Skip to content Skip to footer site map

Recovery.gov - Track the Money

Recovery.gov is the U.S. government's official website that provides easy access to data
related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse.

Agency Reporting


< Back to Agency Plan
Program Plan
Department of Health and Human Services - Aging Services Programs, Recovery Act - Congregate Nutrition Services Recovery Plan
Updated 05/15/2009
Objectives
Program Purpose

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) provides $65 million for Congregate Nutrition Services. Established in 1972 under the Older Americans Act (OAA), the program provides meals to older Americans in congregate facilities such as senior centers, adult day centers, and faith-based settings.


Public Benefits

In line with HHS Strategic Objective “Promote the Economic Independence and Social Well-being of Individuals and Families Across the Lifespan,” Congregate Nutrition Services help seniors to maintain their health and avoid hospitalization and nursing home placement. Fifty-eight percent of congregate meal recipients who responded to AoA’s national survey of elderly clients reported that the meals enabled them to continue living independently in their own homes.

Congregate meal programs are faced with the dual challenge of rising food and other costs in addition to an increased demand for services because of the growing elderly population. Now the economic downturn is forcing many local senior programs to close meal sites or scale back meal services. Funding provided under the Recovery Act will help local senior programs to offset these cutbacks and contribute to the provision of 8.4 million meals to an estimated 146,000 vulnerable older adults.


Measures
The measures have been revised to enrich the performance metrics for Recovery targets. In some instances, targets will not be available until additional baseline data has been collected.

MeasureTarget/Actual
2009201020112012
[-] Improve well-being and prolong independence for elderly individuals as a result of AoA's Title III home and community-based services.
0/0---

Measure Information
Frequency : Annual
Direction : Increasing
Type : Outcome
Explanation : Data for Congregate Nutrition Services measures is collected annually from AoA's State Program Report and the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants. The outcome measure "improve the well-being and prolong independence for elderly individuals as a result of AoA's Title III home and community-based services" is a composite measure of four nursing home predictors. These are:
• Increase the percentage of caregivers reporting that services help them provide care longer.
• Increase the percentage of transportation clients who are transportation disadvantaged (defined as unable to drive or use public transportation).
• Increase the percentage of congregate meal recipients who live alone.
• Increase the percentage of home delivered meal recipients with 3 or more limitations of Independent Activities of Daily living.

Since FY 2005, AoA has demonstrated the Aging Network's progress toward preventing nursing home placement and prolonging viable community living opportunities. Actual scores in FY 2005 and FY 2006 were 51.0 and 52.2 respectively. In 2007 the actual score was 60.17, 7 points above the target. AoA develops its targets based on trends rather than a single data point. For FY 2008, AoA set a target of 54.5 to take into account the rising food, fuel and personnel costs faced by congregate meal programs. AoA will increase the FY 2009 target to 56.0 because of the additional ARRA appropriations and an increase in AoA's FY 2009 budget for the congregate meal program. AoA will continue to report this data annually and will make the results public via press release and at www.recovery.gov and www.aoa.gov.
Unit : No Data Available
[-] The number of congregate meals provided.
0/0---

Measure Information
Frequency : Quarterly
Direction : Increasing
Type : Output
Explanation : Data for this measure is derived annually from AoA's State Program Report. Most recent data for congregate meals is FY 2007, when 1.67 million people were served 94.8 million meals. The actual meals served were within 0.1% of the FY 2007 target of 95 million meals. The FY 2008 target was kept at 95 million meals to take into account the rising food, fuel and personnel costs faced by congregate meal programs. Because of Recovery Act funding and an increase in AoA's FY 2009 budget for the congregate meal program, AoA anticipates serving 1.7 million people 95 million meals in FY 2009. AoA will report this data quarterly for Recovery Act funds and will make the results public via press release and at www.recovery.gov and www.aoa.gov.
Unit : Million
[-] The unduplicated count of people provided congregate meals.
0/0---

Measure Information
Frequency : Quarterly
Direction : Increasing
Type : Output
Explanation : Data for this measure is derived annually from AoA's State Program Report. Most recent data for congregate meals is FY 2007, when 1.67 million people were served 94.8 million meals. The actual meals served were within 0.1% of the FY 2007 target of 95 million meals. The FY 2008 target was kept at 95 million meals to take into account the rising food, fuel and personnel costs faced by congregate meal programs. Because of Recovery Act funding and an increase in AoA's FY 2009 budget for the congregate meal program, AoA anticipates serving 1.7 million people 95 million meals in FY 2009. AoA will report this data quarterly for Recovery Act funds and will make the results public via press release and at www.recovery.gov and www.aoa.gov.
Unit : Million

Schedule and Milestones

On March 19, 2009, AoA distributed $65 million in Congregate Nutrition Services funding under the Recovery Act to 56 States and Territories in accordance with the statutory formula established under the OAA. On March 18, 2009, AoA posted to its website Frequently-Asked Questions about the implementation of the Recovery Act, and the agency participated in conference calls with State officials on March 30, 2009 and April 23, 2009 to answer questions. Each State is responsible for developing its own schedule for expeditiously allocating funds to Area Agencies on Aging or local providers. AoA will comply with the requirements under the Recovery Act legislation and OMB Guidance concerning monitoring and reporting.


Milestones
Milestone Completion Date
On March 18, 2009, AoA posted to its website Frequently-Asked Questions about the implementation of the Recovery Act, and the agency participated in conference calls with State officials on March 30, 2009 and April 23, 2009 to answer questions. 03/18/2009
On March 19, 2009, AoA distributed $65 million in Congregate Nutrition Services funding under the Recovery Act to 56 States and Territories in accordance with the statutory formula established under the OAA. 03/19/2009

Projects and Activities

Recovery Act funds will augment existing resources, replace revenue lost from local sources due to the economic downturn, and support the continued delivery of meals to vulnerable older Americans. In addition, congregate meal sites help to reduce isolation, provide nutrition screening, and offer health assessments for diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. In many sites older participants receive training in how to prepare meals that are economical and enhance their health and well-being.


Review Process

All Recovery Act programs will be assessed for risk and to ensure that appropriate internal controls are in place throughout the entire funding cycle. These assessments will be done consistent with the statutory requirements of the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act and the Improper Payments Information Act, as well as OMB’s Circular A-123 “Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control.”

Congregate Nutrition Services is a long-established program with a proven track record of delivering results. Internal control assessments conducted under the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act have consistently found AoA mandatory grants programs (including Congregate Nutrition Services) to be low risk and to have a sound internal control structure. Financial statement and other programmatic audits have not identified any significant deficiencies in OAA nutrition programs and there are no uncorrected weaknesses or deficiencies associated with these activities. Primary recipients are State governments that have their own established control structures and State audits of these programs under Circular A-133 have not generated significant systemic findings.

Congregate Nutrition Services also has an established system for collecting and validating financial data and program data on both outputs, such as numbers of meals and individuals served, as well as client outcomes, such as ability to remain independent and in the community. AoA data collection systems and controls have been assessed by external entities, including the Office of Management and Budget, which found that the program had both credible and effective performance data and strong financial management systems in place.

In addition to routine performance measurement activities, AoA conducts in-depth program evaluations on a 10-year basis. The Recovery Act has coincided with the evaluation cycle for Congregate Nutrition Services. An evaluation design contract has been completed and a contract to conduct the evaluation is under development. AoA’s comprehensive evaluation framework assesses all levels of the Aging Network (State and Local) as well as program participant outcomes and impacts. The current design for this evaluation includes three interconnected studies: cost, process and client outcome. The cost study will examine the use of multiple funding streams for congregate meals and will be amended to include the Recovery Act. AoA’s data collection systems, including evaluation, provide a robust assessment of program efficiency and effectiveness. The results of the evaluation will be posted on the AoA website in FY 2012.

To ensure that recipients understand and can meet the objectives, outcomes and accountability expectations associated with the provision of Recovery Act funds to OAA nutrition programs, AoA will provide additional technical assistance to States, along with enhanced monitoring and reporting as required under the Act. On March 18, 2009, AoA posted to its website Frequently-Asked Questions about the implementation of the Recovery Act, and the agency participated in conference calls with State officials on March 30, 2009 and April 23, 2009 to answer questions. AoA will also utilize existing technical assistance mechanisms, such as State Planning Grant Projects, the Area Agency Capacity Assessment Grant Project, and the State Unit Regional Program Analysis Forum Project. These projects provide ongoing support of communication and technical assistance needs of AoA and its OAA grantees, and will enhance assurances of full program compliance for Recovery Act funding. AoA will not use Recovery Act funds to provide technical assistance under these existing mechanisms.


Cost and Performance Plan

AoA will be open and transparent in all grant activities that involve spending of Recovery Act funding consistent with statutory and OMB guidance. AoA will ensure that recipient reporting required by Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and OMB guidance is made available to the public on www.recovery.gov by October 10, 2009. AoA will inform recipients of their reporting obligation through standard terms and conditions and other program guidance. AoA will provide technical assistance to grantees and contractors and fully utilize Project Officers to ensure compliance with reporting requirements.

AoA now collects OAA data via the web-based State Program Report. AoA Regional Office staff check the data for consistency and follow-up with the states to assure validity and accuracy. State performance data is available via the Aging Integrated Database (AGID), AoA’s online data query system, at www.data.aoa.gov.

AoA’s data community website will also help to ensure that recipients meet Recovery Act reporting requirements. The website includes resources and documentation related to the Recovery Act and a listserv with 120 performance specialists who will be responsible for collecting and reporting Recovery Act data for their states. AoA will use this website to offer technical assistance, promote information sharing, and provide reminders regarding data requirements. AoA will also utilize the technical assistance methods described above to ensure that recipients understand and comply with the statutory, OMB, and HHS reporting requirements.

To ensure that managers are held to high standards of accountability in achieving program goals under the Recovery Act, AoA will build on and strengthen existing processes. Senior AoA officials will meet regularly with senior Department officials to ensure that projects are meeting their program goals, assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring transparency, and incorporating corrective actions. The personnel performance appraisal system will also incorporate Recovery Act program stewardship responsibilities for program and business function managers.

AoA performance plans for both Senior Executives and managers align individual and organizational performance with results-oriented goals that are linked to the HHS and AoA Strategic Plans. These goals, which include objectives related to effective program management and proper stewardship of Federal funds, are cascaded to subordinate supervisors and staff throughout each executive’s portion of the organization.


Energy Efficiency Spending Plans

Not applicable.


Program Plan Award Types
No Data Available