Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to join you here in Indian country. I am sorry I could not be here for the first part of the hearing on the Native Americans Programs Act (NAPA). I had a long-standing commitment today in Wenatchee that kept me from being here for the testimony on NAPA. The NAPA is a very important program to the many Indian tribes in Washington State. I look forward to working closely with Rep. Martinez in reauthorizing this legislation. I want to thank him and Congressman Charles Hayes for traveling to our part of the USA.

It is a great honor to hold this hearing on the Yakima Indian reservation and here in the Winter Lodge of the Yakima Nation Cultural Center. June 9th will mark the 136th anniversary of the signing of the historic Yakima Treaty of 1855 that established the government to government relationship between the Yakima Nation and the United States of America. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Mr. Levi George, Chairman of the Yakima Nation Tribal Council, to Mr. Phil Olney, General Council Chairman, and to all the people of the Yakima Nation, for hosting us today. Mr. Ray Olney, Mr. Doug Olney and Ms. Beth Downs have been most gracious and helpful in making the arrangements for this event.

Today we have the opportunity to examine how the Older Americans Act benefits Our older American Indian and older hispanic populations.

Our country has made great strides in improving the well-being of great numbers of older Americans. This is, in large part, due to the availability of Medicare and Social Security, as well as other important programs, like the Older Americans Act. Despite this progress, there remain great numbers of older citizens who are denied the opportunity to have a comfortable and dignified life when they reach their senior years.

This is especially true for our minority populations, including Native Americans and hispanics. Far too many older Indians are among the poorest of the poor, with poverty rates being more than 60 percent! Our hispanic elders also suffer great rates of poverty and are among the fastest growing segments of our society.

The OAA is not, by itself, going to solve these problems, but it has an important role to play. It is the only nationwide source of congregate and home-delivered meals for seniors. It provides for critical transportation, without which services would often not be accessible, particularly in rural areas like here in Eastern Washington. The OAA provides for key in-home long-term care services and employment for low-income seniors. And, it is the source of essential advocacy for elders, such as that provided by Evergreen Legal Services to older hispanics and American Indians.

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In March I held a hearing on "Targeting Services to Low-Income Minority Elders: Is the Older Americans Act Doing Enough?". Nationwide, the answer is clearly NO. And I know that Representatives Martinez and Hayes share that belief. As I said that hearing, the intent of the OAA is to adequately serve those who have been overlooked or underserved; this is a major challenge that we must all take very seriously. Just the fact that there is a much higher proportion of minority elders than non-minority elders living in poverty dictates that targeting services to low-income minority elders must be a top priority for those concerned with the OAA, as we are.

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Compared to other states, Washington has a good track record. A very recent report from Los Angeles shows that many urban American Indians are not receiving OAA Title III services. proud to say, however, that of the cities studied, Seattle had the second highest proportion served at 56 percent, compared to the other cities. In Portland, the rate is just 1.6 percent. Nonetheless, as we will hear today, there is much more to do. Our witnesses will help us establish a compelling record that we must do more through the OAA.

I am sorry there is not time to accommodate more witnesses. There are So many hispanic and tribal leaders who could eloquently add to our proceeding. With us today are 20 representatives of tribes in seven states, including six OAA Title VI program directors, who are in Yakima for a special program funded by the Administration on Aging that we will hear more about later. Many activists and providers who serve older hispanics were recommended to us as potential witnesses.

We will hold the hearing record open for two weeks to allow everyone wishing to submit to us a written statement to do so and it will be put in the official record. Thank you and I look forward to this afternoon's testimony.

Senator ADAMS. I am very pleased to introduce our first witness, Dr. Yvonne Jackson.

For the past ten years, Dr. Jackson, who is a Cherokee Indian, has worked for the Indian Health Service as Chief of Nutrition and Dietetics Section of the Training Program. During her tenure with the Indian Health Service, she received a six-month assignment on aging as a Special Advisor on Native Affairs and Native Elders.

Recently, Dr. Jackson was named Associate Commissioner for the Office of American Indian Affairs, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Congress created this position in 1987 as part of the Older Americans Act.

Dr. Jackson, I congratulate you on your new position. We all look forward to working with you in the future. We will be pleased to hear your testimony.

Ms. JACKSON. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF M. YVONNE JACKSON, PH.D., ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER ON AGING, OFFICE FOR AMERICAN INDIAN, ALASKAN NATIVE AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATION ON AGING

Ms. JACKSON. Chairman Adams, Chairman Martinez and Mr. Hayes, I very much appreciate the opportunity to be here today with you and the other witnesses to discuss services to Native American elders. Let me take this opportunity to convey greetings from Dr. Joyce Berry, the U.S. Commissioner on Aging. She regrets that her schedule prevented her from being here today but I am very happy to be representing her. She certainly shares the concern we all feel about the service needs which affect older Native Americans and is fully supportive of the efforts of my office and staff to expand and improve those services.

In this connection, let me also mention that the reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services will further enhance the efforts of all components of AOA to advocate on behalf of older people and to assist States, localities and in-tribal organizations and service providers in planning and implementing needed service programs.

As you know, under Secretary Sullivan's reorganization, the Administration on Aging will become a separate operating component within the Office of the Secretary. We believe that this change will give us increased visibility and impact in carrying out the mandates assigned to AOA.

Let me underscore at this point the importance which AOA assigns to the current joint effort which Congress and the Administration have undertaken to reauthorize the Older Americans Act. We at the Administration on Aging have given a lot of thought and careful consideration to the reshaping and refining which is needed at this time.

I can assure you that the legislative proposals which will be sent to Congress in the very near future will not in any way represent business as usual. Rather, our proposals will reflect our firm commitment to substantially strengthen the services provided to older persons, including Native American elders.

Since you have my entire written comments for the record and my time is limited, I would like to highlight briefly some of our current initiatives and future plans.

Senator ADAMS. Without objection, your entire statement will appear in the record as though given, Dr. Jackson. Please proceed. Ms. JACKSON. Thank you.

The Office for American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian Programs is charged with the responsibility to serve as a focal point within AOA for the operation and assessment of programs authorized under Title VI of the Older Americans Act and to provide program and policy direction to the ten regional offices in the execution of Title VI responsibilities.

The 1987 amendments to the Older Americans Act directed the Commissioner on Aging to establish a permanent Interagency Task Force on Older Indians, with representatives of other departments and agencies of the Federal Government with interest in older Indians.

Members of the task force include representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Indian Health Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Social Security Administration, Administration for Native Americans and many others.

To date, the primary focus of the task force has been to find ways for the participating agencies to work more efficiently, singly and in collaboration, in providing services to older Indians.

In exploring ways to enhance services, the task force decided that a lack of a common data base is one of the primary obstacles for collaboration. A special committee has been established to study what data bases currently exist, what they contain, what the gaps are and how to develop interagency collaboration with developing verifiable data bases on older Indians.

In addition, the task force has undertaken the development of an annotated compilation of existing Federal programs serving older Indians, is supporting an initiative focusing on older Indian veterans and investigating how to improve access to Social Security benefits.

The task force has also convened meetings to hear from significant Indian constituencies representing Federal and State recognized tribes, as well as from urban Indian organizations, about their views of federally supported programs for Indian elders.

Another initiative of this office is the successful implementation of the National Elder Care Campaign which Dr. Berry launched in January of this year. The campaign is designed as a nationwide, multi-year effort to mobilize resources to assist older persons at risk for losing their self-sufficiency.

The National Elder Care Campaign encompasses all forms of care ranging from in-home supportive services and respite care to institutional care.

We in the Office for American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian Programs know firsthand the difficulties which Native American elders often face in maintaining their independence. We also anticipate that the Older American Act Elder Care Volunteer Corps, which Dr. Berry launched on April 18th, will help support and strengthen both the established program efforts which

our office carries out, as well as our efforts in conjunction with the National Elder Care Campaign.

I will conclude my remarks by briefly addressing the Title VI program.

Under Title VI of the Older Americans Act, AOA annually awards grants to provide supportive and nutritional services for older Native Americans. As you know, the 1987 amendments to the Older Americans Act added Native Hawaiians to the American Indians and Alaska Natives who were already being served by Title VI.

The Title VI program was first funded in fiscal year 1980 with 85 tribal organizations receiving Title VI grants. Currently, this year, 193 tribal organizations receive Title VI grants and one Native Hawaiian group receives a Title VI grant. This represents an increase of 135 percent in just eleven years.

AOA has enhanced the technical assistance offered to Title VI grantees by funding a private consulting firm to provide assistance to grantees in effective use of resources and improving grantee coordination with Title III programs in the provision of supportive and nutrition services.

Additionally, AOA issued a program instruction to all State and area agencies on aging detailing steps to be taken to increase targeting of services to older Indians who are in greatest economic or social need, with a special focus on older Indians.

This concludes my prepared remarks and I will be pleased to answer any questions that you may have.

[The prepared statement of Yvonne Jackson, Ph.D. follows:]