"A multipurpose senior center is a community facility where
older adults come together for services and activities that reflect
their skills and interests and respond to their diverse needs. Centers
are a resource for the entire community, providing services and information
on aging, and assisting family and friends who care for older persons.
For older persons at risk of losing their self-sufficiency, senior
centers are the entry point to an array of services that will help
them maintain their independence. Any variety of services to individuals
or groups may be accessed depending on local community circumstances.
Persons of differing backgrounds share and learn from each other. Persons
of all ages with all types of skills and interests are needed to perform
vital roles and enhance the services and programs at the centers. "
*courtesy of the NC Division of Aging and Adult
Services
Currently, senior centers are evolving. Baby boomers have different expectations about what they are willing to accept from a community resource than many of the seniors currently utilizing senior centers. If centers of the future want to continue to be an entry into the array of services available to seniors and their families and if they want to continue to be a point of socialization, wellness and health promotion, they have to adjust to changing expectations. And they are.
The Aging Network in North Carolina is working to understand the expectations and to bring the senior centers of North Carolina into the future with viable and sustainable programs and opportunities. As part of that effort, North Carolina looked at how current senior centers could be enhanced now. Two models of performance and programming were developed.
To qualify in either category, a voluntary certification process called SCOPE (Senior Center Operations and Program Evaluation) is initiated. Successful meeting of the measures for merit or excellence leads to an appropriate designation.
Initially, it was hoped to offer additional incentive funding to centers based on their certification. However, this plan is dependent on current funding at any given time
Some
Senior Centers choose not to apply for either designation. And, some
Centers may not qualify based on a single determinant over which
they have no control. An example might be the size of the
building in which they are located. Typically, Satellite
centers - smaller centers that operate in conjunction with
but separately from a Senior Center - would not qualify on their
own. Consequently, if they are formally designated as a Satellite
of a particular Senior Center, the Center may include the Satellite
center as part of the total package of services and opportunities
that they offer. If that Center then qualified for a Center of Merit
or Excellence, the Satellite could acknowledge their affiliation
with the Senior Center but could not also identify itself as a Center
of Merit or Excellence.
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In North Carolina, there are three types of senior center funding.
Senior Center Operations is one of the services that counties may choose to fund through the Home and Community Care Block Grant. |
Senior centers are primarily locally financed. The General Assembly provides smaller appropriations for Senior Center General Purpose funding and Senior Center Outreach.
Another way that North Carolina is working to increase the capacity of senior centers is through the Ann Johnson Institute for Senior Center Management. The Ann Johnson Institute provides leadership and career development training for senior center personnel. |
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Nationally, there is an accreditation process that includes a self-assessment, peer review, and review by the National Senior Center Accreditation Board.
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