FOREWORD Each year, more and more Americans reach the age of 65. For many of these senior citizens, acquiring the most basic needs of food and shelter is an arduous and financially draining endeavor. Too often, the elderly find themselves alone, destitute, and neglected. When these older Americans are no longer able to maintain the comfortable, dignified way of life which they deserve, the Government has an essential moral obligation to assist them. For this reason, Congress established the Older Americans Act in 1965, and it has since become the primary social services program for the elderly, with projects as diverse as the National Nutrition Program, multipurpose senior citizen centers, and community service employment efforts. Presently, the Older Americans Act has a dramatic impact on the lives of thousands of elderly citizens every day. The committee is reprinting the Older Americans Act at this time because of the extensive and significant changes made by Congress in the last few years. These amendments have served both to improve coordination of the multitude of existing programs on the local, State, and national level, and to implement new programs. It is my belief that the numerous alterations to the Older Americans Act demonstrate Congress' sustained interest in the needs and desires of the American elderly. I hope this booklet will alert Government officials, interested citizens, and older Americans to the many programs available to the aged. I hope, too, that government at all levels will continue attempts to ease the lives of this Nation's elderly, the most vulnerable and rapidly increasing segment of our population. CLAUDE PEPPER, Chairman, House Select Committee on Aging. (V) CONTENTS Functions and organizational status of the Administration on Aging National Information and Resource Clearing House for the Aging. Federal Council on the Aging... Title III-Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging. State and Area Agency on Aging responsibilities. Supportive services and senior centers Congregate and home-delivered nutrition services.. Home-delivered nutrition services (participants)... Home-delivered nutrition services (number meals served). Title IV-Training, Research, and Discretionary Projects and Programs.. State allocations by National Organization and Governor's share..... Program enrollment job inventory-July 1, 1980 to June 30, 1981. THE OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED: A SUMMARY OVERVIEW Congress established the Older Americans Act of 1965 in response to the lack of community social services for older persons. Several subsequent amendments to the act, the latest of which were enacted in December of 1981, expanded programs created in 1965, and created new programs, including methods for coordinating the numerous social and health care services that have been developed incrementally over the past 17 years. The Federal dollars appropriated under the Older Americans Act have grown from $6.5 million in fiscal year 1966 to $914 million in fiscal year 1982. Today, the act authorizes grants for social services, nutrition services, multipurpose senior center facilities, training, research and demonstration activities, and public service employment projects. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT Prior to the enactment of the Older Americans Act in 1965, older persons were eligible for federally funded social services under general purpose legislation serving all persons meeting the specified eligibility criteria. With the recognition that limited resources could not help all those who were vulnerable, and that older people were being served disproportionately less than younger persons, many groups started advocating on behalf of the elderly. Their actions led President Truman in 1950 to initiate the first National Conference on Aging. Conferees called for all Government and voluntary agencies to accept greater reponsibility for the problems and welfare of older people. Further interest in the field of aging led President Eisenhower in 1956 to create the Federal Council on Aging and take steps toward the development of the White House Conference on Aging. The beginning of a major thrust toward legislation along the lines of the later-enacted Older Americans Act was made at the 1961 White House Conference on Aging. Conferees called for a Federal coordinating agency in the field of aging to be set up on a statutory basis, with adequate funds for coordinating Federal efforts in aging and a Federal program of grants for social services specifically for the elderly.1 In response to the White House Conference on Aging, Representative John Fogarty of Rhode Island and Senator Pat McNamara of Michigan introduced legislation in 1962 for the establishment of an independent U.S. Commission on Aging to "cut across 1 U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Nation and Its People. Report of the White House Conference on Aging. Jan. 9-12, 1961: 278–280. |