The duties and powers of the department shall be as follows:
(a) To administer all programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, and this division, including providing leadership and technical assistance to the local area agencies on aging, including ongoing oversight, monitoring, and service quality evaluation of those agencies 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 database 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 dispersing information and providing technical assistance 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 services and supports needs of older adults and persons with disabilities, 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 to older adults and people with disabilities for the purposes of policy development, development of care standards, consistency in application of policy, and 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 system goals in developing integrated, coordinated systems of care.
(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.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 337, Sec. 8. (SB 1249) Effective January 1, 2025.)