Performance of Older Americans Act Programs

ACL collects information and reports on the performance of Older Americans Act programs through the several data collection systems under its National Aging Program Information System (NAPIS), its national surveys of OAA participants, and its evaluation studies. This is reported in the Program Performance Analysis section of the budget justification submitted to Congress along with the President’s budget each year, as well as through several other mechanisms.

The following sections provide more detailed information on OAA performance data collection and reporting.

ACL/AoA Program Results and Accomplishments

Information on FY 2011-FY 2016 ACL/AoA program results and accomplishments can be found in ACL's ACL Budget documents.

National Aging Program Information System (NAPIS)

State Program Reports on the Home and Community Based and Nutrition Services and Elder Rights (Titles III and VII)

The State Program Reports are the primary information system for states to report on the Older Americans Act programs of supportive services, nutrition, caregiver support, etc., which they provide. It includes information about who the OAA participants are, what services they receive, and what funding is expended for this program. SPR reports also serve as a critical data source for measures of the performance of OAA programs.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has recently completed redesigning the Older Americans Act (OAA) State Program Performance Report (SPR) and has almost finished development of a new, web-based tool for submission of those data. View this page for more information.

The Older Americans Act Performance System (OAAPS) will be the new reporting tool the Administration for Community Living (ACL)/Administration on Aging (AoA) uses to monitor performance and collect information on Older Americans Act (OAA) Title III, VI (Chapters 3 and 4 grants), and VII programs. States and Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) will be able to submit their annual performance report data on OAA program participants, services, and expenditures either through uploading data files (based on a template to be provided by ACL) or entering directly inputting data into OAAPS. 

• SPR Results
• State Program Report (SPR) Form 

National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Performance Data

Information on the efforts of Long-Term Care Ombudsmen as reported by each State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, including data on staffing, facilities and beds, and types of complaints from residents.

• Performance Information from the National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS)
• More Information on the LTC National LTC Ombudsman Program

Performance Outcomes

The Administration on Aging (AoA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supported the Performance Outcome Measurement Project (POMP) to develop tools and procedures to measure the impact of programs funded under the Older Americans Act (OAA). Although developed for use with OAA programs, these tools may also be useful to other social service and support programs. The POMP web pages provide tools to help sites measure their performance and include a toolkit with guidance and survey instruments, a sample size calculator, data collection utilities, and a list of resources and links to relevant information.

Through annual performance reports, Federal agencies provide detailed information on their progress in meeting program performance objectives. Congress and OMB now use performance information to support budget decisions. Many state and local governments are requiring similar systems of accountability to document results and justify funding.

In order to gather information on the performance of its program, the Administration on Aging surveys the participants in its Older Americans Act programs. These national surveys provide a portrait of who receives these services and how they assess the quality of the services received.

Description of National Surveys of OAA Participants

The National Surveys of OAA Participants are a collection of annual national surveys of recipients of select Title III services. Their purpose is to obtain performance outcome measurement information, which is then used in AoA’s GPRA plan and PART assessment. The survey instruments focus on consumer assessment of service quality and consumer-reported outcomes. The instruments also measure special needs characteristics such as physical and social functioning of the people who receive services.

• Second National Survey
  • Highlights of Second National Survey (PDF, 14KB)
• Third National Survey
  • Third National Survey Final Report (PDF, 618 KB)
• Fourth National Survey
  • Research Brief “OAA Title III Services Target the Most Vulnerable Elderly in the United States” (PDF, 100KB)
• Fifth National Survey
  • Research Brief “Aging in Place: Do Older Americans Act Title III Services Reach Those Most Likely to Enter Nursing Homes?” (PDF, 104KB)
  • Research Brief “Multiple Service Use Among OAA Title III Program Participants” (PDF, 508KB)
  • Research Brief “Multiple Chronic Conditions Among OAA Title III Program Participants” (PDF, 471KB)
  • Research Brief “Supporting Family Caregivers Through Title III of the OAA” (PDF, 455KB)
  • Research Brief “Use of Transportation Services among OAA Title III Program Participants” (PDF, 210KB)
• Seventh National Survey
  • Research Brief “OAA Service Users: Who Is At Risk for Becoming Medicare-Medicaid Eligible?” (PDF, 349KB)
• Eighth National Survey
  • Research Brief “Older Americans Benefit from Older Americans Act Nutrition Programs” (PDF, 385KB)