Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services

Community Assessment

The ATW Community Grants Description

Texas community leaders continue to strive to develop better outcomes regarding the multitude of issues and challenges they face in meeting the needs of older adults. This goal becomes increasingly challenging as the population of older adults increases. In order to mobilize Texas communities toward Aging Texas Well preparedness, DADS encourages communities to build their capacity to meet the current and future needs of a growing aging population.

We ask communities to take a holistic approach to aging preparedness, for both the community and the aging individuals living in it, by looking beyond health and human services to the entire system and infrastructure involved in meeting the ATW Benchmarks. This system may include, but is not limited to:

  • organizational resources
  • existing and potential collaboration among partners
  • community motivation
  • economic factors
  • political climate

Community preparedness relies on information regarding local assets, resources, and activities, as well as barriers or emerging needs. Effective programs depend not only on the community's interest in making the investment needed, but also the capability to do so. The capacity-building activities funded by this grant must improve each Texas community's ability to:

  • Clearly understand the context in which older adults and families live and the issues they want to address.
  • Locate hidden strengths or underutilized resources that could be developed.
  • Design effective collaborative strategies that respond to important issues facing older adults and their families.
  • Determine which resources could contribute to comprehensive strategies and how they should be utilized.
  • Empower older adults and community members by giving them a role in designing and implementing these strategies.

Community preparedness will be evaluated based on ATW Benchmarks as defined by the Declaration of Objectives stated in the Older Americans Act. Each grantee community developed strategies that outline how these ATW Benchmarks can be met using the resources and talents of older individuals and families, as well as public and private entities that exist in the community.

Updated: November 2, 2007