Scope, Objectives, and Methodologies Used by GAO for Ongoing Review of Area Agencies on Aging

Congress enacted the Older Americans Act to support a State agency on aging in each State and to provide grants to these agencies to initiate community-based social service projects for older Americans. GAO performed a study to see to what extent these area agencies have established arrangements with other organizations in the community to: (1) identify service gaps by assessing the elderly's needs for social services and evaluating whether service resources meet such needs; and (2) initiate, expand, or improve service delivery systems by integrating service organizations and resources and by influencing others to increase resources allocated to services for the elderly. GAO established an advisory committee to work with it during the study. With the committee's help, GAO has developed definitions and criteria to measure the extent of coordination between area agencies. A major hypothesis of the study is that the primary strategy by an area agency to initiate, expand, or improve service delivery is a principal determinant of the extent to which it establishes arrangements with other organizations. GAO believes that the information gathered from the study will be a useful benchmark for measuring the future progress which area agencies might make in carrying out their legislative mandate to enter into cooperative arrangements with other organizations within their planning and service areas.