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Ohio Laws and Rules
(A) The Ohio department of aging has been charged by the general assembly with responsibility for developing a system of community-based multipurpose senior centers that provide centralized and coordinated services to older adults. These facilities are intended to assist older adults to maintain their physical, social and emotional well-being, and to live dignified and independent lives in their own homes. In an effort to comply with this mandate, the department has established the senior facilities program through which the department awards limited grant funds to public or nonprofit agencies wishing to construct, acquire, renovate or repair facilities to be used as senior centers. The rules in this chapter describe the process to be followed when applying for and awarding funds under this program.
(B) As used in this chapter:
(1) “AAA” means area agency on aging;
(2) “Area agency on aging” means a public or nonprofit agency that has been designated by the department to administer aging related programs within a particular planning and service area;
(3) “Director” means the director of the Ohio department of aging;
(4) “Facility” means the actual physical structure of a building or part of a building, and or the permanent fixtures used in the operation of a building or part of a building utilized as a senior center;
(5) “Focal point” means an existing or proposed facility that an AAA has designated in its area plan as an ideal location for the maximum collocation and coordination of services for older adults within a particular community;
(6) “Multipurpose senior center” means a senior center that serves as a focal point for comprehensive services within a particular community;
(7) “ODA” means the Ohio department of aging;
(8) “Older adult” means any person sixty years of age or older;
(9) “Planning and service area” means any one of the twelve multi-county geographic regions of the state that has been designated by the department to assist in the planning and provision of aging-related programs in Ohio;
(10) “Project” means activity for which funding is sought and/or provided by the department.
(11) “PSA” means planning and service area; and,
(12) “Senior center” means an existing or proposed facility in which emphasis is placed upon the provision of services to older adults.
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/15/2008
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/19/00, 1/2/98
In order to receive funds from the senior facilities program:
(A) An applicant must:
(1) Be a public or nonprofit entity;
(2) Provide written assurances that the senior facility to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired with state funds will be operated as a public or nonprofit entity;
(3) Provide written assurances that the activities and services provided at the senior facility to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired will be made available to all adults sixty years of age or older without regard to their race, sex, religious beliefs, economic status, or physical/mental disposition;
(4) Provide written assurances that the project for which funding is sought will be completed, and the facility will be operated, in accordance with all applicable local, state and/or federal laws;
(5) Provide written assurances that the facility to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired will be operated as a senior center for a period of no less than ten years following the last day of the state fiscal year for which the grant funds are awarded;
(6) Provide written assurances that if its facility will be shared with other groups, funds granted under this program will be used only for that portion of the facility that will be utilized by older persons. Where the same floor space is to be used proportionately, the applicant must assure that the proposed project will be funded with state funds only to the extent, and in the proporation, that older persons will use the floor space;
(7) Provide written assurances that the applicant will purchase insurance coverage to protect all volunteers from the normal risks of personal liability while they are acting within the scope of their volunteer assignments at the applicant’s facility.
(8) Ensure that sufficient funds are available on the first day of the grant period to meet the local share of the project’s cost;
(9) Provide written assurance that sufficient funds will be available to effectively operate the facility to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired;
(10) Submit its application to the AAA serving the PSA in which its facility is to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired by the deadline established by the department; and,
(11) Follow any procedures established by the department in its senior facilities program manual.
(12) Use state funds for those purposes outlined in the grant award and/or the senior facilities program manual.
(B) The facility for which funding is sought must:
(1) Be designated as a focal point by the AAA in the PSA in which the facility is to be constructed, acquired, renovated or repaired, or be used by the grant recipient to provide social, recreational, and two additional home and community-based services (E.G., transporation, congregate meals, adult day care);
(2) Be open at least five days each week;
(3) Be open at least thirty-five hours each week.
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/15/2008
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/19/00, 1/2/98
(A) To the extent that funding is available, the director of the department shall provide a notice of funding availability and a complete copy of all application materials to its twelve AAAs.
(B) After receiving the department’s notice, each AAA shall provide a copy of the notice and application materials to each entity it has designated as a focal point, and to all known senior centers operating within its respective PSA. An AAA’s failure to notify every senior center, however, shall not render the application or grant award process void.
(C) Applicants must submit completed applications to their AAAs within the time period outlined in the application materials. Each AAA shall review the applications it receives for completeness, and shall communicate any deficiencies to an applicant in writing. The applicant shall correct any deficiencies and submit the revised application by the published deadline.
(D) AAAs shall forward all completed applications to ODA within the timeline established by the department.
Effective: 05/16/2005
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/16/2009
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/9/00, 1/2/98
(A) The department shall review all complete grant applications that are timely filed by eligible applicants. The director may award the amount requested, award a different amount, or deny the applicant’s request altogether.
(1) To assist in the review of applications, the department may form an advisory committee of state staff and non-state personnel to review the applications and make funding recommendations to the director. The director may accept, modify, or reject the committee’s recommendations, so long as the director’s funding decisions are not arbitrary or capricious.
(2) When reviewing applications for grants under this chapter, the advisory committee and/or the director shall consider the following:
(a) The overall availability of state and/or local funding for the applicant’s project;
(b) Whether the proposed project involves the construction of a new facility or the purchase or remodeling of an existing facility;
(c) The technical merit of the proposed project and the quality of the presentation of the application.
(d) The degree of local community support for the project;
(e) The degree to which proposed project will improve the quality and/or availability of services in the geographic region to be served by the facility;
(f) The number of low income and minority seniors served or proposed to be served by the facility; and,
(g) Any other criteria deemed to be appropriate by the director and noted in the department’s request for proposals.
(B) The department shall notify each applicant of the amount of the grant funds to be awarded, if any. No grant award shall be valid unless and until the applicant and the department have entered into a formal written grant agreement and the director of the state’s office of budget and management has certified the availability of funds sufficient to cover the amount awarded by the department. No grant agreement shall become effective before the first day of July in the fiscal year for which the funds were awarded.
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/15/2008
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/19/00, 1/2/98
(A) All recipients of awards under this chapter are required to comply with the procurement and reporting requirements established by the department. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (B) of this rule, the department shall distribute awards on a reimbursement basis only.
(B) All recipients are required to complete their projects by the thirtieth day of June of the fiscal year for which the funds were awarded. Recipients whose projects cannot reasonably be completed within the fiscal year for which they were awarded may, prior to the close of fiscal year, apply to the department for a lump sum payment of all unearned grant funds remaining after the first day of May of the fiscal year for which funding was awarded. The department may approve the payment request if the recipient can provide evidence, deemed sufficient in the eyes of the department, that it is more likely than not that the project will be completed within the six month period immediately following the end of the fiscal year.
(C) Each grant recipient shall notify its AAA immediately upon instituting any change that would affect the grantee’s compliance with the eligibility criteria established by the department pursuant to rule 173-11-02 of the Administrative Code, or that would negatively impact upon any of the representations made in the recipient’s approved grant application.
(D) Each grant applicant shall allow the department of aging or its representative(s) access to, and an opportunity to review, all records related to any project funded in whole or in part with senior center program funds.
(E) If at any time the AAA or the department determine that a grantee is not in compliance with one or more of the provisions of the request for proposals or the grant agreement, the department may terminate, reduce, or suspend the grant.
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/15/2008
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/19/00, 1/2/98
(A) The department shall retain a reversionary interest in all funds awarded under this chapter of the Administrative Code for a period of no less than ten years following the last day of the fiscal year for which the grant funds were awarded.
(B) Each AAA shall verify, on an annual basis, the status of all projects funded by the department within its respective PSA. An AAA shall take steps to recover a prorated portion of any funds awarded to construct, acquire, repair or renovate a facility that is no longer used in a manner consistent with the assurances provided by the facility’s sponsors, or that has ceased serving as a senior center prior to the end of the ten year period. In the event that an AAA is unable to recover funds in accordance with this rule, the AAA shall notify the department and the department shall attempt to collect the funds through the attorney general’s office.
(C) Any AAA which recovers funds in accordance with this rule shall utilize those funds to fund the construction, acquisition, repair, and/or renovation of other senior centers within its PSA. Any funds recovered by the department shall be returned to the state’s general revenue fund.
Effective: 05/16/2005
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 10/14/2004 and 10/16/2009
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.02, 173.11
Rule Amplifies: 173.11, 173.12
Prior Effective Dates: 8/9/00, 1/2/98