In 1952, Governor Williams appointed a study commission that sponsored a conference on aging, and recommended that a commission on aging be organized to focus on aging issues. In 1956 the Michigan Legislature passed a bill which created a legislative Advisory Council on Problems of the Aging. In 1960 the Michigan Legislature passed Public Act 11, which enabled a Michigan Commission on Aging to begin operating under the Michigan Department of Social Services.

The Older Americans Act was passed in 1965, as part of the Great Society initiative. This act established the Administration on Aging within the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and called for the creation of State Units on Aging. The first State Unit on Aging for Michigan was the Division of Services to the Aging under the Michigan Department of Social Services. This division administered model demonstration projects for senior nutrition and community services.

In 1973, 35 years ago, Public Act 106 created a new Commission on Services to the Aging and a new Office of Services to the Aging as an independent agency under the Michigan Department of Management and Budget, to research and draft a Michigan Comprehensive Plan for Aging. This was the beginning of the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging (OSA). The resulting Michigan Comprehensive Plan for Aging was published in 1975. It provided guidance for future program development, and it presented a course of action through operational objectives and suggestions to achieve better coordination of services. In developing this Comprehensive Plan for Aging, Public Act 106 directed OSA to place priority on looking at existing service programs in the broadest possible context, and to evaluate policy and planning for older adult programs at all levels of government, as well as in the private sector. Citizen participation was solicited throughout the planning process.

On November 15, 1973, Governor William Milliken appointed nine persons to serve on the new Commission on Services to the Aging. The year 1973 was also the year when Older Americans Act amendments increased the range of services offered by the aging network, and mandated the establishment of area agencies on aging (AAA) in every state to coordinate federal and state programs and services with local efforts. This change led to the formation of the Michigan aging network as we know it today.

On January 2, 1974, Governor Milliken issued Executive Directive 1974-1, which merged OSA with the Division on Aging under the Michigan Department of Social Service to create a new state unit on aging, directed by C. Patrick Babcock. It was designated as an independent agency under the Michigan Department of Management and Budget that brought together all of the state's efforts on behalf of older adults.

The 1973-1974 State Plan for Programs on Aging was submitted to the Administration on Aging on January 25, 1974. It identified 13 regions that followed the boundaries of Governor Milliken's Planning and Service Areas for Michigan, and it detailed plans for designating an AAA in each one. That year, OSA administered nearly $12 million in federal funds, including Titles III and VII under the Older Americans Act and the SSI Alert Program. The total allotment for aging services under Title III of the Act was approximately $2.5 million.

In 1975, the Michigan Legislature unanimously passed Public Act 146, also known as the "Kehres-Huffman Senior Citizens Act." It was signed by Governor Milliken on July 9, 1975 to establish OSA and the Commission on Services to the Aging as a part of state government, and as a designated state unit on aging. It also expanded the Commission to 15 members, and made it a part of the Executive Office. Six years later, Public Act 180 of 1981, also known as the Older Michiganians Act, established OSA as a permanent and autonomous entity under the Michigan Department of Management and Budget. It also established in state statute the duties and responsibilities of OSA, the Commission on Services to the Aging, and Area Agencies on Aging.