PROGRAM INSTRUCTION

AOA-PI-06-05

September 28, 2006

TO:STATE AGENCIES ON AGING ADMINISTERING   PLANS UNDER TITLES III AND VII OF THE OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED; OFFICES OF THE STATE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN

SUBJECT:  State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Reports for Federal Fiscal Years 2006-2009

LEGAL AND RELATED

   REFERENCES: Older Americans Act, as Amended - Section 712 (c) and (h) (1)

This Program Instruction (PI) provides procedures for submitting the State Annual Ombudsman Report to the Administration on Aging (AoA), in accordance with Section 712 (h) (1) of the Older Americans Act (OAA).  A revised reporting form and instructions have been approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use in U.S. Federal Fiscal Years 2007-2009.  These were sent electronically to all State Ombudsmen in early June 2006 and are posted on the AoA website at http://www.aoa.gov/prof/aoaprog/elder_rights/LTCombudsman/NORS/nors_form_instructions.asp**.**

**FY 2006: Transition Year**

States should report their FY 2006 data on the NORS form which was in effect for the U.S. Fiscal Year 2006, which began on October 1, 2005.  The reports are due to AoA on January 31, 2007.  Reports must be submitted as an e-mail attachment in the same electronic format (the National Ombudsman Reporting Data Input Application: NORDIA) used in previous years.  See the back of this page for specific instructions.

**Reports for Fiscal Years 2007-09**

As State Ombudsmen were notified by e-mail on June 6, 2006, States should begin using the new reporting format for U.S. Fiscal Year 2007, which begins on October 1, 2006.  Reports will be due on January 31 of the year following the close of the federal fiscal year, which ends on September 30 of each year.  By or before October 1, 2007, AoA will provide an updated NORDIA for states to use in transmitting their FY 2007, 2008 and 2009 reports to AoA.

DUE DATES:January 31, 2007-2010

INQUIRIES:General inquiries should be addressed to the `appropriate Regional Administrator on Aging.  See back for additional contact information.

___(S)__________________________

Francis A. Burns

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Center for Wellness and Community-Based Services

Director, Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs

**Instructions for Submitting the FY 2006 Report**

For their FY 2006 report, States should use the same NORDIA program used for previous years’ reports. The current version is 2004 and can be checked by starting the application and selecting ABOUT on the HELP menu.  If the NORDIA version is not 2004, the program can be upgraded by downloading and installing the 2004 NORDIA update located on the AoA website. The update and installation instructions can be found on the AoA website at: http://www.aoa.gov/prof/agingnet/NAPIS/Updates/NORDIA/instructions.asp  .

For states using the NVerify program, the 2004 update can be found at http://www.aoa.gov/prof/agingnet/NAPIS/Updates/Nverify/instructions.asp

The updates provide for: 

1)  The extension “AoA” to be added to the MDE file name to insure the transmission file will not be blocked by the mail server when transmitting the report to AoA via email.

2)  The addition of the following validation checks:

· Section IB and ID -- Complainants cannot be zero if you have complaints in each facility setting;  

· Section IIIE -- Title III, Chapter 2 expenditures must be greater than zero;  

· Section IIIF -- The number of trainees cannot be less than the number of training sessions. 

To perform the updates and send the report to AoA, follow this procedure:

· Fill in Federal Fiscal Year “2006” and your state acronym on the login screen. 

· Enter your 2006 National Ombudsman Report data and narrative. Validate your report by selecting "Validate Report" on the Validation menu. Make all corrections indicated by the validation checks and re-validate your report until all errors have been corrected. The message "No Errors Found" will appear when your have successfully validated your data. 

· Once your data have been successfully validated, create your state report for AoA by selecting "Create Transmission File" on the File menu. Click "Save" to create your transmission file. Your report file can be found in the NORDIA folder on your C:\ drive. The file name will be in the following format: "X??2006NORS.MDE" where '??' is the state acronym. 

· Send the transmission file, located in the folder NORDIA on the C:\ drive, to AoA as an e-mail attachment to both Sue Wheaton (sue.wheaton@aoa.gov ) and Steve Cordasco (steve.cordasco@aoa.gov). 

Specific questions about the report should be addressed to Sue Wheaton at the above e-mail or 

202-357-3587. For a new copy of the NORDIA program or answers to technical questions, e-mail 

Steve Cordasco at the above address or call him at 202-357-3407.