VIRGINIA- The project area encompasses the Southeastern Virginia Planning District #20 including the cities of Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth. Norfolk is also a Model City. The State Agency will operate the program directly; however, it contracted with the local Health, Welfare, and Recreation, Planning Council to conduct the activities related to the first 120 day planning period. The project seeks to aid isolated and withdrawn older people and provide new, or make more accessible existing services and programs. A heavy concentration of black elderly resides in the district. During November and December, 1971 an additional 12 awards were made to designated State Agencies. The following list describes the 12 new projects: GEORGIA-The selected area for this project is the City of Atlanta which covers Fulton County and a portion of De Kalb County. Atlanta has a Model Cities grant which has programs specifically for the elderly. The project seeks to provide alternatives to institutionalization. The Georgia Commission on Aging has elected to operate this program through contractual arrangements with the Community Council of Atlanta Area, Inc., the recognized social planning agency for Atlanta and Fulton County. HAWAII-The Hawaii Areawide Model Project area includes the City and County of Honolulu limited to the Chinatown-Kapalama area within the county where the highest concentration of elderly poor reside. This is also a Model Cities area. The focus of the project is directed toward the elimination of the psychological, sociological, physiological and economic isolation of the elderly from the mainstream of community activities. The State Agency has contracted the Honolulu Office of Human Resources to administer this project. MARYLAND-The project area encompasses the lower Eastern Shore Counties: Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worchester. The Maryland Commission on Aging will operate the project directly and will seek to reduce the number of aged admissions to long term care facilities and to prevent needless impairment of the aged living in the community. MISSOURI-The project area includes the city of St. Louis. The project will focus on the provision of adequate community services so institutionalization can be postponed or avoided. The State Agency on Aging has contracted with the City of St. Louis for the conduct of the project. NEW HAMPSHIRE-The designated project area is the southeastern corner of New Hampshire incorporating the Merrimack Valley and Sea Coast Regions. The New Hampshire State Council on Aging will operate the project which has been named "Project Access." The project will focus on the isolated elderly who do not have access to needed services and, consequently experience serious health and other problems leading to early institutionalization. The proposed solution is to link the isolated elderly with necessary services. OHIO-The designated project area includes a segment of the City of Cleveland, located in the northcentral part of Ohio. The area selected for the Project called "One Hundred" is a section of Cleveland comprised by 14 Social Planning Areas extending 100 blocks East and 100 blocks West of Cuyahoga River. The Project will seek to develop alternatives to unnecessary institutionalization of older people. The State Agency on Aging has contracted with the City of Cleveland for the conduct of the project. WISCONSIN-The project area includes the City of Racine, located in the southeastern part of Wisconsin. The project will focus on the problem of isolation and the increasing dependency of the elderly. The State Agency on Aging will operate this project directly. RHODE ISLAND-This is the only Areawide Model Project which encompasses the entire State. Included are two Model Cities Areas. The program is operated directly by the State Agency and is designed to focus on health maintenance among the elderly to prevent or delay incidence of mental or physical health problems. WASHINGTON-The project area includes the City of Seattle which also encompasses a Model City. The State Agency has contracted with the King County Council on Aging for operation of the project. The project will work to improve and coordinate delivery of services to homebound elderly. ARIZONA-The project area encompasses Pima County which includes the City of Tucson. The State Agency has contracted with the Tucson Council on Aging for operation of the project. The project is designed to assure that elderly citizens receive needed health care with the objective of avoiding or delaying unnecessary institutionalization. Tucson already has an experimental health program for the elderly operation in cooperation with the Council on Aging. LOUISIANA-The City of New Orleans is the designated project area. The project, operated by the State Agency in cooperation with the Metropolitan Council on Aging and the local model cities program, is designed to reduce physical and social isolation, and institutionalization of older people. NEW YORK-The designated project area encompasses Onondaga County which includes the city of Syracuse. The State Agency has contracted with the Metropolitan Commission on the Aging for operation of the Project. The local Model Cities program will also be integrally involved in the project. The project is designed to eliminate loneliness and isolation of older persons. Statewide Planning, Coordination and Evaluation In addition to 1971 was an especially active year for State Agencies on Aging. responsibilities for continuing implementation of the 1969 amendments (Public Law 91-69) to the Older Americans Act, the State Agencies exercised a major leadership role in State and local preparations for the White House Conference on Aging. State agencies were integrally involved in organizing and carrying out the community forums and State Conferences which served to determine the Many preliminary issues and subject matter for the National Conferences. persons also were active participants in these preliminary conferences. thousand community forums were held throughout the nation at which the elderly voiced their pressing concerns and their hopes for action at the National conference. Based on the results of these forums, every State subsequently conducted a statewide conference where the States' recommendations to the National Conference took final form. Six Thus, the 1971 White House Conference on Aging met after intensive preparation which was due, in large measure, to the leadership and expertise exercised by the State Agencies on Aging. Also, during the past year, State Agencies on Aging completed the initial phase of their statewide planning responsibilities which included the following: 1. The completion of a Comprehensive Study of the Status and Needs 2. The completion of a report on Achievements of State Programs 1 These planning activities and achievements have equipped the State Agency with in-depth, and comprehensive knowledge of the characteristics of the elderly population and of the existing resources for the elderly which will enable the State Agency to expand its leadership capacity and planning and programming activities for the aging. Subsequent phases of statewide planning activities will build upon this data foundation. Social Services Nutrition Demonstration Patterned after the Areawide Model Project, this new initiative represents a $2.4 million research and demonstration program to test the delivery to older persons of coordinated social services with nutrition as a core service. It is expected that this new program will result in new knowledge applicable in the development of truly comprehensive social services - nutrition for older Ameri cans. Located in Chicago and three Florida counties (Palm Beach, Dade, and Pinellas), this project was jointly funded by OEO, Title IV (Older Americans Act), and SRS's Section 1115 of the Social Security Act. This program will be operational in early 1972. Developments In Aging In 1971 Training The training grant program, authorized by Title V of the Older Americans Act, was able to continue its support of 15 career training programs being conducted in 17 universities across the country, to add six new long-term programs, and to support six short-term projects. The continuing, long-term programs have become nationally recognized sources of well-trained personnel capable of providing a variety of professional services to the older population. In addition, staff members of the training programs are recognized increasingly as resources for professional leadership, consultation, and technical assistance within the communities, States, and regions served by their institutions. Particularly significant developments during 1971 included efforts to increase the supply of minority group workers in the aging field, broad participation of training personnel in the White House Conference on Aging, and a major increase in the level of funding for the training grant program. Involvement of Minority Group Members and Institutions In the 1971 funding cycle substantial emphasis was placed on enhancing training opportunities in aging for minority students. This was accomplished by increasing the enrollment of minority group students in the continuing programs, but, more strikingly, by awarding support for new programs in six black colleges. One, at Fisk University, is training students at the graduate level. The five undergraduate programs are located at: Albany State College, Albany, Georgia; Bishop College, Dallas, Texas; Federal City College, Washington, D. C.; Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina; and Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee. The undergraduate programs are providing students with a basic knowledge of gerontology and field experience to equip them for employment in positions which offer direct and essential services for older people. Students will also be equipped to enter graduate programs which prepare them for teaching, research, and leadership positions. Programs in the black colleges are being undertaken with high interest and enthusiasm. Opportunities have been made for directors and students in these programs to become acquainted with each other, and with their counterparts in more established aging training programs funded by Title V. These exchanges have proved to be useful in terms of the two-way learning and socialization which have taken place. 73-701 O 72 pt. 1 24 Minority group students accounted for 15 percent of the 462 students enrolled in the 22 long-term programs in the 1971-1972 academic year. It is hoped to increase this proportion in the years immediately ahead. Undergraduate Education - Prior to 1971, most of the Title V support was directed to the preparation of students at the post-baccalaureate or graduate level. This focus reflected the almost totally unmet de nand for personnel capable of assuming leadership and supervisory responsibilities in program planning and administration, organization of community programs, and teaching. By 1971, a number of graduate level programs had been well established, and it became possible to encourage the development of training crograms at the undergraduate level. Two of the established programs added baccalaureate training and five of the six black college programs are at this level, preparing students for giving direct services to the older population. Future support will be provided at both levels and will probably go to two-year community college programs as well. Short-Term Training Support of short-term training projects ranging from two weeks to a year in length has been provided under the Title V program since its inception. Especially significant during 1971 were the University of Georgia project for increasing the competencies of retirement housing personnel for work with the elderly and the short courses in milieu therapy offered to personn of mental hospitals by the University of Michigan-Wayne State University Institu of Gerontology. The milieu therapy project attracted several teams of mental hospital personnel, including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and ward attendants. The 14-week residential institutes offered by the Institute of Gerontology continued to be over-subscribed by employed personnel seeking to improve their skills and by persons desirous of launching new careers in aging. More than 80 persons were awarded certificates in one of four areas; planning, housing management, senior center direction, milieu therapy. During 1971, support was given to the Southern Regional Education Board to inventory the findings of research and demonstration projects conducted within its 15-State region. It is planned to make the information available for use in training programs for administrators and students in aging. A pioneering 3 year project received first-year support to give teachers information about aging which they can incorporate into their primary and secondary school teaching content. The goals of the project are to sensitize young people to the needs and conditions of the elderly, to prevent the formation of negative attitudes, and to make students aware of the possibilities of careers in aging. The project will be conducted by Ball State University for Indiana teachers. The Administration on Aging joined with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institute of Mental Health in supporting a conference for college and university faculty and administrators to encourage the development of teaching and research in additional institutions of higher education. The project will be conducted by the University of Southern California's Ethel Percy Andrus Center for Gerontology early in 1972. Career Training in Aging The long-term, career programs in aging are having significant impact on the field. Increasingly, government agencies and voluntary organizations are looking to them for qualified personnel. Approximately 170 students were graduated during 1971. Most of them are employed in State and community planning and development, in retirement housing and homes for the aged, in senior centers and recreation, in architectural design, adult education and library work, and in a variety of other settings. Some have gone on to doctoral programs and are or will be teaching in colleges and universities. The Placement Service in Aging, operated by the University of Michigan-Wayne State University program, is being used by potential employers and employees alike. It proved to be especially useful during the summer when the first Areavide Programs in Aging and Retired Senior Volunteer Programs were established. Approximately ten of each were funded by the Administration on Aging. The training staff viewed these as providing unique employment opportunities for graduates of Title V training programs. Accordingly, staff, in conjunction with the Placement Service in Aging, made a concerted effort both to acquaint the new programs with this potential staff resource and to inform the graduating students of the jobs in aging being created by these new programas. This effort met with considerable success. The Practicum Experience - Title V long-term training programs require all students to complete a period of field placement as a part of the course of study. placements serve to provide a testing ground for classroom content and an opportunity, frequently, to work directly with older persons. Students have field placements, either on a block or concurrent basis, in a wide variety of settings. As of One highly successful field placement setting has been with aging services in the Federal Government. Such placements began in the summer of 1970. From then until the end of 1971, 18 students have had such field placements, including 15 with AOA and three in aging services in two regional offices. These students, at both the master's and doctoral levels, came from seven universities. the end of 1971, about half were still students. of the half who had graduated, all but one were employed in aging. The other student had excellent prospects to be employed. More than half of those working were with State and Federal Agencies, while the others were employed by voluntary organizations, including Title V program. The students have proved to be bright, willing, and highly motivated to learn. The Administration on Aging has become fully convinced of the value of the practicum assignments in providing sound experience for trainees who will eventually work in service to the elderly and as affording significant staff assistance to the units to which they are assigned. Students in the Administration on Aging worked with the White House Conference on Aging, with research and demonstration, in training activities, and in the formulation of policy and development of legislation. They have had opportunities to meet informally with members of the executive staff and have attended congressional hearings and meetings within the Social and Rehabilitation Service and in the regions. Students having non-federal field placements have obtained varied, practical, and useful experiences. These have ranged from assisting committees on aging in State legislatures to staffing municipal commissions on aging, writing grant proposals, assisting administrators of retirement housing and long-term care facilities, and working with State agencies on Aging. Centralization and Regionalization A major share of the staff time during 1971 was devoted to work with the Social and Rehabilitation Service Office of Manpower Development and Training. Attention focused principally on the formulation of training policy and guidelines applicable to the diverse programs encompassed by the Social and Rehabilitation Service. In the field, most of the Regional offices worked closely with the Administration on Aging central office staff on reviewing continuing programs and evaluating new applications. Relations with other components of the Administration on Aging, particularly with the Older Americans Service Division, have been strengthened. Training of staff of State agencies on aging has been jointly planned by the two divisions and carried out by one of the grantees. Further, joint planning is in process |