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Elder
Rights: LTC Ombudsman
Legislation & Regulations
The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program was incorporated into the
Older Americans Act in 1978, with enactment of the requirement
that every state to have an Ombudsman Program and the statutory
definition of ombudsman functions and responsibilities. OAA Amendments
in subsequent years expanded and strengthened the program:
| 1981 |
Expanded ombudsman coverage to include board
and care homes. The name was changed from Nursing Home Ombudsman
to Long-Term Care Ombudsman to reflect this change. |
| 1987 |
Required states to provide for ombudsman
access to residents and residents’ records; immunity
to ombudsmen for the good faith performance of their duties
and prohibitions against
willful interference with the official duties of an ombudsman
and/or retaliation against an ombudsman, resident or other
individual for assisting representatives of the program in
the performance of their duties. |
| 1992 |
Strengthened the program and transferred it to a new title
in the Act., Title VII, Vulnerable Elder Rights Protection
Activities, which also included Programs for Prevention of
Elder Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation, the State Elder Rights
and Legal Assistance Development Program and an Outreach,
Counseling and Assistance Program. (which was subsequently
deleted). |
| 2000 |
Retained and updated ombudsman provisions in Titles II,
III and VII. |
Ombudsman provisions are in the following sections of the
Older Americans Act:
Title I, Section 102, Definitions
- (13) Definition of abuse
- (18) Definition of “board and care facility”
- (22) Definition of “elder abuse”
- (23) Definition of “elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation”
- (24) Definition of “exploitation”
- (33) Definition of “long-term care facility”
(Other
definitions also have relevance, but these are the primary
ones.) Title II, Administration on Aging
- Section 201(d): Office and Director of
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs in the Administration on
Aging and Director’s
Functions
- Section 202(a)(18):
The National Ombudsman Resource Center– Functions,
Required Funding Level
- Section 207(b)(1): The AoA National
Ombudsman Report
Title III, Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging
- Section 301 (c): Assistant Secretary shall provide technical
assistance and training to state and local long-term care ombudsmen.
- Section 304(d)(1)(B): “Such amount” (of specified funds for supportive
services under Sec. 321, Part B) “as the State agency determines to be
adequate for conducting an effective ombudsman program…shall be available
for conducting such program.” (Note: This is the Title III funding that
a state may take “off the top” before Title III funds are
distributed to the area agencies on aging under the intrastate funding
formula. This
is the source of most federal funding for state ombudsman programs.)
- Section 306(a)(9): The area agency
plan shall provide that, in carrying out the ombudsman program,
the agency “will expend not less than the total
amount of funds appropriated under the Act and expended by the agency in fiscal
year 2000….”
- Section 307(a)(9): The state “plan shall provide
assurances that the State agency will carry out, through the Office of
the State Long-Term
Care
Ombudsman, a State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program in accordance with
section 712 and this title, and will expend for such purpose an amount
that is not
less than an amount expended by the State agency with funds received
under this title for fiscal year 2000, and an amount that is not less
than the
amount expended by the State agency with funds received under title VII
for fiscal
year 2000.”
- Section 321(a)(10): Authorizes
as a state supportive service “service
of an ombudsman at the State level to receive, investigate, and act on
complaints by older individuals who are residents of long-term care facilities
and to
advocate for the well-being of such individuals.”
- Section 321(d): Non-supplantation
provision for funding of Title III-B programs
Title IV -- Training, Research, and Discretionary Projects
and Programs
- Section 421: Authorizes between three and
ten state grants to demonstrate and evaluate cooperative projects
between the
state
ombudsman program, legal
assistance
agencies and the state protection and advocacy systems for individuals
with developmental disabilities and mental illness and requires
the Assistant
Secretary to prepare and submit to Congress a report on the results of
the evaluation.
Title VII – Allotments for Vulnerable Elder Rights
Protection Activities
- Chapter 1 - General State Provisions
- Sections 701-705 cover
Title VII establishment; authorization, allotment and reallotment
of
funding; state
and area agency
eligibility requirements;
and
additional state plan requirements, including that states will establish
programs in accordance with the requirements of the Title VII chapters
in (705[a][1]),
a non-supplantation of funding clause for each of the Title VII chapters
(705[a][4]) and an assurance that states will place no additional restrictions
on the eligibility
of entities for designation as local ombudsman entities (705[a][5]).
- Chapter
2 – Ombudsman Programs
- Section 711 – Definitions (of “office,” “ombudsman,” “local
ombudsman entity,” “program,” “representative” and “resident”)
- Section 712 – State Long-Term Care
Ombudsman Program
- Section 713 – Regulations pertaining
to conflict of interest
- Sections 762-764 – Administration,
Technical Assistance and Audits (of Title VII programs)
- Older Americans Act Ombudsman Provisions,
by Topic
[Word
- 146 KB] [PDF
- 324 KB]
- Proposed
regulations were published in the Nov. 15, 1994 Federal Register
but were never issued in final.
[Word
- 192 KB] [PDF
- 247 KB]
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Dept. of Health & Human Services
