THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY STACK, WASHINGTON, STOUT, RAFFERTY, LOGAN, FERLO, KITCHEN, HUGHES, GREENLEAF, O'PAKE, FONTANA, BOSCOLA AND WOZNIAK, JULY 17, 2009

REFERRED TO AGING AND YOUTH, JULY 17, 2009  

AN ACT

Establishing naturally occurring retirement communities; and

providing for powers and duties of the Department of Aging.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Naturally

Occurring Retirement Community Act.

Section 2.  Declaration of policy.

The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1)  There is an increasing need for appropriate services

to senior citizens residing in houses, apartments and other

dwellings not originally constructed for the elderly.

(2)  Establishing and supporting naturally occurring

retirement communities assures access to a continuum of

necessary services and prevents or postpones the need for

seniors residing in these communities to move to an

institutional care setting such as a hospital, nursing home

or assisted living residence.

Section 3.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Department."  The Department of Aging of the Commonwealth.

"Eligible entity."  A nonprofit health or social service

organization, a community-based nonprofit organization, an area

agency on aging or other local government agency or other entity

that:

(1)  the Secretary of Aging determines to be appropriate

to carry out a project under this act; and

(2)  demonstrates a record of and experience in providing

or administering group and individual health and social

services for senior citizens.

The term does not include an entity providing housing under the

congregate housing services program carried out under section

802 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act

(Public Law 101-625, 42 U.S.C. 8011) or the multifamily service

coordinator program carried out under section 202(g) of the

National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701q(g)).

"Eligible services."  Services including, but not limited to,

case management, care coordination, counseling, health

assessment and monitoring, transportation, socialization

activities, home care facilitation and monitoring, technology,

assistive technology, home repairs, the eligible entity's

infrastructure-related costs, home health care and assistance

with daily living activities such as cooking and cleaning, and

other services designed to address the needs of residents of

naturally occurring retirement communities by helping them

extend their independence, improve their quality of life and

avoid unnecessary hospital and nursing home stays.

"Naturally occurring retirement community."  A community with

a concentrated population of senior citizens, including, but not

limited to, a residential building, housing complex and area,

including a rural area, of single-family residences or a

neighborhood composed of age-integrated housing that is not an

institutional care or an assisted living residence and where:

(1)  not less than 40% of the heads of households are

seniors; or

(2)  a critical mass of seniors exists, based on local

factors that, taken in total, allow an organization to

achieve efficiencies in the provision of health and social

services to seniors living in the community.

"Program."  The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community

Program.

"Secretary."  The Secretary of Aging of the Commonwealth.

"Senior" or "senior citizen."  A person who is 60 years of

age or older.

Section 4.  Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Program.

The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Program is

established and shall be administered by the department.

Section 5.  Powers and duties.

(a)  Rules and regulations.--The department shall promulgate

rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this act.

(b)  Grants.--The department shall issue grants to eligible

entities to the extent that funds may be available.

(c)  Advisory board.--The secretary shall establish an

advisory board to aid in the development of the program. The

advisory board shall consist of all of the following:

(1)  The secretary, who shall serve as the chairman of

the advisory group.

(2)  Four representatives from existing naturally

occurring retirement communities programs, one of whom shall

reside in a city of the third class, a township or a borough.

(3)  Two representatives from senior citizen advocacy

groups.

(4)  Two representatives from area agencies on aging.

(5)  Two representatives from nonprofit community-based

senior centers.

(6)  Two representatives from home and community-based

service providers.

(7)  One representative appointed by each of the

following:

(i)  The Majority Leader of the Senate.

(ii)  The Minority Leader of the Senate.

(iii)  The Majority Leader of the House of

Representatives.

(iv)  The Minority Leader of the House of

Representatives.

(d)  Criteria for grants.--The department shall develop

criteria for the awarding of grants consistent with this section

and shall include, at a minimum:

(1)  The number, size, type and location of the projects

to be served, except that the advisory board and the

secretary shall make reasonable efforts to assure that

geographic balance in the distribution of the projects is

maintained, consistent with:

(i)  The needs to be addressed.

(ii)  Funding available.

(iii)  Applications from eligible entities.

(iv)  Other requirements of this section.

(v)  Other criteria developed by the advisory board

and the secretary.

(2)  The appropriate number and concentration of senior

citizens to be served by an individual project.

(3)  The demographic characteristics, including the age,

sex and region of the senior citizens to be served.

(4)  The financial support required to operate and

sustain a naturally occurring retirement community project

and the sources of the support, including, but not limited

to, a membership contribution or fee that may be assessed on

a sliding scale related to income of the member and the

specific service provided.

(5)  The scope and intensity of the services to be

provided, and their appropriateness for the senior citizens

proposed to be served. The criteria shall not require that

the eligible entity be the sole provider of such services,

but shall require that the eligible entity at a minimum

actively manage the provision of the services utilizing to

the extent possible the existing service providers in order

to avoid duplication of services and to promote coordination

of available services.

(6)  The experience and financial stability of the

eligible entity, except that the criteria shall require that

priority be given to programs already in operation.

(7)  The nature and extent of requirements established

for active, meaningful participation for senior citizens to

be served in project design, implementation, monitoring,

evaluation and governance.

(8)  Documentation of the need for the project and

financial commitments to it from such sources as the advisory

board shall deem appropriate given the character and nature

of the proposed project. The purpose of the documentation

shall be to demonstrate the need for the project, support for

it in the areas to be served and financial and managerial

ability to sustain the project.

Section 6.  Reports to General Assembly.

On or before March 1 of every year, the secretary shall issue

a report to the Governor, the chairman and the minority chairman

of the Aging and Youth Committee of the Senate, and the chairman

and minority chairman of the Aging and Older Adult Services

Committee of the House of Representatives. The report shall

discuss the effectiveness of the program and recommendations for

improvement. Areas that may be included in the report are:

(1)  Whether the program is helping to address the needs

of naturally occurring retirement community residents.

(2)  Whether the program is assuring access to a

continuum of necessary services.

(3)  Whether the program receives private, philanthropic

and other public funding.

(4)  Whether the program prevents or postpones the need

for seniors residing in a naturally occurring retirement

community to move to an institutional care setting, such as a

hospital, nursing home or assisted living residence, as

measured by the time period commencing on the date a senior

first meets the legal criteria for admission to such an

institution and ending on the date when he or she applies for

such admission.

(5)  The number, size, type and location of the projects

developed and funded, including the number, kinds and

functions of staff in each program.

(6)  The number, size, type and location of the projects

proposed but not funded and the reasons for denial of funding

for the projects.

(7)  The age, sex, region and other appropriate

demographic information concerning the seniors served.

(8)  The services provided to seniors, reported in a

manner to allow comparison of services by demographic group

and region.

(9)  A listing of the services provided by eligible

entities, including the number, kind and intensity of the

services.

Section 20.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.