Area Agencies on Aging

The five Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in Maine serve as “one-stop-shops” to answer questions from older adults, individuals with disabilities and their care partners about a wide range of in-home, community-based, and institutional services.

Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are experts at answering questions about in-home care services and other types of long-term support. Maine’s five AAAs are also Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) that:

• provide information and assistance to individuals needing either public or private long-term care resources,
• serve professionals seeking assistance on behalf of their clients’ long-term care needs,
• serve individuals planning for their future long-term care needs, and
• serve as the entry point to publicly administered long-term supports including those funded under Medicaid, the Older Americans Act and state funded programs.

Maine’s Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) are designed to serve all older adults, people with disabilities, and their care partners who have long-term care community or program needs.

Maine Access Navigator Tool

The Office of Aging and Disability Services, in partnership with the Area Agencies on Aging, recently launched the Maine Access Navigator Tool to better serve Maine’s older people (ages 60 and above), their family members, and their care partners. This tool is designed to help older Mainers find and access aging services and resources by asking a series of questions to identify unmet needs in nutrition, safety, money management, transportation, in-home support, and more.

The Maine Access Navigator Tool is:

• Confidential
• Free to use
• Available any time of day or night

Although it is not required to answer all questions, users who complete all questions will get personalized results based on the answers provided. If you choose to share your results with your local Aging and Disability Resource Center, a trained specialist can help you connect with available services and programs.

Click here to access the Maine Access Navigator Tool: https://me.accessgov.com/oads/Forms/Page/me-access-navigator/self-screening/1

Services

• Information and Referrals: You may just need information, simple or complicated. You also can receive referrals to services within your community such as transportation, housing, home care, assistive technology, and local food pantries.
• Services: The ADRC can help you access services such as congregate or home-delivered meals, prevention of falls, managing chronic diseases, Alzheimer's respite services, adult day care, access to legal services, employment training, or health insurance counseling.
• Medicare/Health Insurance Counseling: The ADRC can help in choosing the best policy for your situation, understanding the different plans, and assisting you with applications.
• Educational Opportunities: The ADRC can connect you with educational opportunities.
• Options Counseling: If you are interested in learning more about services you may need over time, for yourself or someone you care for, the ADRC staff can help you figure out what "options" might work well for you.
• Advocacy: The ADRC works for you - feel free to ask for what you need - we'd like to try to help!
• Care Partner Support Services: May include respite, caregiver training, support groups, helpful information, and individual support.

Contact your local Aging and Disability Resource Center

Call the statewide ADRC phone number 1-877-353-3771 and follow the instructions to select your county to be connected to your local Area Agency on Aging.

If you need an Interpreter one will be provided at no cost to you.

State Unit on Aging

The Older Americans Act (OAA) of 1965 was passed by Congress in response to concern by policymakers about a lack of community social services for older persons. The original legislation established authority for grants to states for community planning and social services, research and development projects, and personnel training in the field of aging. Maine’s State Unit on Aging is designated as Maine’s Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) within the Department of Health and Human Services. As a part of Maine’s aging network, OADS designated five Area Agencies on Aging across the state to address the needs and concerns of all older persons at the regional and local levels dedicated to planning and implementing social services for adults age 60 and older.

As a requirement of the OAA, all State Units on Aging (SUA) accepting Older American’s Act funding must prepare and publish a “State Plan on Aging” every four years. Read Maine’s State Plan on Aging (PDF).

In correlation to the State Plan on Aging, each of the five Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) develop an Area Plan on Aging. These Area Plans are also completed every four years by AAAs to convey needs assessment information and serve as a planning tool for each of the five planning and service areas for the AAAs. A copy of these Area Plans can be found on each AAA’s website.