9100-9114

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 9100-9114




9100.  (a) There is in the Health and Welfare Agency the California
Department of Aging.
   (b) The department's mission shall be to provide leadership to the
area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and
community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes
or least restrictive homelike environments.
   (c) In fulfilling its mission, the department shall develop
minimum standards for service delivery to ensure that its programs
meet consumer needs, operate in a cost-effective manner, and preserve
the independence and dignity of aging Californians. In accomplishing
its mission, the department shall consider available data and
population trends in developing programs and policies, collaborate
with area agencies on aging, the commission, and other state and
local agencies, and consider the views of advocates, consumers and
their families, and service providers.
   (d) The minimum standards for its programs shall ensure that the
system meets all of the following requirements:
   (1) Have the flexibility to respond to the needs of individuals,
their families and caregivers.
   (2) Provide for consumer choice and self-determination.
   (3) Enable consumers to be involved in designing and monitoring
the system.
   (4) Be equally accessible to diverse populations regardless of
income, consistent with existing state and federal law.
   (5) Have consistent statewide policy, with local control and
implementation.
   (6) Include preventive services and home and community based
support.
   (7) Have cost containment and fiscal incentives consistent with
the delivery of appropriate services at the appropriate level.



9101.  (a) The department shall consist of a director, and any staff
as may be necessary for proper administration.
   (b) The department shall maintain its main office in Sacramento.
   (c) The Governor, with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint
the director. The Governor shall consider, but not be limited to,
recommendations from the commission.
   (d) The director shall have the powers of a head of a department
pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and shall receive the
salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
   (e) The director shall do all of the following:
   (1) Be responsible for the management of the department and
achievement of its statewide goals.
   (2) Assist the commission in carrying out its mandated duties and
responsibilities in accordance with Section 9202.
   (f) The Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency shall ensure
effective coordination among departments of the agency in carrying
out the mandates of this division. For this purpose, the secretary
shall regularly convene meetings concerning services to older
individuals that shall include, but not be limited to, the State
Department of Health Services, the State Department of Social
Services, the State Department of Mental Health, and the department.
   (g) The Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency shall also
encourage other state departments that have other programs for older
individuals to actively participate in periodic joint meetings for
the joint purpose of coordinating service activities. These
departments shall include, but are not limited to, the Department of
Housing and Community Development and the Department of
Transportation in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency,
the Department of Parks and Recreation in the Resources Agency, the
California Arts Council, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.



9101.5.  (a) (1) The University of California is requested to
compile the following information:
   (A) A survey of existing resources throughout California's
governmental and administrative structure that are available to
address the needs of an aging society. The survey shall include, but
not be limited to, a commentary on existing gaps in these resources,
and projections for gaps that may occur, based on existing and future
demographic trends. The survey required by this subparagraph shall
be submitted to the Legislature and the Secretary of the California
Health and Human Services Agency by no later than January 1, 2001.
The survey shall avoid any duplication with the implementation of the
report on long-term care programs required by Chapter 1.5
(commencing with Section 100145) of Part 1 of Division 101 of the
Health and Safety Code.
   (B) A composite demographic profile of California. The University
of California shall commence the profile required by this
subparagraph by January 1, 2001, and shall complete the profile no
later than January 1, 2002.
   (C) The development of a plan for a longitudinal data base of
Californians. The University of California shall commence the
development of the plan for a data base required by this subparagraph
by January 1, 2002.
   (D) Findings and recommendations, and steps for their
implementation.
   (2) This subdivision shall not apply to the University of
California unless the Regents of the University of California, by
resolution, make these provisions applicable.
   (b) Based upon the findings, recommendations, and data presented
by the University of California, as specified in subdivision (a), the
Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency shall,
with the consultation or advise of the California Commission on
Aging, the California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics, consumer
groups, and other interested parties, develop a statewide strategic
plan for California to address the impending demographic, economic,
and social changes triggered by California's aging and diversifying
society. The secretary shall submit the completed plan to the
Legislature for consideration by July 1, 2003. It is the intent of
the Legislature that the department hold public hearings on the
reports.
   (c) The plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
periodically updated.
   (d) The sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000)
is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the University of
California if the University of California conducts the survey of
existing resources required by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).



9102.  The duties and powers of the department shall be:
   (a) To administer all programs under the Older Americans Act of
1965, as amended, and this division, including providing ongoing
oversight, monitoring, and service quality evaluation to ensure that
service providers are meeting standards of service performance
established by the department. This shall include, but is not limited
to, all of the following:
   (1) Setting program standards and providing standard materials for
training.
   (2) Providing technical assistance to area agencies on aging,
program managers, staff, and volunteers providing services.
   (3) Development of the state plan on aging according to federal
law.
   (4) Maintain a clearinghouse of information related to the
interests and needs of older individuals and provide referral
services, if appropriate.
   (5) Maintain a management information and reporting system;
including a data base on service utilization patterns and demographic
characteristics of the older population to be cross-classified by
age, sex, race, and other information required for the planning
process, and eliminate redundant and unnecessary reporting
requirements.
   (6) Encourage and support the involvement of volunteers in
services to older individuals.
   (7) Seek ways to utilize the private sector to assume greater
responsibility in meeting the needs of older individuals.
   (8) Encourage internships to be coordinated with schools of
gerontology or related disciplines, including internships for older
individuals.
   (b) The department shall have primary responsibility for
information received and dispersed to the area agencies on aging.
   (c) The department shall be responsible for activities that
promote the development, coordination, and utilization of resources
to meet the long-term care needs of older individuals, consistent
with its mission. The responsibilities shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Conduct research in the areas of alternative social and health
care systems for older individuals.
   (2) As specified in Section 9002, coordinate with agencies and
departments that administer health, social, and related services for
the purposes of policy development, development of care standards,
consistency in application of policy, evaluation of alternative uses
of available resources toward greater effectiveness in service
delivery, including seeking additional federal and private dollars to
support achievement of program goals, and ensure ongoing response to
the identified special needs of the chronically impaired to provide
support that maximizes their level of functioning.
   (3) Monitor and evaluate programs and services administered by the
department, utilizing standardized methodology.
   (4) Develop and implement training and technical assistance
programs designed to achieve program goals.
   (5) Establish criteria for the designation, sanctioning and
defunding of area agencies on aging.
   (d) In conjunction with the management information and reporting
system required under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a), beginning in
the 2006 calendar year, the department shall annually submit by
January 10 of each year, to the budget, fiscal, and policy committees
of the Legislature, and the Legislative Analyst, all of the
following information:
   (1) The number of persons served statewide in each of the prior
and current fiscal years for each state or federally funded program
or service administered by the department. This information shall
also be provided for each Area Agency on Aging service area.
   (2) To the extent feasible, the number of unduplicated persons
served statewide in the prior and current fiscal years for all state
or federally funded programs and services administered by the
department. To the extent feasible, this information shall also be
provided for each Area Agency on Aging service area.
   (3) Total estimated statewide expenditures in the prior, current,
and budget fiscal years for each state or federally funded program or
service administered by the department. This information shall also
be provided for each Area Agency on Aging service area.
   (e) The report required by subdivision (d) shall be suspended
until the 2010-11 fiscal year. In lieu of that information, the
department shall submit to the budget, fiscal, and policy committees
of the Legislature, and the Legislative Analyst, by March 1 of each
year, copies of the program factsheets for each state and federal
program administered by the department. The department shall update
the information included in the program factsheets annually, before
submitting them as required by this subdivision.



9103.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Recent studies have shown that lifelong experiences of
marginalization place lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
seniors at high risk for isolation, poverty, homelessness, and
premature institutionalization. Moreover, many LGBT seniors are
members of multiple underrepresented groups, and as a result, are
doubly marginalized. Due to these factors, many LGBT seniors avoid
accessing elder programs and services, even when their health,
safety, and security depend on it.
   (b) LGBT seniors often lack social and family support networks
available to non-LGBT seniors. They may face particular health risks,
as disease prevention strategies often ignore LGBT seniors, and HIV
and AIDS drug trials generally do not include older participants.
   (c) LGBT seniors are denied many vital financial benefits provided
to heterosexual married couples. For example, surviving same-sex
partners are denied the social security benefits that married couples
are provided, and may face heavy taxes on the transfer of assets
upon the death of a partner. Moreover, even under California law,
LGBT seniors are denied equal long-term care insurance protections.
This costs LGBT seniors hundreds of millions of dollars each year in
lost benefits.
   (d) The number of people 65 years of age and older in California
is estimated to double to 6.5 million by the year 2020, thereby
increasing the number of LGBT seniors who are receiving inadequate
services.
   (e) Ensuring that the needs of LGBT seniors as well as other
underrepresented groups are adequately assessed during the planning
and development of programs and services will increase access to the
programs administered by the California Department of Aging and the
area agencies on aging.
   (f) California leads the nation in the protections it affords to
LGBT persons. As the failure to meet the needs of LGBT seniors is a
problem of national scope, including LGBT seniors and other
underrepresented groups in need of assessment and area plan process
will help the state to be a model for change in other states and at
the federal level.



9103.1.  (a) The department shall ensure all older adults have equal
access to programs and services provided through the Older Americans
Act and under this division in each planning and services area,
regardless of physical or mental disabilities, language barriers,
cultural or social isolation, including that caused by actual or
perceived racial and ethnic status, including, but not limited to,
African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian American,
ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, marital
status, familial status, sexual orientation, or any other basis set
forth in Section 12921 of the Government Code, or by association with
a person or persons with one or more of these actual or perceived
characteristics, that restrict an individual's ability to perform
normal daily tasks or that threaten his or her capacity to live
independently.
   (b) This section is not intended to increase General Fund
obligations for programs administered by area agencies on aging.
   (c) The department shall require that each area agency on aging
include the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors
in their needs assessment and area plans.
   (d) The department shall provide technical assistance to the area
agencies on aging regarding the unique needs of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender seniors.
   (e) The department may adopt regulations to implement this
section. If the department determines that adopting regulations is
necessary, it shall do so only after consultation with the area
agencies on aging and the California Association of Area Agencies on
Aging.



9105.  The department may adopt and promulgate regulations for the
purpose of carrying out this division.



9105.1.  The department, in partnership with the area agencies on
aging, the Department of Rehabilitation, any independent living
centers, any contractor selected to implement the federal Assistive
Technology Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-394), and any organization
that serves seniors and persons with disabilities, may develop and
provide consumer advice regarding home modification for seniors and
persons with disabilities.



9106.  (a) The department shall administer the administrative cost
limitation, as defined in applicable federal law or regulation on a
statewide basis. This allocation shall be based on notices of grant
award. The formula to be used for the allocation of those funds shall
be as follows:
   (1) Each planning and service area shall receive a base allocation
of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
   (2) The remainder of the funds available up to the statewide
limitation shall be distributed to area agencies on aging on the
basis of the number of persons over the age of 60 years per planning
and service area.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that in the event that an
area agency on aging chooses to use other sources of funds for the
administration of its area plan, the federal money made available to
that area agency on aging for administration shall be used for the
provision of direct services within its planning and service area.



9107.  The department may accept gifts and grants from any source,
public or private, to assist it in the performance of its functions,
and these gifts and grants shall operate to augment any appropriation
made for the support of the department.



9108.  In addition to any nutrition programs conducted under the
McCarthy-Kennick Nutrition Program for the Elderly Act of 1972
(Chapter 5.7 (commencing with Section 18325) of Part 6 of Division
9), the department, with the approval of the Department of Finance,
may make funds available from Section 17 of Chapter 157 of the
Statutes of 1976 and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 9200) to
other nutrition projects serving the needs of individuals aged 60 or
over and their spouses provided by public or private nonprofit
persons or agencies upon such terms and conditions as the department
specifies.


9109.  The department shall, in consultation with nutrition site
directors and area agencies on aging, develop policies and guidelines
for senior nutrition sites that ensure food safety and that maximize
the use of leftover meals and food products. The guidelines shall
include, but not be limited to, senior education programs on good
nutrition and handling, storage of leftover foods, and reviewing
current nutrition site reservation procedures.



9110.  (a) The department may make available state funds to fund
senior nutrition programs that complement programs implemented
pursuant to Title III of the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 3021).


9111.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that there is a great
disparity in the method by which the federal Older Americans Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 3001, et seq.) and General Fund moneys are distributed to
the 33 area agencies on aging in this state.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to correct these
inequities in funding for nutrition and social service programs. It
is further the intent of the Legislature that correction of these
inequities be accomplished with minimal disruption to existing
program services.
   (c) The department, in consultation with the commission, the Area
Agency on Aging Advisory Council of California, the California
Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and representatives of
provider groups, shall review the existing intrastate funding
formula, established pursuant to Section 9112, for the allocation of
state and federal funds provided for programs under Title III of the
federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3021 et seq.). The
department shall update the formula in accordance with federal
regulations and shall submit a report thereon to the chairperson of
the fiscal committee of each house of the Legislature and the
Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, no later than
December 1, 1986. Changes to the intrastate funding formula may only
be made by the Legislature.
   (d) The department and commission shall hold hearings and present
alternative criteria for public input relative to the funding formula
provided for under subdivision (a).
   (e) The department, based upon analysis and testimony provided for
pursuant to subdivision (d), and information provided by the public,
shall develop an implementation plan with cost factors to achieve
parity amongst the area agencies on aging in California.
   (f) The department shall ensure that priority consideration shall
be given to criteria that reflect the state's intent to target
services to those in greatest economic or social need, including, but
not limited to, the low-income, non-English speaking, minority, and
frail elderly.
   (g) The department shall report to the Legislature on the
activities provided for in this section no later than December 1,
1986.


9112.  (a) The department shall implement an intrastate funding
formula in accordance with all federal regulations. This formula
shall apply to all federal and state funds allocated for programs
provided for under Title III of the federal Older Americans Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 3021, et seq.).
   (b) The intrastate funding formula shall include all of the
following:
   (1) Assurances that all area agencies on aging shall have a fifty
thousand dollar ($50,000) administrative base with the remainder of
the allowable administrative dollars allocated to planning and
service areas on the basis of number of persons over the age of 60
years.
   (2) (A) When data is available, an annual update by the department
for changes in population characteristics to include the number of
persons per planning and service area over the age of 60 years and
persons in greatest economic or social need as measured by all of the
following variables which shall also be annually updated by the
department:
   (i) The number of persons over the age of 65 years receiving aid
under the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and
Disabled, provided for under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
12000) of Part 3 of Division 9.
   (ii) The number of persons over the age of 75 years.
   (iii) The number of minority elderly over the age of 60 years.
   (iv) The number of persons over the age of 60 years living alone.
   (v) The number of non-English-speaking persons over the age of 60
years.
   (B) The weight given to each variable shall simulate the weighting
used in the Washington State intrastate funding formula adjusting
for the geographic factor.
   (3) A rural factor that guarantees a 105 percent allocation to
rural planning and service areas.
   (4) A hold-harmless factor that guarantees that no planning and
service area shall have its federal and state allocation of funds
under Title III of the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
3021, et seq.), excluding area agency on aging administrative costs
and funds carried over from the 1983-84 fiscal year, reduced below
the 1984-85 fiscal year funding levels.
   (c) In the event that additional federal or state funds, in excess
of those appropriated under the 1984-85 Budget Act, or subsequent
Budget Acts are made available for services, these funds shall be
used to maintain existing service levels, with the remainder to be
distributed to those planning and service areas which have been
determined by the department to be under equity until parity is
achieved.
   (d) The department shall develop, in conjunction with the
intrastate funding formula, a methodology for assuring compliance
with the state targeting strategy on an intraplanning and service
area basis. In developing this methodology the department shall
provide assurances that as additional federal and state service
dollars are allocated to the planning and service areas these dollars
will be expended on those elderly individuals identified as in
greatest economic or social need.



9113.  Area agencies on aging shall maintain in effect contracts
funded from appropriations made by the Budget Act of 2000 for
community-based service program expansion until July 1, 2004.



9114.  The department may, where necessary to ensure the continued
provision of services or program operation, advance available state
funds to an area agency on aging in an amount up to one-sixth of the
annual state and federal allocation to the area agency on aging.