On July 19, LeadingAge responded to a July 13 request from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee for comments on its discussion draft of the Older Americans Act (OAA) reauthorization. The OAA is reauthorized every five years and the current authorization ends September 30, 2024.

LeadingAge commented on a few components of the draft:

• We applauded the focus on mental health and substance abuse disorders but mentioned more funding was needed as this is a large and growing problem for our members;
• We discussed our support for an all-of-government approach to aging, including support for the discussion draft’s funding for the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age-Friendly Communities, which is creating a national plan on aging while referencing our 2023 advocacy for a White House Office on Aging;
• We supported expansions in supports for family caregivers and respite care proposed in the draft;
• We supported provisions in the draft that would expand the scope of home modifications to include weatherization modifications for affordable senior housing; and
• We expressed our disappointment in the discussion draft’s missed opportunity to formally link OAA-funded programs and resources to Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded public housing agencies, private owners, and continua of care, which coordinate homeless services funding at the local level.

Unfortunately, the discussion draft’s requested study from the Government Accountability Office on the affordable housing needs of older adults with low incomes will mostly result in information duplicative of what is already widely researched and understood: there is a severe shortage of affordable housing for all households, including for older adults, and older adults are the fastest growing population of people experiencing homelessness. We also asked for infusions into Title III, the OAA title under which many of our members get OAA funds.