Since June 2008, The National Association of State Units on Aging has been surveying its members to gauge the impact of the economic downturn on the state units on aging. Our latest survey, administered in November, 2009, contains responses from forty-two states, the Northern Mariana Islands and the District of Columbia. The resulting analysis of the economic downturn on the state units on aging is contained in following report, The Economic Crisis and Its Impact on State Aging Programs, 11/2009.

This report, analyzing the fifth survey on the economy conducted by NASUA, documents the challenges facing the states as they struggle to serve an expanding population with diminished funding and resources. Alarmingly, the economic crisis is having an increasingly profound effect at the state unit level, with many states facing not only simultaneous additive budget reductions and increasing service requests, but also reduced service levels and decreasingly effective direct service impact mitigation strategies. Although the states continue to evolve and adapt to the economic crisis, their options for doing so are dwindling (abstract from: http://www.nasua.org).