An Ode to the OAA

Orion BellJuly 2025[email protected]

An old man passed me on the street today
I thought I knew him but I couldn’t say
I stopped to think if I could place his frame
When he tipped his hat I knew his name

 “Hello, Old Friend” by Eric Clapton

The Older Americans Act, or OAA, was established on July 14, 1965. Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs, the OAA supports the quality of life for older adults in communities across the country. Johnson wrote, “I know of no better way to sum up the vitality and the hope of our programs for older Americans than to report the words of a volunteer worker: ‘We are enabling men and women in their years of retirement to plow their goodness back into the world they helped to build.’”

The greatest strength of the OAA is the flexibility it provides to states and local communities. The OAA established guidelines and priorities for programming; this is referred to as “authorization.” Funding for programs (or “appropriations) is part of the annual federal budget. Congress renews or “reauthorizes” the OAA periodically, and has used this process to amend the statute, to help keep it relevant to the needs of older adults. While the OAA is a federal program, it utilizes a network of state agencies and community organizations to administer the funds, provide program oversight and evaluation and cultivate local programs that address the needs of area residents. This “aging network” leverages the federal funding with the “time, talent and treasure” of volunteers, donors and nonprofit groups. Benjamin Rose’s WeCare program is available throughout Northeast Ohio in part due to OAA funding that is provided through the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, for example.

The OAA model encourages local support. Organizations that receive OAA funding are required to match those dollars with other resources. Each dollar of federal funding is leveraged by three dollars from other sources. Area agencies on aging (AAAs) that administer the programs must demonstrate input for the community—and older adults themselves—in decisions about what programs receive OAA support. The AAAs, as well as the state units on aging (the Ohio Department of Aging in Ohio), are accountable not only to the federal agencies (the Administration for Community Living) but also to the states and communities they serve.

This blend of federal, state, and local funding, programming, and service delivery helped create a system of programs and services that includes transportation, senior centers, home care services, home-delivered meals, health promotion classes, counseling services and supports for family caregivers and grandparents raising grandchildren. It helped improve the quality of healthcare and health promotion services for older adults and people with disabilities. It has provided the opportunity for older adults to advocate for issues and ideas that are important to them. If there is a Meals on Wheels program in your community, a chair yoga class or a support group for people living with dementia, it’s due in part to the efforts and resources of the OAA and the aging network.

This mosaic of programs—based on person-centered care, civic engagement and the belief in the dignity of older people—is the great strength of the OAA, and its ability to adapt to meet the needs of local communities. Unfortunately, it is also one of its greatest challenges. OAA programs operate under different names in different communities. The structures of state agencies and area agencies on aging vary widely. Many people may not realize that many of the vital services they rely on are funded and supported by the Older Americans Act, including many of the services of Benjamin Rose.

Here are a few examples of the impact of the OAA in our community so far this year.

  • 750 people received home-delivered meals each day from Meals on Wheels.
  • 1,200 people took part in activities at a Rose Center for Aging Well.
  • 165 Rose Centers participants relied on a ride from Senior Transportation Connection to get to their center.
  • 2,000 people were connected to services through our intake number.
  • Nearly 500 family caregivers in Greater Cleveland were supported through WeCare.
  • More than 5,000 caregivers access our services through community partners outside of Northeast Ohio.

Support the Older Americans Act

The OAA is an “Old Friend” and an important friend of the aging network and the people we serve. On June 18, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Older Americans Reauthorization Actto renew funding for the OAA and the many programs it supports. Your senators and representatives need to hear from you. Let them know you value the OAA and the older adults it serves in our communities every day. Help ensure that these services will continue to be there for the next generation of older Americans.

The National Council on Aging has tips on how to advocate for the Older Americans Act on its website.

AARP has this  description of the OAA on its website.

Statutory Language of the OAA

The OAA statutory language contains the following seven titles:

  • Title VII authorizes the long-term care ombudsman program, as well as elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention programs.
  • Title I of the OAA sets out broad social policy objectives oriented toward improving the lives of all older Americans and defines certain terms under the act.
  • Title II establishes AOA within HHS as the chief federal agency advocating for older persons and sets out the responsibilities of AOA and the Assistant Secretary for Aging. It also establishes SUAs and AAAs, which, along with local providers, comprise the Aging Network.
  • Title III authorizes grants to SUAs and AAAs to act as advocates on behalf of, and to coordinate programs for, older persons aged 60 and older, including supportive services, nutrition services, family caregiver supports, and preventive services.
  • Title IV authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Aging to award funds for training, research, and demonstration projects in the field of aging.
  • Title V, CSEOA, has as its purpose the promotion of useful part-time opportunities in community service activities for unemployed low-income individuals aged 55 and older.
  • Title VI authorizes funds for supportive and nutrition services to older Native Americans. Funds are awarded directly by ACL to tribal organizations, Native Alaskan organizations, and nonprofit groups representing Native Hawaiians.