The Texas Department on Aging develops and maintains the aging
services network by designation of planning and service areas and
area agencies on aging.
(1) Application for designation to become a planning
and service area. The Department provides an opportunity to any unit
of general-purpose local government or Indian reservation to apply
to be designated as a PSA. The State may designate as a planning and
service area any unit of general-purpose local government which has
a population of 100,000 or more. In any case in which a unit of general-purpose
local government makes application to the State agency under this
part to be designated a planning and service area, the State agency
shall, upon request, provide an opportunity for a public hearing on
such application to such unit of general-purpose local government.
Public agencies of units of general-purpose local government shall
have the right of first refusal for new area agency on aging designation,
where the boundaries of the unit of general-purpose local government
and the boundaries of the planning and service area are reasonably
contiguous.
(2) Submission requirements. Applicants for PSA designation
shall submit a written application to the Department no later than
October 1 of the year preceding development of the State Plan. The
application will include the following:
(A) the distribution of persons age 60 and older within
the proposed PSA in relation to those other counties within the State
regional planning area involved delineating those persons age 60
and older with the greatest economic need and greatest social need;
(B) a narrative and statistical description of the
incidence of need for services supported by the Older Americans Act
in the proposed PSA;
(C) a list of agencies providing services supported
by the Older Americans Act in the proposed PSA;
(D) written evidence of approval by resolution of 75%
of the general-purpose local government unit and other pictorial information
depicting, at a minimum, the state-delineated regional planning areas,
Indian reservations, existing economic development district boundaries
and areas, boundaries of the state-delineated health services area,
and the Department of Human Resources district area;
(E) if the proposed PSA's boundaries are not contiguous
with an existing designated state regional planning area, but is either
a subdivision of or a combination of such areas, a narrative and statistical
description shall address, as well, the basis of need for a PSA other
than the regional planning areas involved;
(F) an applicant that is submitting an application
for designation as an interstate PSA shall include the following:
(i) written indication of local interstate governmental
agency support;
(ii) information as required in paragraph (2) of this
subsection;
(iii) a list and description of those agencies providing
aging services within the interstate area involved; and
(iv) description of particular local conditions that
may affect the written conditions agreed upon by each State as required
by federal regulations.
(3) Designation of planning and service area (PSA).
(A) A proposed PSA shall be coterminous with, a combination
of, or a subdivision of State planning regions as delineated by the
governor and authorized by Local Government Code, Chapter 391. A proposed
PSA should not split an existing PSA.
(B) Existing PSAs shall continue to be designated unless
the designation of another PSA is necessary for the assurance of the
efficient and effective administration of the programs authorized
by the Older Americans Act.
(C) The Texas Department on Aging (state agency) shall
document the basis for its designation of each PSA.
(D) State procedures to provide due process to affected
parties:
(i) the state agency shall provide notice of an action
or proceeding to the affected area agencies on aging, grantee organizations
and citizens advisory councils by certified mail;
(ii) the state agency shall provide in the notice the
documentation for the need of the action or proceedings. The documentation
will include:
(I) statutory authority for the action; and
(II) summary of projected impact of action on clients
within service areas affected, and the anticipated improvements in
service that will result from said action.
(iii) the state agency shall conduct a public hearing
for the action or proceedings. The state agency shall:
(I) register participants at the hearing and tape record
oral testimony presented; and
(II) receive a report consisting of a summary of all
oral testimony received at the hearing, copies of all written testimony,
and a list of names of all persons attending. The report on the hearing
will be presented in a public meeting of the Board within 30 calendar
days of the completion of the hearing.
(iv) the state agency shall request written comment
from area agencies on aging, service providers, and older individuals
on the action or proceedings;
(v) the state agency shall allow an appeal to the Assistant
Secretary on Aging of the decision of the state agency on the action
or proceedings; and
(vi) the state agency shall provide a plan for an orderly
transition to ensure continuity in the provision of services to older
persons in the PSA.
(E) Adversely affected parties involved in an action
or proceeding described in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph may
bring an appeal as provided in subparagraph (F) of this paragraph,
relating to appeals to the Assistant Secretary on the basis of the
following:
(i) the facts and merits of the matter that is the
subject of the action or proceeding; or
(ii) procedural grounds.
(F) Appeals to the assistant secretary. The assistant
secretary's decision on the appeal described in subparagraph (E) of
this paragraph may affirm or set aside the decision of the State
agency. If the Assistant Secretary on Aging sets aside the decision,
the state agency shall nullify its action.
(4) Hearing procedures for applicants for Planning
and Service Area designation.
(A) Right to a hearing. Any applicant for designation
as a PSA whose application is denied by Department has a right to
a hearing to appeal such denial.
(B) Request for hearing. A request for hearing must
be in writing and must state with specificity the grounds upon which
the Department's decision is appealed and all grounds upon which
petitioner refutes the basis of Department's decision.
(i) The request must include:
(I) the dates of all relevant actions;
(II) the names of individuals or organizations involved
in the action;
(III) a specific statement of any section of the Act
or regulations believed to have been violated; and
(IV) a certified copy of the minutes or resolution
in which the applicant's governing body requests a hearing and authorizes
a person or persons to act in behalf of the agency or organization.
The minutes or resolution shall indicate adoption by a majority of
a quorum of the governing body of the agency or organization.
(ii) The request for hearing must be filed with the
Department within 30 calendar days following petitioner's receipt
of the notice of Department's decision.
(iii) The petitioner may submit written amendments
to the request for hearing which must be received by the Department
not less then ten calendar days prior to the hearing date.
(iv) The Department may require that additional information
as to the basis for appeal be provided to the Department at any time
prior to the hearing.
(C) Notice of Hearing.
(i) Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the Executive
Director shall, within ten working days, set a date for the hearing.
(ii) The Department shall issue a written notice to
the petitioner, which shall include:
(I) a statement of time, date, location, and nature
of the hearing;
(II) a statement of the legal authority and nature
of the hearing;
(III) a reference to the particular section of statutes,
regulations and rules involved; and
(IV) a short and plain statement of the reasons for
the decision that is being appealed and the evidence on which the
decision was based.
(iii) If the Department is unable to state in detail
the evidence and reasons for the decision at the time the notice is
served, the initial notice may be limited to a statement of the issues
involved. Thereafter, a more definite and detailed statement shall
be furnished not less than three working days prior to the date set
for the hearing.
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