Today, there are over 40 participating grantees in The Jewish Federations of North America’s National NORCs Aging in Place Initiative, which commenced in 2002. The success of the NORCs Initiative led Congress to enact a new Older Americans Act program, Community Innovations for Aging in Place.
Faced with a burgeoning aging population that will reach nearly 80 million with the retirement of the Baby Boomers, JFNA believes strongly that Federal aging policies must align with current and foreseeable aging trends in order to best serve this population. By all accounts, the vast majority of older Americans want, or, by necessity, will remain living in their homes, even as they grow frail.
JFNA’s National NORCs Aging in Place Initiative developed and tested an innovative health and supportive services model that became the central framework of the Community Innovations for Aging in Place program. Once funded, the new Older Americans Act program is expected to strengthen the Administration on Aging’s support for the advancement of NORC-Supportive Services Programs and similar innovative models undertaken by community-based providers to better prepare communities for the aging-in-place of their older adult populations.
In this section, you will find links to the history of JFNA’s NORCs Initiative, several related program components, including Israel/International Programming, the Annual NORCs Grantees’ Meeting, and Program Evaluation and Dissemination; and to unfolding federal public policy efforts, such as the enactment of the Community Innovations for Aging in Place program.