Information and Planning: Understanding the Capacity of the Aging Network

The Administration on Aging (AoA), an agency within the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), serves as the Federal agency responsible for advancing the concerns and interests of older people and their caregivers, and works with and through the Older Americans Act (OAA) Aging Network to carry out its mission by promoting the development of comprehensive and coordinated systems of home- and community-based services that are responsive to the needs and preferences of older people and their family caregivers. The Aging Network reaches into every community in the nation, playing a vital role in strategic planning, program development and administration, and service delivery. To ensure that older adults have access to high quality aging services, the Aging Network must constantly review its programs and explore ways to innovate and enhance program design and delivery. There is an ongoing need to understand and document the activities that are undertaken in the Aging Network as its members grow and advance to accommodate the ever evolving needs of the communities they serve. For example, the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was created to support family caregivers of all ages. How is the Aging Network supporting caregivers and utilizing approaches outlined in the strategy. By exploring and documenting these activities we are able to highlight the important work of the Aging Network and identify emerging practices and innovations.ACL has identified topical areas of critical importance to both the agency and the Administration. Applicants should consider how the following priority topics will figure into the grantee's overall goals and objectives over the life of the project;Family caregiving and the caregiving economyContracts and commercial relationshipsState/local multi-sector plans on agingImplications of the crisis in the direct care workforceVaccine AccessTitle III/VI coordinationCentral to these and other ACL priorities is the pursuit of consistent and effective approaches to support older adults and people with disabilities in their own homes and communities, and to coordinate the provision of supportive services in an integrated system of long-term care. This funding announcement seeks to broaden the knowledge base of the Aging Network around the identified ACL priorities as well as other critical issues. The primary goal for this initiative is to increase ACL and the Aging Network’s understanding of how Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), Title VI (Tribal Organizations), and other agencies as appropriate, are adapting, enhancing, and expanding services and supports to meet current and future needs of older adults and their caregivers. Key to the success of ongoing implementation of programs and initiatives is the gathering and analysis of reliable information from which to determine the impact and success of implemented efforts. Efforts undertaken under this project will not only assist in understanding the capacity of the Aging Network, but will also serve as a foundation for identifying future training and technical assistance needs. Current and past Understanding Capacity projects have yielded valuable reports on AAA and Tribal Organization involvement in such areas as:Social Connection;Dementia and Brain Health;Housing and Homelessness;Workforce Challenges;Innovative Service Delivery; andInformation technologyPast Understanding Capacity project reports can be found at https://www.usaging.org/research.The applicant should thoroughly describe in their proposed approach for working collaboratively with AAAs, Tribal Organizations, and other agencies as appropriate to develop a plan for gathering information from these organizations on key home and community-based activities as well as services to caregivers. The successful applicant will develop an analysis of their understanding of Aging Network progress, including recommendations for future training and technical assistance for the Network including AAAs and Tribal Organizations. The successful application should propose how they will accomplish the following activities as a part of the funded program:Work collaboratively with the ACL staff for areas of exploration and technical assistance as needed or requested;Work with ACL, including staff from the Center for Policy and Evaluation, to explore ways to share information collected to advance the opportunities for shared knowledge;Identify and catalog trends and gaps in AAA and Tribal Organization’s program development and service delivery utilizing myriad of methods including but not limited to surveys, interviews, environment scans, and literature reviews;Synthesize the information identified and disseminate that information, with a special focus on best practices, with the Aging Network through a variety of methods including, but not limited to, written reports, websites, tools, webinars, and conference presentations; andProvide technical assistance and training in support of AAAs, Tribal Organizations, and other appropriate Aging Network entities.Performance Measurement Applicants should propose how they will collect information to document and describe outcome and outcomes for all activities described in their funding announcement opportunity. Applications should include a brief description of expected sources for output and outcome data and methods of data collection (e.g. surveys of those utilizing products or attending trainings.) Applicants should propose how their activities will contribute to the primary goal of the Understanding Capacity project outlined in this funding announcement.