	Introduction

The Older Americans Act (OAA) is the major vehicle for the delivery of social and nutrition services for older persons. Originally enacted in 1965, the act supports a wide range of social services and programs for older persons. 109-365 reauthorized all programs under the act through FY2011. Table 3 shows the appropriations history for the act's programs for FY1999-FY2006. In addition, the law added a requirement that the Assistant Secretary award funds for competitive grants to states for development and implementation of elder justice activities. Among these are demonstration model projects to help older people "age in place," including in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs); and to develop systems for the delivery of mental health screening and treatment services for older people who lack access to such services. 109-365 revised the Title V community service employment program to place more emphasis on training eligible older individuals; however, it maintained the program focus on employing older people in community service jobs. The law also required the Secretary of Labor to conduct a national competition for Title V funds every four years. P.L. (The law also authorized a new grant program as part of Title VII of the act, discussed below.) 109-365 explicitly expanded AoA's role in promoting home and community-based long-term care services. Under the provision in P.L. Title III. Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging

Title III authorizes grants to state and area agencies on aging to act as advocates on behalf of, and to coordinate programs for, older persons. It accounted for 70% of total OAA funds in FY2006 ($1.24 billion out of $1.78 billion). States receive separate allotments of funds for supportive services and centers, family caregiver support, congregate nutrition services, home-delivered nutrition services, nutrition services incentive grants, and disease prevention and health promotion services. The law added requirements that states and area agencies target services and programs on older people at risk for institutional care and older people with limited English proficiency. The assessment may include:
an analysis of how demographic changes may affect older individuals, including those with low incomes, those with greatest economic need, minority older individuals, those residing in rural areas, and those with limited English proficiency; an analysis of how the programs, policies, and services provided by states and area agencies can be improved, and how resource levels can be adjusted to meet the needs of the changing population of older individuals in the state; and an analysis of how the change in the number of persons age 85 years and older is expected to affect the need for supportive services. Thus, the law now requires that states (1) receive funds based on their relative share of the U.S. population age 60 and over; (2) receive no less than one-half of 1% of the total appropriation; and (3) receive no less than the amount they received for FY2006 (the FY2006 "hold harmless") plus a phased-out guaranteed growth factor—that is, for FY2007, 20% of the percentage increase in appropriation amounts for the respective programs over the FY2006 amounts; for FY2008, 15%; for FY2009, 10%, and for FY2010, 5%. 109-365 added authority for the Assistant Secretary on Aging to conduct several new demonstration programs under Title IV. It is the only Older Americans Act program that focuses solely on the needs of institutionalized persons. 109-365 Amendments to Title VII

			Elder Justice Grants

P.L. Appropriations amounts for previous years are available in CRS Report RL32437, Older Americans Act: History of Appropriations, FY1966-FY2004 , by [author name scrubbed] (pdf). For information on FY2007 appropriations, see CRS Report RL33880, Older Americans Act (OAA) Funding , by [author name scrubbed]. Figure 1 shows the distribution of FY2006 funding by program.
The Older Americans Act (OAA) is the major vehicle for the delivery of social and nutrition services for older persons. Originally enacted in 1965, the act supports a wide range of social services and programs for older persons. Authorization of appropriations expired at the end of FY2005. The Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (P.L. 109-365) reauthorized all programs under the act through FY2011.
The major program under the act, Title III—Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging—authorizes grants to 56 state and 655 area agencies on aging to act as advocates on behalf of, and to coordinate programs for, older persons. Title III accounted for 70% of the act's total FY2006 appropriations ($1.24 billion out of $1.78 billion). States receive separate allotments of funds for supportive services and centers, family caregiver support, congregate and home-delivered nutrition services, the nutrition services incentive grant program, and disease prevention and health promotion services. Title V—Community Service Senior Opportunities Act—is the only federally subsidized employment program for low-income older persons. It represented almost one-quarter of the act's total funding in FY2006 ($432.3 million).
P.L. 109-365 added requirements that state and area agencies on aging focus programs and services on specific groups of older people, including those at risk for institutional care and those with limited English proficiency. The law also added requirements that the Administration on Aging (AoA) and state and area agencies focus efforts on the promotion of home and community-based long-term care services for older people to prevent or delay the need for institutional care. The law also revised the formula for distribution of Title III grants to require that states receive at least as much as they received in FY2006 (a 2006 "hold harmless" level), and to gradually eliminate a "guaranteed growth" provision.
The new law added responsibility for AoA to develop and implement systems for elder justice and to conduct an elder abuse national incidence study. It also added authority for competitive grants to states for elder justice activities under Title VII. In addition, the law authorized the Assistant Secretary on Aging to conduct several new research and demonstration programs, including model projects to assist older people "age in place"(including in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, or NORCs); and to develop systems for mental health screening and treatment for older people. P.L. 109-365 maintained the Title V program focus on employing older people in community service jobs, but it also revised the program to place more emphasis on training eligible older individuals. The new law required the Secretary of Labor to conduct a national competition for Title V funds every four years.
For FY2006, the act's programs received $1.78 billion, a 2% decrease from the FY2005 level. Figure 1 shows the distribution of FY2006 funding by program. Table 3 shows the appropriations history for OAA programs for FY1999-FY2006. For appropriations amounts for FY1966-FY2004, see CRS Report RL32437, Older Americans Act: History of Appropriations, FY1966-FY2004, by [author name scrubbed] (pdf). For FY2007 appropriations and the FY2008 budget request, see CRS Report RL33880, Older Americans Act (OAA) Funding, by [author name scrubbed]. This report will not be updated.