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  About Us

• Who We Are:

The Area Agency on Aging for Southeast Idaho is a planning and service agency designated by the Idaho Commission on Aging to develop programs and support services for persons 60 years and older and family caregivers. As an area-wide focal point for the aging network, the Area Agency on Aging strives to create an awareness of aging and caregiving issues and encourages the development and coordination of services to address those issues.

The Area Agency on Aging is a private, not-for-profit organization under the parent agency of the Southeast Idaho Council of Governments, Inc., governed by a Board of Directors and assisted by an Advisory Council whose members reside throughout the seven county service area.

• What We Do:

With federal and state funding received through the Idaho Commission on Aging, the Area V Agency on Aging awards contracts to local service providers throughout southeast Idaho for a variety of services. Funded services include Congregate and Home Delivered Meals, Transportation, Health Promotion and Medication Management, Homemaker, Respite Care, and Legal Assistance. All of these services are available in each of the seven counties served by the Area Agency.

The Area V Agency on Aging directly provides Information and Assistance, Case Management, Adult Protection, and Long Term Care Ombudsman services. The Area Agency on Aging and its network of service providers assist older persons and persons with disabilities to enroll in Medicare Part D.

There is no charge for the services funded by the Area V Agency on Aging, but voluntary contributions are always accepted to expand the service delivery systems for those most in need.

• About the Area:

The Area V Agency on Aging serves the counties of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Caribou, Franklin, Oneida and Power. Over 25,000 persons age 60+ reside in this 9200 square mile area. The 60+ population represents 16% of the total population of the area.

The region's largest city, Pocatello, is the county seat of Bannock County. Nestled in the western foothills of the Rocky Mountains at the mouth of the Portneuf Narrows, Pocatello is home to Idaho State University (ISU). The name "Pocatello" comes from an Indian chief of the Shoshone tribe who granted the railroad a right-of-way through the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. "Pocatello junction" became an important transportation crossroads as the Union Pacific Railroad expanded its service.

Today Pocatello stands at the intersection of two interstate highways (I-15 and I-86) and remains a transportation and industrial center. Pocatello is also unique in that it has ethnic communities who have lived there for many decades. These groups came with the railroad, stayed through labor disputes and layoffs, and now serve to make Pocatello one of Idaho's most ethnically and racially diverse communities.

The Fort Hall Indian Reservation is the region's most notable feature. Founded in 1863 on the Snake River Plain north of Pocatello, it comprises 815 square miles of land area in four counties: Bannock, Bingham, Caribou and Power. Programs and services for Native American elders are funded through federal Title VI but the AAA coordinates and cooperates with tribal authorities to assure that needs are met to the greatest extent possible.

• Our Mission:

"To enable the growing aging population and its caregivers to access a system of services with options that promotes well-being and independence and embodies the values of dignity and choice."

The intent of the Older Americans Act is that the Area Agency on Aging shall be the leader relative to all aging issues on behalf of all older persons in the planning and service area. This means that the Area Agency on Aging shall proactively carry out, under the leadership and direction of the Idaho Commission on Aging and other partner agencies, a wide range of functions related to advocacy, planning, coordination, inter-agency linkages, information sharing, brokering, monitoring and evaluation. These functions are designed to lead to the development or enhancement of comprehensive and coordinated community based systems in each community of the seven county area. It is the intent that these systems will be designed to assist older persons in leading independent, meaningful and dignified lives in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.