Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 30 - DEPARTMENT FOR AGING AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES › Chapter 60 - GRANTS TO AREA AGENCIES ON AGING › Part III - Area Plans for Aging Services › Section 22VAC30-60-80 - Preparation and submission of the area plan

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Any existing Area Agency on Aging or any
				  applicant for area agency designation will prepare an Area Plan for Aging
				  Services and submit it to the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative
				  Services for approval. The area plan will clearly detail the means of providing
				  supportive and nutrition services and substantiation for the means selected. An
				  approved area plan will be in effect for two, three, or four years, as
				  determined by the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Such plan,
				  if approved, will become the scope of services in the contract executed between
				  the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and the Area
				  Agency on Aging as contractor.
B.
				  The Area Agency on Aging shall submit to the Virginia Department for Aging and
				  Rehabilitative Services for approval all requests for, and reasonable
				  documentation of and substantiation for, necessary changes, additions, or
				  deletions in its area plan. The area agency shall submit a written amendment to
				  the area plan if it intends to change the scope of a service or if it intends
				  to change the arrangements by which a service is delivered (e.g., direct
				  service or contracted service, the number or location of congregate meal
				  sites). Any amendment shall be approved by the Virginia Department for Aging
				  and Rehabilitative Services and, when signed by both the Department for Aging
				  and Rehabilitative Services and the Area Agency on Aging as contractor, will be
				  incorporated into the contract as part of the scope of services.
C. The area plan shall provide, through a
				  comprehensive and coordinated system, for supportive and nutrition services
				  and, where appropriate, for the establishment, maintenance, and construction of
				  multipurpose senior centers within the planning and service area covered by the
				  plan. Subject to the requirements in
				  22VAC30-60-100, such services may
				  include:
1. Checking services. Calling or
				  visiting older persons at their residence to check on them to make sure they
				  are well and safe. This activity may also serve to provide psychological
				  reassurance to an older person who is alone and in need of personal contact
				  from other individuals.
2.
				  Congregate meals. Procurement, preparation, conveyance, and provision of
				  nutritionally balanced meals that meet one-third of the current recommended
				  dietary allowance for older persons. The provision of meals must occur at
				  designated nutrition sites which also provide a climate or atmosphere for
				  socialization and opportunities to alleviate isolation and
				  loneliness.
3. Information and
				  Assistance. Assess older persons' needs for services; collecting and providing
				  information to link older persons with the opportunities, services, and
				  resources needed to meet their particular problems and needs.
4. Dental services. Provision of needed
				  dental services to limited-income persons 60 years of age and older not
				  otherwise able to obtain the services.
5. Emergency services. Provision of money and
				  other resources, including referral to other public and private agencies, for
				  assistance to persons 60 and older who have an emergency need for help. Area
				  agencies must have approved policies established by their governing board for
				  administration of this service.
6.
				  Employment services. Assistance to older persons seeking part-time or full-time
				  employment within the public or private sector and advocacy on behalf of the
				  older worker.
7. Finance, tax, and
				  consumer counseling. Provision of direct guidance and assistance to older
				  persons and their caregivers in the areas of consumer protection, personal
				  financial matters, and tax preparation.
8. Adult day care services. Regular daytime
				  supervision and care of frail, disabled, and institutionally at-risk older
				  adults. Participants require a level of care which ensures their safety, and,
				  with the provision of services ranging from socialization to rehabilitation,
				  may experience an enhancement in their quality of life and level of
				  functioning.
9. Health education.
				  Provision of information or materials, or both, specifically designed to
				  address a particular health-related issue. The activity may be preventive in
				  nature and may promote self-care and independence.
10. Health screening. Provision of screening
				  to determine current health status, including counseling, follow-up, and
				  referral, as needed.
11. Chore
				  services. Provision of light housekeeping and other services to eligible older
				  adults, who, because of their functional level, are unable to perform these
				  tasks themselves.
12. Home
				  delivered meals. Procurement, preparation, conveyance, and provision of
				  nutritionally balanced meals that meet one-third of the current recommended
				  dietary allowance for older persons. The meals must be delivered and received
				  at the homes of the individuals.
13. Home health services. Provision of
				  intermittent skilled nursing care under appropriate medical supervision to
				  acutely or chronically ill homebound older adults. Various rehabilitative
				  therapies and home health aides providing personal care services are
				  included.
14. Homemaker/personal
				  care services. Provision of nonmedically oriented services by trained personnel
				  under professional supervision. Services may include personal care activities,
				  nutrition-related tasks, light housekeeping, and respite for family
				  caregivers.
15.
				  Identification/discount program. Provision to older persons of a card which can
				  be used as identification to cash checks and to obtain discounts for goods and
				  services from participating merchants.
16. Legal assistance. Legal advice and
				  representation by an attorney (including, to the extent feasible, counseling or
				  other appropriate assistance by a paralegal or law student under the
				  supervision of an attorney). Includes counseling or representation by a
				  nonlawyer, where permitted by law, to older individuals with economic or social
				  needs. May also include preventive measures such as community
				  education.
17. Long-term care
				  coordinating activity. Provides for the participation of area agency staff on
				  the local long-term care coordinating committee or committees and in the
				  planning and implementation of a coordinated service delivery system.
18. Public information and education.
				  Provision of information to older persons and the general public about the
				  programs and services available to the elderly and their caregivers and about
				  the talents, skills, problems, and needs of older persons.
19. Residential repair and renovation.
				  Provision of home repairs or home maintenance to persons 60 years of age and
				  older (includes weatherization provided with Older American Act
				  funds).
20. Services to persons in
				  institutions. Provision of consultation and assistance to institutionalized
				  older persons, their families, and facility staff in such areas as aging
				  issues, resident rights, and activities for facility residents.
21. Socialization/recreation services.
				  Activities to provide persons 60 years of age and older with opportunities to
				  participate in constructive social experiences and leisure time activities.
				  This may also include senior center activities as well as activities suitable
				  for and within the time constraints of the nutrition sites.
22. Substate long-term care ombudsman
				  program. Serves as a point of entry for long-term care recipients, their
				  families and friends, and the concerned public, whereby complaints made by, or
				  on behalf of, older persons in long-term care facilities or receiving long-term
				  care services in the community can be received, investigated, and resolved. The
				  program also provides counseling and support to long-term care recipients and
				  others to assist them in resolving problems and concerns through the use of the
				  complaint handling procedure of the long-term care facility or community based
				  long-term care service provider. In addition, the program is a resource for
				  information regarding institutional and community based long-term care
				  services. Through its contacts with long-term care recipients and others
				  concerned with long-term care, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program identifies
				  problems and concerns of older persons receiving long-term care and their
				  families and friends and recommends changes in the long-term care system which
				  will benefit these individuals as a group.
23. Transportation services. Group
				  transportation of older persons to congregate meals, socialization and
				  recreation activities, shopping, and other services available in the community;
				  individual transportation to needed services that promote continued independent
				  living.
24. Volunteer programs.
				  Development of opportunities for the community to do volunteer work in aging
				  programs and services; recruiting and supervising volunteers; and developing
				  opportunities for older persons to do volunteer work in the
				  community.