The Baker Administration’s Community Compact Best Practices Program – a voluntary, mutual agreement entered into between the Baker-Polito Administration and individual cities and towns of the Commonwealth – opened August 15 and will remain so until the funding is exhausted.

The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative worked with partners at the Executive Office of Elder Affairs and the Baker Administration to add “age-and dementia friendly” best practices. MHAC encourages communities working to become more age- and dementia friendly to communicate with their municipal leadership to determine if their city or town is eligible. If so, that community has the option to pursue funding support to directly benefit age- and dementia friendly efforts.

In a Community Compact, a community will agree to implement at least one best practice that they select from across a variety of areas. The community’s chosen best practice(s) will be reviewed between the Commonwealth and the municipality to ensure that the best practice(s) chosen are unique to the municipality and reflect needed areas of improvement. Once approved, the written agreement will be generated and signed by both the municipality and the Commonwealth. The Compact also articulates the commitments the Commonwealth will make on behalf of all communities.