CHAPTER 4. DEPARTMENT OF ELDERLY AFFAIRS

§151. Department of Elderly Affairs; creation; domicile; composition; purposes and functions

NOTE: See note below regarding effectiveness.

A. The Department of Elderly Affairs is created and shall be a body corporate with the power to sue and be sued. The domicile of the department shall be in Baton Rouge.

B. The Department of Elderly Affairs, through its offices and officers, shall be responsible for the functions of the state that are designed to meet the needs of Louisiana residents sixty years of age or older and for planning, monitoring, coordination, and delivery of services to persons of the state who are elderly, including but not limited to coordination of services of all state agencies serving persons who are elderly and requiring reports from such agencies; developing a plan for efficient coordination of functions and services for persons who are elderly and for consolidation of such functions and services within the department with local administration by the parish voluntary councils on aging; administration of the Older Americans Act and related programs; administration of all federal funds appropriated, allocated, or otherwise made available to the state for services to the elderly, except funds for programs administered by other state departments or agencies as specified by the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950; exercising functions relative to nutrition programs for the citizens of Louisiana who are elderly or have disabilities, homemaker services, home repair and maintenance services, employment and training services, recreational and transportation services, counseling, information and referral services, protective services as provided in R.S. 15:1501 et seq., and health-related outreach, but excluding the transportation program for persons who are elderly or have disabilities administered by the Department of Transportation and Development under Section 16(b)(2) of the Federal Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 as amended and other such programs and services assigned to other departments of state government as provided in Title 36 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950; collection of facts and statistics and making special studies of conditions pertaining to the employment, health, financial status, recreation, social adjustment, or other conditions affecting the welfare of persons who are aged; keeping abreast of the latest developments in aging throughout the nation and interpreting such findings to the public; providing for a mutual exchange of ideas and information on national, state, and local levels; and making recommendations to the governor and to the legislature for needed improvements and additional resources to promote the welfare of the aging in the state.

C. The Department of Elderly Affairs shall be composed of the executive office of the secretary, the office of management and finance, and such other offices as shall be created by law. Whenever the secretary determines that the administration of the functions of the department may be more efficiently performed by eliminating, merging, or consolidating existing offices or establishing new offices, he shall present a plan therefor to the legislature for its approval by statute.

Acts 2013, No. 384, §3, eff. upon contingencies contained in Acts 2013, No. 384, §9(B); Acts 2014, No. 811, §18, eff. June 23, 2014.

NOTE: Acts 2013, No. 384, §8, effective July 1, 2013 per §9(A) of the Act, provides that funds allocated for any purpose under the authority of the Office of Elderly Affairs or its successor, the Department of Elderly Affairs, are allocated only to the Office of Elderly Affairs or its successor and are not to be appropriated, allocated or transferred to any other state department, office or programs.