codifies the National Resource Center for Women and Retirement. The Center provides basic
financial management, retirement planning and other educational tools that promote financial literacy and help identify and prevent fraud and elder exploitation for women.
Sec.105.Evidence-based program adaptation.
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to provide technical assistance on how to deliver
evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion programs for different populations in a variety of different settings, such as in local communities and rural areas.
Sec.106.Coordination with Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to coordinate with the Assistant Secretary for Mental
Health and Substance Use and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in implementing suicide prevention activities for older individuals.
Sec.107.Modernizing the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age- Friendly Communities.
Modernizes the existing Interagency Coordinating Committee on healthy aging and includes
supporting age-friendly communities as part of the activities and recommendations of the Committee.
Sec.108.Report on social isolation.
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to review existing programs under the Older
Americans Act to determine if and how such programs are adequately addressing greatest social need and make recommendations on ways to improve how programs address negative impacts associated with social isolation for older individuals.
Sec.109.Business partnerships.
Clarifies grantees ability to engage in business partnerships with private entities, and, at the
request of grantees, directs the Assistant Secretary for Aging to provide technical assistance for developing and establishing business partnerships.
Sec.110.Notification of availability of or updates to policies, practices, and procedures through a uniform e-format.
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to regularly update State agencies, area agencies on
aging, and service providers on the availability of, or updates to, policies, practices and procedures through electronic format.
Sec.111.Family caregivers.
Extends the authorization for the RAISE Family Caregivers Act from 3 years to 8 years.
Sec.112.Innovation, demonstration, and evaluation within aging programs.
Modernizes the evaluation of the Older Americans Act programs. Ensures the Secretary reviews,
coordinates, and streamlines the evaluation of existing Older Americans Act programs to assess the impact of the existing programs on older individuals’ or caregivers’ health and on health care spending. Ensures the Secretary will also measure future demonstration projects’ impact on reducing health care spending and their ability to maintain or improve quality of care. Requires the Secretary to prepare and submit to Congress a 5 year evaluation plan of all the Older Americans Act programs by December 1, 2020 and every fifth year thereafter. This section also renames Title IV of the Older Americans Act to Innovation, Demonstration, and Evaluation Within Aging Programs.
TITLE II—IMPROVING GRANTS FOR STATE AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS ON AGING
Sec.201.Reauthorization.
Reauthorizes Older Americans Act of 1965 Title III programs.
[Sec.202.Hold harmless.]
Sec.203.Maintenance of effort for State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. Updates the maintenance of effort funding provisions for State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.
Sec.204.Senior legal hotlines.
Recognizes the practice of statewide senior legal hotlines for purposes of supporting and
providing legal assistance for older individuals and requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to submit a report with information on existing statewide senior legal hotlines and recommendations to Congress three years after enactment.
Sec.205.Increase in limit on use of allotted funds for State administrative costs.
Updates the cap for state administrative costs from the 1992 level of $500,000 to $750,000.
Sec.206.Improvements to nutrition programs.
Makes improvements to nutrition programs. Encourages states to work with area agencies on
aging to reduce the administrative burden for transferring funds between nutrition programs for congregate and home-delivered meals. Defines ‘nutrition service provider’ and makes conforming edits.
Sec.207.Younger onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Recognizes and clarifies existing authority to provide services to those with Alzheimer’s disease
at any age.
Sec.208.Cost sharing and Other Practices.
Requires a GAO study on practices regarding contracting, cost-sharing, waivers, and voluntary
contributions for programs authorized under the Older Americans Act, and the impacts of those practices on older individuals’ access to those programs.
Sec.209.Nutrition services study.
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to review existing policies and practices for
measuring the number of meals provided under the programs and the number of meals in demand, and make recommendations on the most successful ways of capturing this data.
Sec.210.National Family Caregiver Support program.
Makes improvements to the National Family Caregiver Support program. Defines ‘caregiver
assessment,’ and updates the support services to ensure that these services take into consideration information received from such assessments. Removes the ten percent funding cap for older relative caregivers. Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to identify best practices for caregiver assessments. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award funds for activities of national significance that improve support provided to caregivers, including for program evaluation, training, technical assistance, and research. Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to provide technical assistance on how to promote and implement caregiver assessments. Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to report to Congress on the use of caregiver assessments, how to improve them, and how to further their use.
TITLE III—MODERNIZING ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTH, INDEPENDENCE, AND LONGEVITY
Sec.301.Reauthorization.
Reauthorizes Older Americans Act of 1965 Title IV and Title V programs.
Sec.302.Technical assistance and innovation to improve transportation for older individuals.
Modernizes and improves an existing transportation grant program to enhance the aggregation,
availability, and accessibility of information on options for transportation services for older individuals, including through contemporary forms of transportation and technology such as on- demand transportation services.
Sec.303.Grant program for multigenerational collaboration.
Improves an existing grant program for multigenerational collaboration to place an emphasis on
grant funding for the direct services of these projects, including projects that locate programs for
older and younger individuals in the same facility.
Sec.304.Grants for health, independence, and longevity.
Allows grantees to use funds under section 411 for planning the placement of volunteers in
communities to assist family caregivers, older individuals, and individuals with disabilities in maintaining independence by providing non-medical care.
[TITLE IV—ENHANCING GRANTS FOR NATIVE AMERICANS]
[Committee plans to review Title VI programs and provide language for updating and enhancing these programs.]
Sec.401.Reauthorization.
Reauthorizes Older Americans Act of 1965 Title VI programs.
TITLE V—MODERNIZING ALLOTMENTS FOR VULNERABLE ELDER RIGHTS PROTECTION ACTIVITIES AND OTHER PROGRAMS
Sec.501.Reauthorization; vulnerable elder rights protection activities.
Reauthorizes Older Americans Act of 1965 Title VII programs.
Sec.502.Minimum allotments for ombudsman and elder abuse programs.
Modernizes the minimum funding allotments for the ombudsman and elder abuse programs by
changing years from “2000” to “2019.”
Sec.503.Volunteer State long-term care ombudsman representatives.
Clarifies that volunteer ombudsman representatives can be reimbursed for costs incurred through
their service, such as transportation costs.
Sec.504.Prevention of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Updates elder justice activities to include community outreach and education as part of the
multidisciplinary efforts. Ensures innovative projects capture programs and materials for developing partnerships in communities.
Sec.505.Best practices for home and community-based ombudsmen.
Updates the best practices for home and community-based ombudsmen.
Sec.506.Senior home modification assistance initiative.
Requires a GAO study on federal programs for home modification assistance for older
individuals and individuals with disabilities.