The purpose of this subtitle is to: establish a comprehensive, strategic State plan to address the aging–in–place preference of current and future seniors; provide available resources to local communities to enhance aging–in–place services and facilitate the independence of older adults; and promote a State aging–in–place program that overcomes barriers in housing, transportation, health care, employment, and social and civic engagement.

There is a Maryland Communities for a Lifetime Program in the Department.

The Department shall collect and make available best practices on policies to encourage aging–in–place.

A county or municipal corporation may establish a process to certify communities as Communities for a Lifetime under the Maryland Communities for a Lifetime Program. The Department shall recommend criteria that local jurisdictions may use to certify Communities for a Lifetime, including: the extent to which a community has sought and plans to expand public health, prevention, and wellness programs that serve older adults; the extent to which a community has sought and plans to expand affordable transportation options; the extent to which a community has sought and plans to expand affordable rental housing and the ability to own affordable homes; the extent to which a community has sought and plans to expand employment, civic engagement, recreation, and leisure options for older adults; and the extent to which a community has sought and plans to expand other initiatives that boost the abilities of older adults to age in place. A Community for a Lifetime shall submit to the Department on or before September 1 each year a progress report on the community’s efforts to enable aging in place and a report on the community’s plans to enable aging in place in the future.