Virginia Law

Article 3. Services for Older Virginians.

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Access services" means care coordination; care transitions; communication, referral, information, and assistance; options counseling; transportation; and assisted transportation.

"Aging services" means access services, Care Coordination for Elderly Virginians, caregiver services, client services, disease prevention and health promotion services, in-home services, legal assistance, nutrition services, and elder abuse prevention services that are supported with federal and state funds.

"Caregiver services" means counseling services, including individual counseling, support groups, and caregiver training; respite services, including institutional respite and direct respite services; and supplemental services.

"Client services" means emergency services, employment services pursuant to Title III of the Older Americans Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq., as amended, health education and screening, long-term care coordinating activities, medication management, money management, public information and education, socialization and recreation, and volunteer programs.

"Economic need" means the need resulting from an income level at or below the poverty line.

"In-home services" means adult day care, checking, chore, homemaker, personal care, and residential repair and renovation services.

"Long-term care" means any service, care, or item, including a disease prevention and health promotion service, an in-home service, and a case management service that is (i) intended to assist individuals in coping with, and to the extent practicable in compensating for, a functional impairment in carrying out activities of daily living; (ii) furnished at home, in a community care setting, or in a long-term care facility; and (iii) not furnished to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure a medical disease or condition.

"Long-term care ombudsman program" means the program established in Article 13 (§ 51.5-182 et seq.).

"Nutrition services" means congregate and home-delivered nutrition services.

"Social need" means the need caused by noneconomic factors, including (i) physical and mental disabilities, which include developmental disabilities and human immunodeficiency virus; (ii) language barriers; and (iii) cultural, social, or geographic isolation, including that which is related to a history of discrimination for factors such as racial or ethnic status, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation that can affect an individual's ability to perform normal daily tasks or threatens such individual's capacity to live independently.

2012, cc. 476, 507, 803, 835; 2020, c. 728; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 299, 300.

A. The Department shall provide aging services to improve the quality of life for and meet the needs of older persons in the Commonwealth and shall act as a focal point among state agencies for research, policy analysis, long-range planning, and education on aging issues. The Department shall use available resources to provide services to older persons with economic needs and those with social needs. In allocating resources to provide aging services, the Department (i) shall prioritize providing services to those with the greatest economic need and (ii) among individuals with comparable levels of economic need, may prioritize providing services to individuals with the greatest social need. The Department shall also serve as the lead agency in coordinating the work of state agencies on meeting the needs of an aging society. The Department's policies and programs shall be designed to enable older persons to be as independent and self-sufficient as possible. The Department shall promote local participation in programs for older persons, evaluate and monitor aging services, and provide information to the general public. In furtherance of this mission, the Department shall have, without limitation, the following duties to:

1. Study the economic, social, and physical condition of the residents in the Commonwealth whose age qualifies them for coverage under the Older Americans Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq., or any law amendatory or supplemental thereto, and the employment, medical, educational, recreational, and housing facilities available to them, with the view of determining the needs and problems of such persons;

2. Determine the services and facilities, private and governmental and state and local, provided for and available to older persons and recommend to the appropriate persons such coordination of and changes in such services and facilities as will make them of greater benefit to older persons and more responsive to their needs;

3. Act as the designated state unit on aging for the purposes of carrying out the requirements under P.L. 89-73 or any law amendatory or supplemental thereto, and as the sole agency for administering or supervising the administration of such plans as may be adopted in accordance with the provisions of such laws. The Department may prepare, submit, and carry out state plans and shall be the agency primarily responsible for coordinating state programs and activities related to the purposes of, or undertaken under, such plans or laws;

4. Apply, with the approval of the Governor, for and expend such grants, gifts, or bequests from any source that becomes available in connection with its duties under this section, and may comply with such conditions and requirements as may be imposed in connection therewith;

5. Hold hearings and conduct investigations necessary to pass upon applications for approval of a project under the plans and laws set out in subdivision 3, and shall make reports to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services as may be required;

6. Designate area agencies on aging pursuant to P.L. 89-73 or any law amendatory or supplemental thereto of the Congress of the United States and to adopt regulations for the composition and operation of such area agencies on aging, each of which shall be designated as the lead agency in each respective area for the No Wrong Door system of aging and disability resource centers;

7. Provide staff support to the Commonwealth Council on Aging;

8. Assist state, local, and nonprofit agencies, including, but not limited to, area agencies on aging, in identifying grant and public-private partnership opportunities for improving services to older Virginians;

9. Provide or contract for the administration of the state long-term care ombudsman program. Such program or contract shall provide a minimum staffing ratio of one ombudsman to every 2,000 long-term care beds, subject to sufficient appropriations by the General Assembly. The Department may also contract with such entities for the administration of elder rights programs as authorized under P.L. 89-73, such as insurance counseling and assistance, and the creation of an elder information/elder rights center;

10. Serve as the focal point for the rights of older persons and their families by establishing, maintaining, and publicizing (i) a toll-free number and (ii) a means of electronic access to provide resource and referral information and other assistance and advice as may be requested; and

11. Develop and maintain a four-year plan for aging services in the Commonwealth, pursuant to § 51.5-136.

B. The governing body of any county, city, or town may appropriate funds for support of area agencies on aging designated pursuant to subdivision A 6.

C. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall assist the Department in effectuating its functions in accordance with its designation as the single state agency as required in subdivision A 3.

1974, c. 420, § 2.1-373; 1976, c. 299; 1978, c. 271; 1979, c. 678; 1982, c. 345; 1983, cc. 165, 215; 1997, c. 320; 1998, c. 665; 1999, cc. 712, 1021; 2000, cc. 307, 313; 2001, c. 844, § 2.2-703; 2004, c. 694; 2005, cc. 610, 924; 2008, c. 361; 2009, cc. 339, 719; 2010, cc. 411, 801; 2012, cc. 803, 835; 2020, c. 728; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 299, 300; 2022, c. 313.

A. The Department shall develop and maintain a four-year plan for aging services in the Commonwealth. Such plan shall serve to inform the State Plan for Aging Services as required by the U.S. Administration on Aging. In developing the plan, the Department shall consult (i) various state and local services agencies, (ii) businesses, (iii) nonprofit organizations, (iv) advocacy organizations, (v) baccalaureate institutions of higher education, (vi) providers, (vii) organizations involved in providing services for and advocating for older Virginians and their caregivers, and (viii) stakeholders, including but not limited to the Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging; the state's health and human resources agencies, boards, councils, and commissions; the Departments of Transportation, Rail and Public Transportation, Housing and Community Development, and Corrections; and the Virginia Housing Development Authority.

In addition, the plan shall inform and serve as a resource to a long-term blueprint for state and community planning for aging populations that shall be comprehensive and not limited to traditional health and human services issues, but rather consists of broad-based issues of active daily life in communities throughout the Commonwealth.

B. The four-year plan shall include:

1. A description of Virginia's aging population and its impact on the Commonwealth, and issues related to ensuring and providing services to this population at both the state and local levels;

2. Factors for the Department to consider in determining when additional funding may be required for aging services;

3. Information on changes in the aging population, with particular attention to the growing diversity of the population including low-income, minority, and non-English speaking older Virginians;

4. Information on unmet needs and waiting list data for aging services as reported by the Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging and those state agencies that may maintain and provide this information;

5. Results from periodic needs surveys and customer satisfaction surveys targeted to older Virginians that may be conducted by the Department, the Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging, or any other state or local agency from time to time;

6. An analysis by every state agency of how the aging of the population impacts the agency and its services and how the agency is responding to this impact. Such analysis shall be provided to the Department every four years on a schedule and in a format determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources in coordination with the Department;

7. The impact of changes in federal and state funding for aging services;

8. The current status and future development of Virginia's No Wrong Door Initiative; and

9. Any other factors the Department deems appropriate.

C. In carrying out the duties provided by this section, the Commissioner shall submit the plan to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1, 2015. Thereafter, the plan shall be submitted every four years.

2008, c. 361, § 2.2-703.1; 2010, cc. 411, 801; 2012, cc. 509, 803, 835; 2020, c. 728.

The Department shall have the following responsibilities regarding aging services in the Commonwealth:

1. Develop appropriate fiscal and administrative controls over aging services in the Commonwealth;

2. Develop a state long-term care plan to guide the coordination and delivery of aging services. The plan shall ensure the development of a continuum of aging services for older persons in need of services;

3. Identify and assure the equitable statewide distribution of resources for aging services; and

4. Perform ongoing evaluations of the cost-effective utilization of aging services.

2012, cc. 803, 835; 2020, c. 728.

The governing body of each county or city, or a combination thereof, may designate a lead agency and member agencies to accomplish the coordination of local aging services and long-term care. If established, the agencies may establish a long-term care coordination committee composed of, but not limited to, representatives of each agency. The coordination committee may guide the coordination and administration of aging services and long-term care in the locality. The membership of the coordination committee may include, but is not limited to, representatives of the local department of public health, the local department of social services, the community services board or community mental health clinic, the area agency on aging, the local nursing home pre-admission screening team, and representatives of housing, transportation, and other appropriate local organizations that provide long-term care. A plan may be implemented that ensures the cost-effective utilization of all funds available for aging services and long-term care in the locality. Localities are encouraged to provide services and supports within each category of service in the continuum and to allow one person to deliver multiple aging services, when possible.

1982, c. 346, § 2.1-373.7; 2001, c. 844, § 2.2-708; 2008, cc. 391, 419; 2010, cc. 411, 801; 2012, cc. 803, 835; 2020, c. 728.

Repealed by Acts 2020, c. 728, cl. 2.

The Department shall publicize guidelines on universal design and visitability features to make structures and dwellings accessible for older Virginians and people who develop mobility impairment. Such guidelines shall be disseminated to the public and posted on the Department's website.

2012, cc. 803, 835.