Federal Grant Award Summary

The Administration for Community Living, operating through the Administration on Aging, awarded the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services $897,466 under the Special Programs for the Aging, Title VII, Chapter 2, Long Term Care Ombudsman Services for Older Individuals program (CFDA 93.042). This formula grant, effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, funds the state's long-term care ombudsman program to investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of residents in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, board and care facilities, and other residential care communities. The ombudsman program provides advocacy services designed to protect vulnerable older adults by identifying and investigating resident complaints, offering information about long-term services and supports, ensuring regular access to ombudsman services, and representing resident interests before governmental agencies to secure administrative and legal remedies.

As a non-competitive, statutory formula grant distributed to all states and territories with designated State Agencies on Aging, this award enables the state to analyze and recommend policy and regulatory changes affecting long-term care quality and consumer protections. The North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services typically sub-awards portions of this funding to Area Agencies on Aging and community-based organizations to deliver direct ombudsman services across the state's 100 counties. Recipients expending $750,000 or more in annual federal awards are subject to single or program-specific audit requirements, with records maintained for three years following submission of final expenditure reports.