The number is not as important as the representation. Advisory councils, like boards of directors/trustees, are optimally composed of representative members of a community bringing a wide range of perspectives, experience and expertise to an agency. In the field of aging – wherein the percentage and overall number of persons age 65 and older in this country is expected to grow from roughly 38 million (12.8 percent of the total U.S. population) to some 50 million (20 percent of the total U.S. population) by the year 2030 – keeping up with research, data and innovations across the country and around the world is increasingly vital to providing the best and most efficient services. And staying abreast of the rapidly evolving needs of one’s own community, and making sure its representative agency understands those needs, is just as crucial.

Another more formal and pressing reason is that advisory councils, like boards of non-profit entities, are required adjuncts for area agencies on aging. This mandate comes from the Older Americans Act (U.S. Code Sec. 3026 {D} of the OAA), which stipulates that area agencies on aging must: “establish an advisory council consisting of older individuals (including minority individuals and older individuals residing in rural areas) who are participants or who are eligible to participate in programs assisted under this Act, representatives of older individuals, local elected officials, providers of veterans’ health care (if appropriate), and the general public, to advise continuously the area agency on aging on all matters related to the development of the area plan, the administration of the plan and operations conducted under the plan.”

Also like boards, advisory councils are vital links between the agencies and communities they serve. Though they have neither formal hiring nor formal fiscal responsibilities, nor any absolute say-so over agency organization, planning and policy, advisory councils provide crucial input to agencies regarding the particular needs and priorities of the communities and populations they represent.

Advisory Councils:

• provide proportional representation of older persons, minorities and other groups with particular concerns, serving as the eyes and ears of their communities;
• keep up with regional and national demographic trends, demonstration projects and other innovations in aging-service delivery that may be beneficial to both the agency they advise and the aging population they represent;
• assist with the development and administration of area agency strategic and operational plans; and
• provide input on the initiation of new programs and services and/or the phasing out non-productive practices.

Next section

Back to table of contents