The New York State Office for the Aging is part of the Executive Department in New York State and is the designated State Unit on Aging under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended.
The mission of the New York State Office for the Aging is to help older New Yorkers to be as independent as possible for as long as possible through advocacy, development and delivery of person-centered, consumer-oriented, and cost-effective policies, programs and services which support and empower the elderly and their families, in partnership with the network of public and private organizations which serve them. [See NYSOFA plan documents: Summary [Summary in PDF] [Summary in Word]; Main Body [Main Body in PDF] [Main Body Word]; Appendix [Appendix in PDF] [Appendix in Word].]
The New York State Office for the Aging was created by Executive Order of the Governor in 1961 and was one of the first State Units on Aging in the Nation. In 1965 the Office was made an independent agency in the Executive Department and became the central State agency to plan and coordinate programs and services for the aging at all levels in both the public and private sectors. Throughout its 40-year history, the Office for the Aging has been in the forefront of special initiatives for older people, and many of the concepts and programs which began in New York have been adopted nationally.
The New York State Office for the Aging administers various Titles under the Federal Older Americans Act of 1965 as amended, and a variety of State-funded programs which serve the elderly. In these programs preference is given to elderly people with the greatest economic or social need, with special emphasis on meeting the needs of low income minority elderly.
The majority of programs and services are administered through local offices for the aging. There are 59 local offices which serve each county, the City of New York as well as the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation, and the Seneca Nation of Indians which includes the Cattaraugus and Allegany Reservations. These are the only Indian Reservations with offices for the aging east of the Mississippi.
Under Executive Order, the Office is empowered to review and comment on all State agencies' program policies and legislative proposals which would affect the aging. In addition, the New York State Office for the Aging:
NYSOFA 4 year plan in PDF
NYSOFA 4 year plan in RTF
New York State Office for the Aging Federal Funding and Policy Priorities for the First Session of the 111th Congress (2009) [Federal Funding and Policy Priorities in RTF]
