2027-2030 Area Plan is Underway

Every four years, Aging and Disability Services (ADS) and other Area Agencies on Aging around the country develop an Area Plan as a response to the needs in our communities. The Area Plan is the roadmap we follow to further our vision of a community where people thrive at every stage of life. It describes the function of Aging and Disability Services as the local Area Agency on Aging, presents relevant demographic trends, and outlines the major goals and objectives to be achieved over the course of four years. Our Area Plan is submitted to the State Unit on Aging, part of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services Home and Community Living Administration (HCLA). In turn, the department files a State Plan on Aging with the federal Administration on Aging. This is all part of the Aging Network authorized by the Older Americans Act of 1965.

The 2027-2030 Area Plan for Seattle and King County will be developed over the next year. ADS has already begun gathering feedback to inform priorities. We’ve heard from you in a survey, focus groups, interviews, community events, and other outreach efforts. This conversation will continue as we work toward releasing a draft in the summer. When it’s ready, we’ll invite you to review, join public hearings, and submit your comments (so don’t miss an issue of AgeWise!). The ADS Advisory Council, along with our Seattle Human Services, King County Department of Community and Human Services, and Public Health—Seattle & King County partners, will approve the plan prior to its submittal to the State Unit on Aging in October 2026.

You can view the current 2024-2027 Area Plan and learn more about where we are at now by visiting https://www.agingkingcounty.org/areaplan.

For now, mark your calendars for December’s Advisory Council meeting, which will include a presentation on the Area Plan: https://www.agingkingcounty.org/about-us/advisory-council/#meetings. Aging is our future. Let’s plan it together!

Contributor Allison Boll is a senior planner at Aging and Disability Services, the Area Agency on Aging for Seattle and King County, which is a division of Seattle Human Services Department. For more information about the Area Plan, contact ADS senior planner Allison Boll at Allison.Boll@seattle.gov.