Strengthening Services for America's Seniors Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize the Assistant Secretary for Aging in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to states to establish a program to assess the needs of family caregivers for targeted support services.
Allows Aging and Disability Resource Centers to carry out an assessment program with respect to informal caregivers and care recipients.
Establishes an Advisory Committee to Assess, Coordinate, and Improve Legal Assistance Activities for older Americans.
Makes it a duty of the Administration on Aging to reserve and provide specified amounts for FY2012 and subsequent fiscal years for the funding of the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC).
Authorizes the use of such amounts to enable NORC to: (1) collaborate and participate with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in providing training for state survey agencies with an agreement in effect under the Medicare program; or (2) work with the CMS Administrator, in the case of states without such an agency, to improve the investigative processes used by the center to address complaints by residents of long-term care facilities.
Requires the state to ensure that representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman shall have access to review all records concerning a resident.
Declares a State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and any representative of the Office, a "health oversight agency," so that release of residents' individually identified health information to the Ombudsman or a representative is not precluded (by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 [HIPAA]) in certain cases.
Imposes confidentiality requirements upon the Ombudsman and each representative of the Office with respect to communications with individuals seeking assistance under this Act.