| The Pennsylvania Department of Aging is now accepting public comment on its draft 2024-28 State Plan on Aging. As the State Unit on Aging for the Commonwealth, PDA is federally required by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to submit four-year plans to be in compliance with the Older Americans Act (OAA), which provides funding for many of the services and supports available for older adults. ACL has not yet approved the State Plan draft.
The deadline to provide comments is Thursday, June 20. A draft of the plan and a form to submit comments are available on the Department of Aging’s website. Comments are also being accepted by email at AgingPlan@pa.gov or by mail at State Plan on Aging, 555 Walnut St. 5th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101.
The four-year State Plan on Aging is different from the Aging Our Way, PA 10-year plan that Governor Josh Shapiro and Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich released on May 31. Aging Our Way, PA presents an ambitious, comprehensive vision for multi-sector collaboration, transformative policymaking, and structural changes to elevate the experience of aging in the state. The four-year State Plan is limited in scope to PDA and the Aging Network and focuses on ACL’s specified key topic areas.
The four-year State Plan on Aging will connect the strategies and key topic areas of the 2020-24 State Plan, the priorities identified in Aging Our Way, PA, and the key topic areas established by ACL in 2021, including:
- OAA Core Programs
- COVID-19
- Equity
- Expanding Access to Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
- Caregiving
The goals and objectives included in the 2024-28 State Plan of Aging will not only reflect many of the priorities identified in Aging Our Way, PA, but they will also closely align with the local area plans created by the 52 Area Agencies on Aging.
Thank you in advance for your participation and for your service and commitment to older Pennsylvanians. |
