In the final analysis, however, the entire process of eveloping educational opportunities for older Americans will e at a standstill until such time as national, State and local eaders perceive educational opportunity for the elderly as a ocial imperative, and until such time as these and other decisionakers mandate the development of programs by providing fiscal upport. It is a matter of some importance that as yet older eople themselves have not seen fit to insist on educational opporunity, and that those who might be expected to be their advocates ave not made themselves heard.

EMPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT

H.R. 1, by liberalizing the retirement test under social security, mades possible increased income for older persons through employment. A task confronting State and local government and the private sector, then, is to expand the opportunities for employment of the elderly.

Green Thumb, Senior Aides, and other Operation Mainstream programs have clearly demonstrated that community service employment of the low income elderly has great value--both to the individual employed and the community served. Every effort should be made to establish such community service programs throughout the nation, using funds made available to the cities through general revenue sharing.

A specific area of expanded community service is in the field of child care. During the last decade a large increase has occurred in the number of child care centers. Even greater increases can be anticipated in the future.

The Delegates to the Section on Employment of the White House Conference on Aging recognized that the field of child care is an attractive possibility for providing substantial employment opportunities for the elderly. States and localities which finance the provision of child care services can help realize this possibility by reserving large numbers of jobs in publicly supported child care centers for older persons and by taking positive action to eliminate whatever barriers exist to older persons' availing themselves of those reserved positions.

Another major scurce of expanded job opportunities is parttime work in the private sector. Evidence suggests that there is a significant number of necessary tasks in private industry that go largely undone because younger workers, viewing the tasks as dead-end work, are unwilling to accept such employment. State and local manpower authorities are urged to undertake acitvities designed to assist the private sector in identifying possible part-time work for older workers, and to recruit and place candidates for these positions.

A third source of expanded employment opportunities could occur if retirement were made less abrupt and, instead, phased in over a period of years overlapping what is currently the age of mandatory retirement. Such restructuring of retirement is only a small part of the larger possibility of restructuring the relationship between leisure and work throughout the life of an individual.

For such massive social changes to take place, including more flexible retirement, combined with greater opportunities for parttime employment, employers must be educated as to their desirability

and feasibility.

National organizations of employers such as the

U. S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the American Management Association, are urged to develop programs through which such education can be provided to employers.

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FACILITIES, PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

The enactment of Revenue Sharing provides States and communities with billions of dollars. States and communities should utilize these funds to expand, improve or develop facilities, programs and services for older persons. It is urged that Revenue Sharing funds will be sent in such a manner to assure that an equitable share of these funds will be allocated for use by older persons.

At the same time Revenue Sharing was enacted, a $2.5 billion ceiling was placed on Federal expenditures for services for the recipients of public assistance, including old age assistance. Many States are currently expecting to use less than their share of this $2.5 billion. They are urged to consider matching their full share and using a portion of these additional resources to provide the complete range of services for older persons called for by the White House Conference.

Delegates were concerned about increasing the forms of protection society affords older persons. For a number of reasons, the elderly are particularly susceptible to consumer fraud. The White House Conference recommended the enactment by States and localities of such consumer protection measures as:

--health and no-fault automobile insurance legislation

--hearing aids, physical therapeutic devices and
appliances legislation

--legislation requiring the conspicuous posting of the
unit price of consumer commodities

--reform of regulations governing land sale transactions

--abolition of prohibition of advertising of prescription drug prices

The Council of State Governments, the State Attorneys General, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State laws and the American Law Institute are urged to assume responsibility for facilitating and encouraging the enactment of such legislation.

Another form of protection involves physical protection. Older persons residing in declining urban neighborhoods are often victims of street crime. State and local agencies which obtained Federal law enforcement assistance grants are urged to use a portion of these funds to increase the physical security of older persons.

Yet, another form of protection involves protection of the civil liberties of older persons. The Handbook of Model State Statutes which was published by the National Council of Senior Citizens provides examples of statutes designed to deal with the

sensitive problem of balancing the rights of the older individual with the rights of his family. State legislatures are urged to consider comprehensive legislation in the form suggested by the Handbook.