Kaine Secures Key Provisions in Committee-Passed Bill to Reauthorize Older Americans Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, applauded committee passage of legislation to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA), which authorizes a wide range of programs and services to help older Americans age in their homes and communities. The legislation passed today included an increase in authorized funding and key provisions secured by Kaine, including his Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act to improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, which designates staff and trained volunteers as representatives to advocate for residents of nursing homes and other long-term care (LTC) facilities.

“We all deserve to age in our homes and communities with dignity, and the Older Americans Act has played a huge role in allowing seniors across our nation to do that. I’m glad the legislation we advanced today out of committee included key provisions I fought for to strengthen advocacy for long-term care residents and support the recruitment, training, and retention of direct care workers,” said Kaine. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move the legislation forward on the Senate floor.”

Kaine successfully secured the following provisions:

• Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act: Includes his bill with Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) to strengthen the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program by instructing the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to establish categories of duties for volunteers and appropriate training requirements for volunteers based on those categories, reaffirm Congress’ intent that the Ombudsman program should be led by a full-time National Director, and require a study and report with a recommendation for the number of ombudsmen per LTC facility bed.
• Direct Care Workforce Training: Includes a provision of his Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act instructing ACL to create a technical assistance center to support the recruitment, training, and retention of direct care workers. In 2022, ACL established this center. This provision codifies the existence of this center in statute and expands its work to include supporting family caregivers.
• Housing: Includes his bipartisan bill, the Housing Options for Older Adults Act of 2024, with Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), which requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the supply, affordability, and accessibility of housing for older Americans and survey the landscape of housing programs for older Americans across the federal government.
• Support for Area Agencies on Aging: Includes language to ensure proper implementation of a statute that allows Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to contract with outside entities to bring in revenue that AAAs reinvest in their work to serve older Americans.

Kaine also voted to pass two other pieces of legislation out of HELP: the Traumatic Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2024, which reauthorizes prevention, surveillance, and programs related to traumatic brain injury, and the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2024, which reauthorizes federal support for research, services, and training related to autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.

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