3012 Area Agency on Aging Records

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Aging Services
Administrative Manual

Chapter:

3000 Area Agency on Aging (AAA) Administration

Effective Date:

03/30/2022

Section Title:

Area Agency on Aging Records

Reviewed or Updated in:

MT 2022-06

Section Number:

3012

Previous Update:

MT 2015-03

Summary Statement

The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) shall provide for the development and maintenance of operational records.

Requirements

The AAA shall establish written procedures to assure proper development, maintenance and retention of the following:

  • All financial records,

  • Contract documents,

  • Supporting documents, including, but not limited to

    • Cooperative agreements,

    • Working papers,

    • Letters,

    • Memoranda,

    • Printed email text, and

    • Minutes of meetings

  • Expenditure reports and all accounting records used to prepare the expenditure report, including records for program income, fees, and other cash and in-kind contributions,

  • Programmatic records, including client information and services provided to each client as stipulated by DHS/DAS and in accordance with data maintained from automated information systems,

  • Property records,

  • Other records required by the terms of the contract agreement or program rules and regulations or are otherwise reasonably considered pertinent to program regulations or contract agreement,

  • Personnel records,

  • Statistical records, and

  • All other records related to agency performance

The AAA shall retain the records specified above for a minimum of six years following the end of the fiscal year, and/or until any pending litigation, claims or audit findings, issuance of proposed disallowed costs, or other disputes have been resolved. Agencies with more than one site may maintain inactive records at a designated central location.

The AAA shall require that all subcontractors/ service providers adhere to this record retention policy as applicable. Service providers will retain the required records at their sites or in other designated secure storage facilities.

The AAA shall assure that the Division, the Comptroller General of the United States, the State of Georgia, and the agent or representative of any other authorized entity has access to and the right to examine all records, books, papers, contracts, client records, computer files and related storage media, unless specifically prohibited by law, and other documents related to the contract.

Unless required by Federal, State, or local law, Area Agencies are not required to permit public access to such records.

Additional requirements for recordkeeping may be listed in specific program and/or service requirements.

The AAA shall require through appropriate contract language that all service providers adhere to this policy.

Record Destruction

Once documents, files, or information storage devices are no longer required to be maintained pursuant to contractual obligations or record retention schedules, that information can only be appropriately disposed of by shredding, erasing, or otherwise permanently destroying or making irreversibly indecipherable all physical forms of information that contain the confidential, personally identifiable and/or protected health information of clients. Documents and information storage devices must be kept secure in compliance with record retention schedules until they are destroyed. If documents are shredded, they must be shredded with a device that meets a minimum DIN security level P-4 rating or higher.

References

Refer to MAN 5600, Section 1060 for electronic record management and MAN 5600, Section 1061 for additional record retention guidelines.