1Establishing naturally occurring retirement communities; and
2providing for powers and duties of the Department of Aging.

3The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4hereby enacts as follows:

5Section 1. Short title.

6This act shall be known and may be cited as the Naturally
7Occurring Retirement Community Act.

8Section 2. Declaration of policy.

9The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

10(1) There is an increasing need for appropriate services
11to senior citizens residing in houses, apartments and other
12dwellings not originally constructed for the elderly.

13(2) Establishing and supporting naturally occurring
14retirement communities assures access to a continuum of
15necessary services and prevents or postpones the need for
16seniors residing in these communities to move to an
17institutional care setting such as a hospital, nursing home

1or assisted living residence.

2Section 3. Definitions.

3The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
4have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
5context clearly indicates otherwise:

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

7"Eligible entity." A nonprofit health or social service
8organization, a community-based nonprofit organization, an area
9agency on aging or other local government agency or other entity
10that:

11(1) The secretary determines to be appropriate to carry
12out a project under this act.

13(2) Demonstrates a record of and experience in providing
14or administering group and individual health and social
15services for senior citizens.

16The term does not include an entity providing housing under the
17congregate services program carried out under section 802 of the
18Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (Public Law
19101-625, 42 U.S.C. § 8011) or the multifamily service
20coordinator program carried out under section 202(g) of the
21National Housing Act (48 Stat. 1246, 12 U.S.C. § 1701q(g)).

22"Eligible services." Services, including, but not limited
23to, case management, care coordination, counseling, health
24assessment and monitoring, transportation, socialization
25activities, home care facilitation and monitoring, technology,
26assistive technology, home repairs, the eligible entity's
27infrastructure-related costs, home health care and assistance
28with daily living activities such as cooking and cleaning, and
29other services designed to address the needs of residents of
30naturally occurring retirement communities by helping them

1extend their independence, improve their quality of life and
2avoid unnecessary hospital and nursing home stays.

3"Naturally occurring retirement community." A community with
4a concentrated population of senior citizens, including, but not
5limited to, a residential building, housing complex and area,
6including a rural area, of single-family residences or a
7neighborhood composed of age-integrated housing that is not an
8institutional care or an assisted living residence and where:

9(1) not less than 40% of the heads of households are
10seniors; or

11(2) a critical mass of seniors exists, based on local
12factors that, taken in total, allow an organization to
13achieve efficiencies in the provision of health and social
14services to seniors living in the community.

15"Program." The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community
16Program.

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

18"Senior" or "senior citizen." A person who is at least 60
19years of age.

20Section 4. Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Program.

21The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Program is
22established and shall be administered by the department.

23Section 5. Powers and duties.

24(a) Rules and regulations.--The department shall promulgate
25rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this act.

26(b) Grants.--The department shall issue grants to eligible
27entities to the extent that funds may be available.

28(c) Advisory board.--The secretary shall establish an
29advisory board to aid in the development of the program. The
30advisory board shall consist of all of the following:

1(1) The secretary, who shall serve as the chairman of
2the advisory group.

3(2) Four representatives from existing naturally
4occurring retirement community programs, one of whom shall
5reside in a city of the third class, a township or a borough.

6(3) Two representatives from senior citizen advocacy
7groups.

8(4) Two representatives from area agencies on aging.

9(5) Two representatives from nonprofit community-based
10senior centers.

11(6) Two representatives from home and community-based
12service providers.

13(7) One representative from the American Association of
14Retired Persons.

15(8) One representative who is an expert on elder law.

16(9) One representative who is an expert in social work.

17(10) One representative from the Department of Health of
18the Commonwealth.

19(11) One representative from the Department of Public
20Welfare of the Commonwealth.

21(12) One representative appointed by each of the
22following:

23(i) The Majority Leader of the Senate.

24(ii) The Minority Leader of the Senate.

25(iii) The Majority Leader of the House of
26Representatives.

27(iv) The Minority Leader of the House of
28Representatives.

29(d) Criteria for grants.--The department shall develop
30criteria for the awarding of grants consistent with this section

1and shall include, at a minimum:

2(1) The number, size, type and location of the projects
3to be served, except that the advisory board and the
4secretary shall make reasonable efforts to assure that
5geographic balance in the distribution of the projects is
6maintained, consistent with:

7(i) The needs to be addressed.

8(ii) Available funding.

9(iii) Applications from eligible entities.

10(iv) Other requirements of this section.

11(v) Other criteria developed by the advisory board
12and the secretary.

13(2) The appropriate number and concentration of senior
14citizens to be served by an individual project.

15(3) The demographic characteristics, including the age,
16sex and region of the senior citizens to be served.

17(4) The financial support required to operate and
18sustain a naturally occurring retirement community project
19and the sources of the support, including, but not limited
20to, a membership contribution or fee that may be assessed on
21a sliding scale related to income of the member and the
22specific service provided.

23(5) The scope and intensity of the services to be
24provided and their appropriateness for the senior citizens
25proposed to be served. The criteria shall not require that
26the eligible entity be the sole provider of such services,
27but shall require that the eligible entity, at a minimum,
28actively manage the provision of the services utilizing to
29the extent possible the existing service providers in order
30to avoid duplication of services and to promote coordination

1of available services.

2(6) The experience and financial stability of the
3eligible entity, except that the criteria shall require that
4priority be given to programs already in operation.

5(7) The nature and extent of requirements established
6for active, meaningful participation for senior citizens to
7be served in project design, implementation, monitoring,
8evaluation and governance.

9(8) Documentation of the need for the project and
10financial commitments to it from such sources as the advisory
11board shall deem appropriate given the character and nature
12of the proposed project. The purpose of the documentation
13shall be to demonstrate the need for the project, support for
14it in the areas to be served and the financial and managerial
15ability to sustain the project.

16Section 6. Reports to General Assembly.

17On or before March 1 of every year, the secretary shall issue
18a report to the Governor, the chairman and the minority chairman
19of the Aging and Youth Committee of the Senate and the chairman
20and minority chairman of the Aging and Older Adult Services
21Committee of the House of Representatives. The report shall
22discuss the effectiveness of the program and recommendations for
23improvement. Areas that may be included in the report are:

24(1) Whether the program is helping to address the needs
25of naturally occurring retirement community residents.

26(2) Whether the program is assuring access to a
27continuum of necessary services.

28(3) Whether the program receives private, philanthropic
29and other public funding.

30(4) Whether the program prevents or postpones the need

1for seniors residing in a naturally occurring retirement
2community to move to an institutional care setting, such as a
3hospital, nursing home or assisted living residence, as
4measured by the time period commencing on the date a senior
5first meets the legal criteria for admission to such an
6institution and ending on the date when the senior applies
7for such admission.

8(5) The number, size, type and location of the projects
9developed and funded, including the number, kinds and
10functions of staff in each program.

11(6) The number, size, type and location of the projects
12proposed but not funded and the reasons for denial of funding
13for the projects.

14(7) The age, sex, region and other appropriate
15demographic information concerning the seniors served.

16(8) The services provided to seniors, reported in a
17manner to allow comparison of services by demographic group
18and region.

19(9) A listing of the services provided by eligible
20entities, including the number, kind and intensity of the
21services.

22Section 7. Effective date.

23This act shall take effect in 60 days.