Information on the quality of needs assessments of the elderly was collected from three sources: a nationwide survey of agencies involved in needs assessments of the elderly, evaluation of the needs assessment documents produced by these agencies, and examination of documents identified as being on the frontier of needs assessment. It was found that the overall quality of the majority of needs assessments was so low as to provide little meaningful input to the planning process. It is recommended that the states be the initial and central focus for the improvement of needs assessment efforts.