Ombudsmen visit routinely at nursing homes, boarding homes and adult family homes and talk with residents, their families and visitors, and facility staff. The program's goal is to try to resolve complaints and care concerns at the lowest level before problems escalate to where state agencies need to be involved. Ombudsmen give voice to residents who are not able to voice their concerns and educate those residents who can speak for themselves on exercising their rights. Ombudsmen advocate at both the individual level, through resident and family councils, by addressing systems issues at facilities and in long-term care services. Ombudsmen visit at facilities in their neighborhood.
Many studies show that community involvement in facilities improves resident care.
The program is funded through the Federal Older Americans' Act, state funds and local contributions. The non-profit houses the Office of the State Ombudsman, employs the State Ombudsman and Assistant State Ombudsman and subcontracts for statewide coverage through 14 regional offices. Legal services are also subcontracted to provide assistance to the state and regional staff as well as residents. The State Ombudsman provides policy direction and oversight to the regional offices, and works directly with statewide advocacy groups and the Legislature. The Regional Ombudsmen recruit and train volunteers who are then certified as long-term care ombudsmen by the State Ombudsman.