A call to the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 tells you which Area Agency on Aging serves your parent's address. That agency is the one families turn to for help like home-delivered meals.

An Area Agency on Aging is a public or private nonprofit agency your state designates to address the needs of older people in a defined local region, under the Older Americans Act. Two other names tend to arrive alongside it and sound like competing options: an Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) and the Eldercare Locator itself. They are not three doors to choose between, and telling them apart is what saves you a wrong phone call.

In This Guide

What Is an Area Agency on Aging?

An Area Agency on Aging is a public or private nonprofit agency designated by a state to address the needs and concerns of all older persons at the regional and local levels. That designation comes from the Older Americans Act, which is why an agency you may never have heard of is assigned to your parent's area.

The geography is the part worth understanding, because it explains why finding yours takes a lookup rather than a guess. Each AAA is responsible for a defined geographic area called a planning and service area, which may be a city, a single county, or a multi-county district. Your state designates exactly one AAA to serve each planning and service area, though a single AAA may serve more than one of them.

So there is no single office called "the Area Agency on Aging." There is a network of local agencies, and if Mom lives somewhere else, the AAA you want is the one designated for her area, which may not be yours.

One detail decides whether your search works. "Area Agency on Aging" is a general term, and the names of local AAAs vary, which the Administration for Community Living states outright on its own page. Yours may not have the words "Area Agency on Aging" in its name at all. A daughter who searches "Area Agency on Aging" plus her town and finds nothing may simply have hit a naming problem. Look it up by address instead of by name.

Area Agency on Aging vs ADRC vs Eldercare Locator

Three names get handed to families in the same breath, and they are not three options to choose between: a national directory, the local agency it points you to, and a wider door alongside that agency.

Start with the Eldercare Locator, because it's the one you use first. The Eldercare Locator is a national referral service of the federal Administration for Community Living, and it links those who need assistance with state and local Area Agencies on Aging and community-based organizations that serve older adults and their caregivers. It doesn't deliver a meal or send an aide. It refers you to the local agencies that serve your parent's community.

The Area Agency on Aging is the local agency the Locator points you to, and it is how a family reaches local aging services for an older adult, such as home-delivered meals and homemaker assistance.

An Aging and Disability Resource Center is the third name, and it is a wider door than the other two. An ADRC serves older people, people with disabilities and their caregivers as a convenient point of entry to the publicly supported long-term services and supports they may be eligible for. ADRCs provide objective information, advice, counseling and assistance, and help people access public and private programs.

Two more things about ADRCs matter. First, ADRCs provide unbiased, reliable information and counseling to people with all levels of income. The advice isn't reserved for families with little money, though the programs an ADRC connects you to still have their own eligibility rules. Second, ADRCs are part of the federal No Wrong Door system model, which supports states working to streamline access to long-term services and supports. If "ADRC" returns nothing in your state, search your state's name plus "No Wrong Door" or "aging and disability resource center."

Area Agency on Aging Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Eldercare Locator
What it is A public or private nonprofit agency designated by a state to address the needs of older persons at the regional and local levels An entity, network or consortium set up by your state as a convenient point of entry to long-term services and supports A national referral service of the federal Administration for Community Living
Who it serves Older persons in the planning and service area or areas it is designated to cover Older people, people with disabilities and their caregivers, with information and counseling for people at all income levels Older adults and their caregivers, anywhere in the country
What it does for you It's the local front door to aging services such as home-delivered meals and homemaker assistance Gives objective information, advice, counseling and assistance, and helps you access public and private programs Connects you with the local agency that can help, including your AAA
Reach Regional and local State and local National
How you reach it Look it up by your parent's address through the Eldercare Locator Through your state's ADRC or No Wrong Door system 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov

Who Can Use an Area Agency on Aging?

Start with your parent. The Older Americans Act defines an "older individual" as an individual who is 60 years of age or older, and individuals age 60 and over may receive benefits under the Act. If your father is 74, he clears that bar. If he's 58, he is under the Act's age line, so ask the agency directly what it can offer him.

Then consider yourself. You, the caregiver, may be eligible for services in your own right. The National Family Caregiver Support Program, whose services are provided by an Area Agency on Aging or an entity it contracts with, serves four groups of caregivers. Find your row.

If you are caring for You may qualify if you are
An adult age 60 or older An adult family member, or another informal caregiver
A person of any age with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder An adult family member, or another informal caregiver
A child under 18 An older relative age 55 or older, other than the child's parent
An adult age 18 to 59 with a disability An older relative age 55 or older, including a parent

The last two rows carry conditions the table can't hold. An older relative caregiver must live with, be the informal provider of in-home and community care to, and be the primary caregiver for the child or the adult with a disability. For a child, the caregiver must also be the primary caregiver because the parents are unable or unwilling to serve, and must have a legal relationship to the child or be raising the child informally.

The second row is worth reading closely. The National Family Caregiver Support Program serves a caregiver for a person with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder regardless of the age of the person with dementia. A 45-year-old caring for a 52-year-old spouse with early-onset dementia is among the program's eligible caregivers, even though nobody involved is 60. Respite care and supplemental services carry an extra federal condition, covered below.

What Your Area Agency on Aging Can Actually Do

Start with food. Home-delivered meals are among the local aging services a family reaches through its Area Agency on Aging. Congregate meals are an Older Americans Act service too, and the law bars states from charging cost sharing for congregate and home-delivered meals alike. A congregate meal is one served in a group setting. For home-delivered meals, see our guide to Meals on Wheels.

After food come the services that keep a parent in the house: a ride to an appointment, help inside the home, and someone to walk you through what exists and what your parent qualifies for. The Older Americans Act sorts the Title III-B services delivered in each planning and service area into access services, which include transportation, outreach, information and assistance, and case management, and into in-home services. If Medicaid says your parent does not meet nursing home level of care, see the options that remain.

There is a third category alongside those two: legal assistance. The Older Americans Act requires that an adequate proportion of the Title III-B funds allotted to each planning and service area be spent on each of the three, access services, in-home services, and legal assistance, so legal help for older adults is a funding-protected category of the aging network rather than a discretionary extra. That protection is not absolute: the state must waive the requirement for a category in an area if the Area Agency on Aging shows the services already provided there meet the need and has held a timely public hearing when one was requested, and where that waiver is granted the category is not funding-protected in that area. If your family is facing a legal problem, "does the Area Agency on Aging help with legal issues" is a reasonable question to ask. Ask your own agency what legal help it offers.

Two points of precision. The Older Americans Act requires an "adequate proportion" of each planning and service area's Title III-B funds go to legal assistance, not a fixed federal percentage. Instead, each state agency specifies the minimum proportion of those funds its Area Agencies on Aging must spend on each of the three categories, so the floor is set state by state and no single national figure exists. And a funding rule that binds an agency is not a personal right to a lawyer. Ask, don't assume.

If you're the one doing the caregiving, the National Family Caregiver Support Program funds five categories of service: information about available services; assistance in gaining access to services; individual counseling, organization of support groups, and caregiver training; respite care; and supplemental services, on a limited basis. Those services are provided by an Area Agency on Aging, or an entity the agency has contracted with. Respite care under the National Family Caregiver Support Program provides temporary relief, at home, in adult day care, or in an institutional setting. If you are a family caregiver (the first two rows of the table), respite care and supplemental services come with a federal condition the first three categories don't: the person you care for must be an older individual who is frail, meaning unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial human assistance, or, due to a cognitive or other mental impairment, requiring substantial supervision because of behavior that poses a serious health or safety hazard. Because your Area Agency on Aging or its contractor provides the respite, "how many hours do I get" is a question for your local agency.

The money rules are worth carrying into the call with you. Older Americans Act services carry no income test to qualify. An Area Agency on Aging and its service providers may not means test for any service for which voluntary contributions are accepted, and no service funded under the Act may be denied to an older individual or family caregiver because of their income or their failure to pay, whether the payment is a voluntary contribution or state-imposed cost sharing. You may still be asked for a voluntary contribution toward an Older Americans Act service, which is encouraged, but never required, for people whose self-declared income is at or above 185 percent of the federal poverty line. Your assets, savings, and other property may never be considered when one is solicited. The ask is real, but it is an ask, not a bill.

Separately from contributions, a state is permitted but not required to impose cost sharing on Older Americans Act services, with four exclusions it may not cost-share: information and assistance, outreach, benefits counseling, or case management; ombudsman, elder abuse prevention, legal assistance, or other consumer protection services; congregate and home-delivered meals; and any services delivered through tribal organizations. Where a state does cost-share, the limits are narrow. Cost sharing must run on a sliding scale based solely on individual income and the cost of delivering the service. Cost sharing may not consider assets. And cost sharing may not be imposed on an older individual whose income is at or below the federal poverty line. What that means in practice: a state may ask you to pay a share, but only on a scale set by income and the service's cost, never on what your parent has saved, and never if her income is at or below the poverty line. Outside those four exclusions, whether a service carries cost sharing is the state's decision, so ask about the specific service you want. We walk through what an Area Agency on Aging actually asks families to pay in a separate guide.

How to Find Your Area Agency on Aging

The practical version of the question is how to find help for elderly parents when you don't know what exists or who provides it, and the answer starts with one address and one phone call. The Eldercare Locator is reachable by phone at 1-800-677-1116 and online at eldercare.acl.gov. It was established and is funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging, part of the Administration for Community Living, it's administered by USAging, and it's a trusted gateway for older adults and people with disabilities looking for information and resources.

1
Step 1

Use your parent's address, not yours

Each AAA covers a defined planning and service area, so the agency you want is the one designated for where your parent lives.

2
Step 2

Search or call the Eldercare Locator

Search for local programs at eldercare.acl.gov using your parent's location, or call 1-800-677-1116, where a specially trained operator will refer you to a local agency that can help. The Locator links those who need assistance with state and local Area Agencies on Aging and community-based organizations that serve older adults and their caregivers.

3
Step 3

Expect a name you don't recognize

The agency it returns may not have "Area Agency on Aging" in its name. That is a general term and local names vary, so trust the lookup over the label.

4
Step 4

Ask whether your state has an ADRC or No Wrong Door system

An Aging and Disability Resource Center is the wider door described above.

If your parent lives in one state and you live in another, do the lookup twice, once for their address and once for yours. Your parent's agency is the one that can arrange services where they actually live. Which agency handles caregiver support for you is a question to put to both of them, because the caregiver program's services are provided by an Area Agency on Aging or an entity it contracts with.

What to Say When You Call

The first call goes better when you arrive with your situation rather than a request for a brochure.

Have your parent's date of birth, their address, and a plain description of what has changed. The change is the important part. "She stopped cooking after the fall in April, and she's lost weight" tells an intake worker more than "she needs help at home."

Then ask four questions, and write down the answers:

  • What services do you have for someone in her situation, and what does the intake process look like?
  • Is there a wait for any of them, and what should we do in the meantime?
  • Do you have caregiver support for me, including respite?
  • Is there anything here you can't help with, and who should I call for that instead?

Ask that last question before you hang up, while you have a knowledgeable person on the line.

What an Area Agency on Aging Is Not

Your AAA is a local front door, not the whole house.

The resident advocate for a nursing home is a separate program. State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs are the federally mandated advocates for people living in nursing homes, residential care communities and other similar adult care facilities. Under the Older Americans Act, they identify, investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of residents. Anyone can contact the program, and its services are free and confidential, but it represents the resident: when someone else files a complaint, it must determine, to the extent possible, what the resident wants and follow that direction. If your complaint is about a facility your parent already lives in, the Ombudsman is the office you want.

If you suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation, Adult Protective Services is a different pathway, and our guide to recognizing and reporting elder abuse walks through it. The Eldercare Locator can also route you to a local agency that can help.

And no national guide can tell you what is available locally. Ask your agency what it currently has available and whether there's a wait for the specific service you want, because availability is a local answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an Area Agency on Aging cost money?

Not as a condition of qualifying. You find your agency through the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116. Older Americans Act services carry no income test to qualify, so there is no income bar to clear first. What you may be asked for is a voluntary contribution, or, if your state has elected cost sharing for the service you want, a share of its cost. Neither one is a gate. An Older Americans Act service may not be denied because of an older individual's income or their failure to make a cost sharing payment, and your Area Agency on Aging may request a waiver of the state's cost sharing policies, which the state must approve if the agency shows that a significant proportion of those it serves who are subject to cost sharing have incomes below the state's threshold, or that cost sharing would unreasonably burden the agency. So the money question to put to your agency is not whether your family qualifies, but whether the service you want carries cost sharing in your state.

My parent is 62 but doesn't consider herself old. Does she still qualify?

Age-wise, yes. The Older Americans Act defines an "older individual" as someone 60 years of age or older, and individuals age 60 and over may receive benefits under the Act. Whether a particular service fits her situation is a separate question for the agency's intake staff.

Do I call my Area Agency on Aging or an ADRC first?

Start with whichever you can reach, and if you don't know which that is, call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 and let it route you. Then pick by who needs the help. Your Area Agency on Aging is how families reach local aging services for an older adult. An Aging and Disability Resource Center is the wider door, and by law it can be an entity, network or consortium your state sets up, working with Area Agencies on Aging and other aging or disability groups as appropriate. How your state organizes the two varies, so ask locally how the ADRC door works where your parent lives.

Is the National Family Caregiver Support Program the same as my Area Agency on Aging?

No. The National Family Caregiver Support Program is authorized under Title III-E of the Older Americans Act and administered federally by the Administration for Community Living, which makes grants to states and territories. Your Area Agency on Aging is how the National Family Caregiver Support Program reaches you, directly or through a contractor: the program's services are provided by an Area Agency on Aging or an entity it contracts with.

Is an Area Agency on Aging a government office?

Sometimes. An Area Agency on Aging is a public or private nonprofit agency designated by a state to address the needs of older persons at the regional and local levels, so yours may be a county department or an independent nonprofit. The designation is what matters, not the letterhead. An ADRC may not be a single office at all: by law it is an entity, network or consortium established by a state as part of its long-term care system.

Learn More

CaregiverGetting Started as a Family Caregiver: A First-Steps GuideNew to caregiving? A first-steps guide with a week-one checklist, caregiver tasks, how to share the load, the legal documents you need, and where to find help. CaregiverThe National Family Caregiver Support Program: The Federal Help Most Caregivers MissWhat the National Family Caregiver Support Program funds, who is eligible, and how to reach respite and caregiver support through your Area Agency on Aging. CaregiverRespite Care: Types, Funding, and How to Find It (50-State Directory)What respite care is and how to pay for it in 2026: the main types, NFCSP respite with no income test, Medicaid and VA respite, and every state guide. CaregiverHow to Get Meals on Wheels for a ParentHow to get Meals on Wheels for an elderly parent: who qualifies, how to apply through your Area Agency on Aging, what it costs, and what to do about a waitlist. CaregiverCaregiver Programs by State: The 50-State DirectoryA directory of caregiver programs in all 50 states: paid family caregiver pathways, respite, NFCSP grants, and VA benefits. Find your state's complete guide. CaregiverHow to Recognize and Report Elder AbuseWorried an older adult is being hurt or exploited? How to recognize elder abuse and who to call for each situation, from 911 to Adult Protective Services. CaregiverSenior Transportation: How to Get Around When You No Longer DriveSenior transportation options when an older adult stops driving: aging-network rides, ADA paratransit, Medicaid medical rides, and how to pick the right one.

Find personalized help finding and using your local Area Agency on Aging at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

Still have questions?

Brevy answers from this guide and every other guide here, and can check what you qualify for.

BC

Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.