AoA Project Officer
Sue Wheaton 202-619-7585

All tasks undertaken by the Center are designed and developed with input from state and local long term care ombudsmen, the National Association of State Long Term Care Ombudsmen (NASOP), the National Association of Local Long Term Care Ombudsmen (NALLTCO), and other relevant organizations to ensure that the needs of ombudsman programs across the country are being addressed. These tasks are developed with the understanding that in supporting the long term care ombudsmen, the Center is ultimately contributing to the improvement of the quality of life and care of frail, vulnerable residents in long term care facilities. The Center engages in the following activities and services:

The ombudsman program was created in 1972 as a Public Health Service demonstration project to meet the needs of residents facing problems in nursing homes. The demonstration, which consisted of ombudsman programs in seven states, was transferred to the Administration on Aging (AoA) in 1974. After three years of operation and a successful assessment of the projects, Dr. Arthur Flemming, Commissioner on Aging, offered each state agency on aging an opportunity to apply for limited federal funds to develop a state-wide program through the advocacy of newly named Ombudsman Developmental Specialists. In 1978 Congress amended the Older Americans Act to include a requirement that each state develop a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. New statutory requirements for the program were added and existing requirements were strengthened in subsequent amendments to the Act.

In 1988, AoA requested proposals to develop a National Center for State Long Term Care Ombudsman Resources. The National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) received the initial grant, with a sub-grant to the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR). The 1992 Older Americans Act amendments added a new provision (Section 202 [a][21][A-B]) requiring the Administration on Aging to establish a permanent National Ombudsman Resource Center. In 1993, AoA awarded a three-year grant for the Center to the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR), with the National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) as a sub-grantee. In 1997, NCCNHR received a new five-year grant to operate the Center, with NASUA as a sub-grantee.

During recent years, the National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center has been increasingly responsive to the ever more sophisticated needs of long term care ombudsmen. Each week, Center staff respond to an average of thirty requests for technical assistance from state and regional (local) ombudsman programs and/or consumers needing referral to a long term care ombudsman program. Center staff provide information and guidance on a variety of issues, some of which are quite complex, related to resident quality of care and life, state and federal laws and regulations on enforcement and long term care financing, the 1998-2000 Presidential initiatives on neglect and abuse, and ombudsman programmatic concerns.

The Center also coordinates training opportunities for the ombudsman network. All ombudsmen are encouraged to attend the NCCNHR annual meeting, October 22 - October 24, 2006, in Arlington, VA. See http://www.nccnhr.org/public/50_158_436.CFM for current information.  Center staff develop sessions on a wide variety of topics ombudsmen have identified as being important to their work. In addition, training conferences for state ombudsmen are held each spring. Special orientation sessions for new state ombudsmen are conducted semi-annually, in conjunction with these national meetings. 

For more information about the Center or to discuss Center activities call Lori Smetanka, Director, 202-332-2275.