have created partnerships with rehabilitation facilities in order to place individuals with the most severe disabilities into work. They have used a number of creative initiatives including challenge grants with facilities in order to create employment opportunities. NARF recommends that funding for this program be increased to $77.4 million in fiscal year 1992. HEALTH PROFESSIONS ACT Mr. Chairman, you have introduced legislation that would expand the existing allied health education and training authorities contained in Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. NARF recommends that full funding be provided in fiscal year 1992 for specific provisions as authorized under the Health Professions Training Act: Allied Health Project Grants, $7 million; Traineeships for Advanced Training, $7 million; and Entry Level Student Traineeships, $10 million. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NARF recommends that funds be allocated for ADA technical assistance activities as covered under the Department of Justice's proposed technical assistance plan. Under your Subcommittee's jurisdiction, NARF recommends that $7 million be appropriated to the Department of Education to assist in educating the general public in the special needs of persons with disabilities. Mr. Chairman, the National Association of Rehabilitation Facilities appreciates this opportunity to share our views on these important issues and we hope that you will strongly consider our recommendations. STATEMENT OF ROBERT MATHER Mr. MATHER. Thank you. I am the president and CEO of the vocational rehabilitation center in Pittsburgh, PA. Nearly 40 percent of our vocational rehab center's, which we call VRC's, $4.5 million income is from Government funds. The balance of the VRC's income is from industrial services, sales and fund raising from private sources. Last year the Rehabilitation Act funded Pennsylvania $97 million, including 20 percent from State matching funds. The Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services provides about 10 percent of VRC's funding. Over the past 5 years, the Rehabilitation Act money has not kept pace with the growing human service needs in the Pittsburgh area. Studies show that there are over 68,000 disabled adults in the Pittsburgh area needing services. For the past 5 years, vocational rehabilitation moneys to VRC have decreased 80 percent, and VRC's staffing and clients served decreased 50 percent. However, successful job placements increased 11 percent during this same period. This increase in client placements is through more emphasis on supported employment, community based training, projects with industry grant, and an active business advisory council. An average of one client per day is placed by VRC. Total client earnings are $2.25 million per year, and the annual cost of a client placement is only around $900. The savings in Government subsidies through studies show that $10 for every Government dollar spent on client training and placement is returned for every dollar spent through the Federal funds. This financial return is possible through the Rehabilitation Act, the Federal funds that we receive, State funds, private funds, and business linkages designed to help employ clients with disabling conditions. VRC is doing more with job placement, but every year it seems to be with less and less money. It is very important the sub committee increase funding for the State grants program, section 110, to $2.5 billion and that the support in employment title VI, part C, increase funding to $60 million and increase the PWI projects to $50 million in fiscal year 1992. This is needed to maintain similar VRC programs throughout the Nation. These three areas are a major part of VRC programs which help persons with disabilities lead more productive and independent lives with dignity and in the community. Mr. Chairman, VRC appreciates this opportunity to share our concerns and experiences with this important need for more human service moneys, and trust that you will give this favorable consideration. Thank you. Senator BUMPERS. Thank you. STATEMENT OF FRANK B. ASHLEY, PH.D., PROJECT ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM PROJECT, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Senator BUMPERS. Dr. Ashley? Dr. ASHLEY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Dr. Frank Ashley, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University and also the project administrator of the Texas A&M National Youth Sports Program [NYSP]. I appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of fiscal year 1992 appropriation of $20 million for the NYSP. I know this committee is familiar with the NYSP. In 23 years, over 1 million disadvantaged participants, age 10 through 16, have received sports and enrichment instruction, free medical examinations, and USDA approved meals through the program. We thank you for your support. Our areas of focus in the NYSP include working with the Department of Energy to continue a math/science enrichment program piloted last year at South Carolina State College. The purpose of this program is to increase interest and achievement in math and science among economically disadvantaged youngsters. We would like to replicate this program elsewhere. We are also requesting funding for the extended NYSP which operates during the school year. This program is an important part of the entire drug abuse emphasis of NYSP. It allows continued contact with youngsters year around. We are currently operating at 55 institutions, and we want to offer the extended NYSP on more campuses next year. Drug abuse prevention is a key part in both summer and extended NYSP. It is successful for a variety of reasons, including the commitment and concern of the staff who provide positive role models and the nature of NYSP. We use sports to build participants' self-esteem and to teach essential life skills. Another special area of attention is the relationship between the NYSP and public housing projects. The NYSP provides a positive alternative to drugs and crime for over 20,000 young people living in public housing and we are working to strengthen what we do for this population. As far as our program needs, this year we expect to serve about 68,000 youngsters at 148 institutions representing over one-half of the Nation's historically black colleges and universities. Nonetheless, many NYSP projects are still overenrolled and many poor young people continue to be turned away. We are asking for additional funding to address the growing, unmet demand. We would like to provide more hot meals, more medical examinations and referrals and more enrichment programs for our underprivileged youth. As far as sharing the cost, we are not looking to the Federal Government to bear costs alone. Non-Federal contributions to the NYSP continue to increase. The program remains a cost-effective use of Federal funds. The Federal appropriation represents just over one-third of our budget. PREPARED STATEMENT In conclusion, the NYSP has a proven record of success. It has the trust and support of the communities that it serves. We, therefore, request that you recommend a fiscal year 1992 appropriation of $20 million for the NYSP. Thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning. [The statement follows:] STATEMENT OF FRANK B. ASHLEY Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Dr. Frank B. Ashley. I am an assistant professor of health and physical education at Texas A&M University and project administrator of the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) project at Texas A&M. I appreciate this opportunity to testify in support of an fiscal year 1992 NYSP appropriation of $20 million. Since the inception of the NYSP in 1968, the lives of over one million participants from poverty target areas-from Fargo to Miami and Los Angeles to Boston-have been immeasurably enriched through participation in the unique educational and sports activities offered by the NYSP. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, we thank you for your generous investment in the future of these youngsters. Those of us who work directly with NYSP participants are excited about the NYSP's ability to address a wide variety of problems facing our nation's young people. I want to tell you about the program's accomplishments this past year, the new directions in which the NYSP is moving, and the financial needs of the program. In his budget message to Congress this year, President Bush spoke of investing in the future and helping members of the next generation maximize their human potential. Making U.S. students first in the world in science and mathematics by the year 2000 is prominent among his national educational goals. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has submitted a proposal to the Department of Energy (DOE), which is seeking to increase math and science achievement among minority students, for a pilot NYSP math and science enrichment program for about 150 students at each of 25 NYSP projects. The goal of this program is to increase participants' awareness of the career opportunities that exist in science and math, motivate them to pursue such careers by involvng them in hands-on science experiments, and develop their analytical and critical thinking skills. Last year, the NYSP project at South Carolina State College conducted a similar pilot program, in conjunction with the DOE and the Westinghouse Savannah River Company. Educational and career opportunities always have been part of the NYSP enrichment curriculum and the math/science focus fits in well with the NYSP philosophy of motivating youngsters to stay in school, pursue higher education, and better their opportunities for the future. We estimate the cost of implementing the math/science enrichment program at each NYSP project for 150 youngsters, fewer than half the enrollees at most projects, to be about $25,000 per project. To institute this program at the 125 projects not covered by the proposal to DOE would cost about $3.125 mil lion. Funding also is needed for the Extended NYSP, which is conducted from October to May. Initiated in 1989 at 45 institutions on a pilot basis with funding provided under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, the Extended NYSP allows projects to maintain contact with participants and to continue delivering the NYSP's anti-drug message throughout the year. It also enables youngsters to be on campus when the college or university is in full operation and even greater resources and opportuni ties are available. The Extended NYSP continues to operate on a pilot basis, at 55 campuses, (just over one-third of all NYSP institutions) this year. We are prepared, and are seeking funding, to operate the Extended NYSP at 100 (or about two-thirds) of the institutions sponsoring summer projects in 1992. The cost of doing so would be about $1.8 million (average cost of $40,000 per project x another 45 institutions not now participating). Both the summer and Extended NYSP give special emphasis to drug education. This component of NYSP is successful for several reasons, among them the commitment and concern of the staff, who provide positive role models for the youngsters, and the multifaceted nature of the program, which uses sports to build participants' self-esteem and to teach them essential life skills. Another area to which special attention is being given is the relationship between the NYSP and public housing developments. The NYSP provides a positive alternative to drugs and crime for many young people living in public housing. A survey conducted last summer by the NCAA found that over 20,000 boys and girls (over one-third of summer NYSP participants) were public housing residents, and that over eighty percent of NYSP projects served such youngsters. Continued efforts will be made to work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and, in local communities, with public housing authorities to offer even greater opportunities to these young people. Last year, an estimated total of 65,000 economically disadvantaged youngsters, ages 10 to 16, participated in summer and Extended NYSP projects at 139 colleges and universities in 122 cities in 41 states and the District of Columbia. We are pleased that this year, 150 NYSP projects will be conducted on 148 college and university campuses nationwide (representing more than half of the country's historically black institutions), an increase of eleven projects (and about 3,500 needy young people). The 55 Extended NYSP projects being conducted this academic year (199091) represent ten more than last year. These increases will enable additional economically disadvantaged youngsters in underserved and unserved communities to have an opportunity to receive the free daily USDA-approved meals, free medical examinations and follow-up, high quality instruction in competitive and lifetime sports, and enrichment experiences that the NYSP provides. Despite our positive message about the effort to assist previously unserved young people, including many who live in public housing, many NYSP projects continue to be oversubscribed and must turn away youngsters who would benefit from the program. For example, at Jackson State University in Mississippi, the need for the NYSP is so great that the NYSP project there is being broken into two separate projects to accommodate more youngsters. The projected enrollment for each Jackson State project is 500 youngsters, well above the average NYSP enrollment of 350. This surge in demand for the program is occurring throughout the country. NYSP project administrators are calling to request additional funding, as some are nearly doubling their projected enrollments. A record number of colleges and universities, as well as community agencies and park and recreation departments, have called to inquire about sponsoring NYSP projects. The need for NYSP services is growing, and we are asking this Committee to provide the funds necessary to offer the NYSP to additional qualifying youngsters. We propose to address this problem of unmet demand by offering more NYSP projects in areas of need and by increasing the budgets of many existing projects, so that they may serve more youngsters. Between 30 to 35 new projects could be instituted at an estimated cost of $60,000 each (including technical assistance and training), for a total cost of $1.8 to $2.1 million. Providing an average of an additional $10,000/project to between 90 to 120 projects would enable them each to accommodate about 100 more youngsters. Additional federal funding beyond these amounts, which would be matched by nonfederal contributions (see below), would allow even greater numbers of economically disadvantaged, at-risk young people to participate in the NYSP. Finally, we are requesting funding to address the urgent problem of salaries. We are grateful for the increased funding this Committee has provided, and we have used it to restore some of the lost services, to strengthen the anti-drug abuse component, and to serve more youngsters. The resources have simply been insufficient to improve the very low salaries for all NYSP staff, and we cannot defer action any longer. Beyond their professional credentials, most NYSP staff members are dedicated individuals who truly care about the youngsters. Many of them are residents of poverty target areas. The salary ceilings, now in place for a seventh year at 1985 levels, are unrealistically low. NYSP auxiliary staff (including the drug education specialist, the enrichment coordinator, and the activity director) and professional staff are required to have a college degree, except for the medical coordinator, who may be a certified health provider. Salaries for professional staff are capped at between $250 to $300/week, far below what summer school and other employment op portunities offer. To provide an average increase of just $250 per employee ($50 to $63/week) would cost $1.25 million. We recognize that the cost of meeting the needs we have identified must be shared. Nonfederal contributions to the NYSP are increasing proportionately to the increase in federal funding, and we expect that trend to continue. This year, with a two-percent increase in the federal contribution, the contribution of the NCAA, which administered the NYSP free of charge as a community service, is being increased sixteen percent. Rawlings Sporting Goods and other equipment manufacturers also are increasing their donations. The NYSP has been, and remains, a costeffective use of federal funds. Participating colleges and universities commit not only to make their own contribution to the NYSP, but also to secure community and pri vate sector support for the program. The budget for the 1991 NYSP is about $31 million, of which $10.832 million is the federal (fiscal year 1991) appropriation. The NYSP truly is a special program. It has community acceptance, trust, and support, among both parents and participants. It is a reproducible program that is easily adapted to urban and rural settings and provides services to diverse populations. We urge each member of this Committee to visit an NYSP project, either at home or here in the District, and to see how the NYSP makes a difference in the lives of at-risk youngsters in communities across America. Those who participate in making the NYSP possible-from the institutions, which contribute facilities and staff instead of offering financially rewarding sports camps, to individuals, who begin working six months in advance to organize NYSP projects and spend countless hours outside of actual NYSP activities working on plans and paperwork-believe that the sacrifices involved are far outweighed by the benefit to tens of thousands of needy youngsters each year. The program's new logo sums it up: NYSP-The Right Start. For the foregoing reasons, we request that you recommend an fiscal year 1992 appropriation of $20 million for the NYSP. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify this morning. TRAUMA CARE Senator BUMPERS. Mr. Green, first of all, I wanted to inquire. Is your organization only involved in trauma care? Mr. GREEN. No; it is all of emergency care. Senator BUMPERS. All emergency care. Mr. GREEN. Yes. Senator BUMPERS. Well, you should lobby Senator Pryor. Mr. GREEN. He told me that when he woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning, first of all, he knew it wasn't anything he had eaten. He knew what was happening to him. And he was in the hospital within 15 minutes after he woke up. The ambulance was there very shortly. And he said there must have been 15 people standing in the emergency room waiting for him. I told somebody if I woke up with those kinds of pains, I wouldn't tell 911 this is Dale Bumpers. I'd say this is Senator Dale Bumpers. [Laughter.] Senator BUMPERS. I did not ask David whether he did that or not, but he got there in a hurry and got a shot of TPA. But, obviously, he would be very sympathetic to your cause because he thought they were just magnificent in the way they treated him. I know that your program is an excellent one, and we do have an acute shortage of trauma care trained nurses in this country. Mr. GREEN. Yes, we do. We also have a shortage of trauma care centers as well. Senator BUMPERS. You know, John Stennis told me one time when he got mugged here and was shot by-I think Senator Stennis told me he got shot five times. And they wanted to take him to a hospital close by. I forget which one they wanted to take him to, and he insisted on them taking him to Walter Reed. And they |