1. (a) The chief elected official or the chief executive officer if by ordinance of each municipality shall appoint a municipal agent for elderly persons. Such agent shall be a staff member of a senior center, a member of an agency that serves elderly persons in the municipality or a responsible resident of the municipality who has demonstrated an interest in assisting elderly persons or has been involved in programs in the field of aging.

2. (b) The duties of the municipal agent shall include, but need not be limited to:

   1. (1) Disseminating information to elderly persons, assisting such persons in learning about the community resources available to them and publicizing such resources and benefits; (2) assisting elderly persons in applying for federal and state benefits, and accessing community resources, available to such persons; and (3) reporting to the chief elected official or chief executive officer of the municipality and the Department of Aging and Disability Services any needs and problems of the elderly and any recommendations for action to improve services to the elderly. For the purposes of this subsection, “community resources” means resources that assist elderly persons in gaining access to housing opportunities, including, but not limited to, information regarding access to waitlists for housing designated for elderly persons, applications and consumer reports.
3. (c) Each municipal agent shall serve for a term of two or four years, at the discretion of the appointing authority of each municipality, and may be reappointed. If more than one agent is necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, the appointing authority, in its discretion, may appoint one or more assistant agents. The town clerk in each municipality shall notify the Department of Aging and Disability Services immediately of the appointment of a new municipal agent. Each municipality may provide to its municipal agent resources sufficient for such agent to perform the duties of the office.
4. (d) The Department of Aging and Disability Services shall adopt and disseminate to municipalities guidelines as to the role and duties of municipal agents and such informational and technical materials as may assist such agents in performance of their duties. The department, in cooperation with the area agencies on aging, may provide training for municipal agents within the available resources of the department and of the area agencies on aging.
5. (e) On or before January 1, 2025, the Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services shall create a directory of municipal agents appointed pursuant to the provisions of this section, which shall include, but need not be limited to, the name, title, telephone number, electronic mail address and mailing address of each municipal agent. The commissioner shall post a link to the directory on the Department of Aging and Disability Services' Internet web site.

(1972, P.A. 70; P.A. 77-447; P.A. 85-459, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-206, S. 2; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 95-77; P.A. 01-195, S. 105, 181; P.A. 12-119, S. 3; P.A. 13-125, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 288; P.A. 18-169, S. 14; P.A. 19-157, S. 14; P.A. 21-7, S. 1; P.A. 24-39, S. 17.)

History: P.A. 77-447 replaced all former provisions re municipal agents for disseminating information to elderly with more detailed provisions of Subsecs. (a) to (d), inclusive; P.A. 85-459 amended Subsec. (b) to require written reports to be submitted to the state department on aging and amended Subsec. (c) to require the town clerk to notify the state department on aging of the appointment of a new municipal agent; P.A. 88-206 gave the chief elected official the authority to appoint a municipal agent and provided that the chief executive officer may also appoint if by ordinance he is given such authority in Subsec. (a), made a technical change in Subsec. (b) and required the department on aging to sponsor at least one training session and specified that the training shall include information re the availability of housing and required each municipal agent to attend at least one session in Subsec. (d); P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of department of social services for department on aging, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-77 amended Subsec. (c) to allow a municipal agent to serve a term of two or four years, at the discretion of the appointing authority, where previously terms were two years only; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes, effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 12-119 amended Subsec. (a) to delete provisions re commission on aging members and elected officials as potential agents and make technical changes, amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, replace provisions re annual written reports on services provided by the agent with provisions re reporting agent's recommendations to improve services to the elderly, made a technical change in Subsec. (c), and amended Subsec. (d) to delete requirement that department ensure municipalities carry out provisions of section, make technical changes, make agent training discretionary rather than mandatory, delete provisions re training requirements and records re elderly persons and add provision re training within available resources of department and area agencies, effective June 15, 2012; P.A. 13-125 replaced references to Department of Social Services with references to Department on Aging, effective July 1, 2013; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 replaced “Department on Aging” with “Department of Social Services” in Subsecs. (b) to (d), effective October 31, 2017; P.A. 18-169 replaced “Department of Social Services” with “Department of Rehabilitation Services” in Subsecs. (b) to (d) and made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective June 14, 2018; P.A. 19-157 amended Subsecs. (b) to (d) by replacing “Department of Rehabilitation Services” with “Department of Aging and Disability Services”; P.A. 21-7 amended Subsec. (a) by adding senior center staff to persons who may be municipal agents and made a technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 24-39 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “demonstrated an interest in the elderly” with “demonstrated an interest in assisting elderly persons”, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “may include, but shall not be limited to” with “shall include, but need not be limited to”, replacing “other benefits” with “state benefits, and accessing community resources” and making a technical change in Subdiv. (2) and adding provision defining “community resources” in Subdiv. (3), and added Subsec. (e) re creation of a directory of municipal agents.