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(a) The Legislature hereby declares and recognizes the area agencies on aging to be the local units on aging in California that are supported from an array of sources, including federal funding largely through the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.), state and local governmental assistance, the private sector, and individual contributions for services.
(b) Area agencies on aging shall operate in compliance with the Older Americans Act and applicable regulations.
(c) Each area agency on aging shall maintain a professional staff that is supplemented by volunteers, governed by a board of directors or elected officials, and whose activities are reviewed by an advisory council consisting primarily of older individuals from the community.
(d) (1) Each area agency on aging shall create a plan that considers available data and population trends, assesses the needs for services provided under this division reflective of the community needs, identifies sources for funding those services, and develops and implements a plan for delivery of those services based on those needs. Each plan shall include developing area home- and community-based systems of care that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive environment, providing better access to these services through information and referral, outreach, and transportation, and advocating for older adults on local, state, and national levels.
(2) Each plan shall use the California Elder Economic Security Standard Index as a reference when making decisions about allocating existing resources to specify the costs in the private market of meeting the basic needs of elders in each planning and service area. This paragraph shall be implemented only if the California Elder Economic Security Standard Index is updated and made available to the area agencies on aging, and if the available public data used to calculate each California Elder Economic Security Standard Index data element is calculated and updated using county level information specific to each California county and made available to the area agencies on aging in a format that displays each county’s specific data.
(e) Area agencies on aging shall function as the community link at the local level for development of home- and community-based services provided under the department’s programs.
(f) The area agencies on aging shall implement subdivision (b) of Section 9100 at the local level, with particular emphasis on coordinating with the local systems to enable individuals to live out their lives with maximum independence and dignity in their own homes and communities through the development of comprehensive and coordinated systems of home- and community-based care. This division shall not preclude local determination and designation of service coordinators other than area agencies on aging, for development and implementation of the long-term care integration pilot projects set forth in Article 4.05 (commencing with Section 14139.05) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division 9.
(g) In fulfilling their mission, area agencies on aging shall build upon the resources and the commitment unique to each community and shall be guided by a 10-point description of a community-based system that shall do all of the following:
(1) Have a visible focal point of contact where anyone can go or call for help, information, or referral on any aging issue.
(2) Provide a range of service options.
(3) Ensure that these options are readily accessible to all older individuals, whether independent, semi-independent, or totally dependent, no matter what their income.
(4) Include a commitment of public, private, and voluntary resources committed to supporting the system.
(5) Involve collaborative decisionmaking among public, private, voluntary, religious, and fraternal organizations, as well as older adults and consumers in the community.
(6) Offer special help or targeted resources for the most vulnerable older adults, those in danger of losing their independence.
(7) Provide effective referral from agency to agency to ensure that information or assistance is received, regardless of how or where contact is made in the community.
(8) Evidence sufficient flexibility to respond with appropriate individualized assistance, especially for the vulnerable older individuals.
(9) Have a unique character that is tailored to the specific nature of the community.
(10) Be directed by leaders in the community who have the respect, capacity, and authority necessary to convene all interested persons to assess needs, design solutions, track overall success, stimulate change, and plan community responses for the present and for the future.