On May 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Retirement Security and Aging held a hearing on recommendations for reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA). The law was last reauthorized in 2000 (see The Source, 10/27/00). The OAA provides the federal framework for a variety of services for elderly citizens, including employment assistance, health screening and treatment, exercise and recreation, and nutrition programs such as Meals on Wheels. Subcommittee Chair Mike DeWine (R-OH) noted that this will be the first in a series of hearings as Congress considers the OAA’s reauthorization. “Over 36 million people living in the United States are over the age of 65, accounting for about 12 percent of the population. The Census Bureau projects that 45 years from now, people 65 and older will number nearly 90 million in the United States and comprise 21 percent of the population,” he said, adding, “The Older Americans Act is an important service provider for these Americans. It makes a range of social services available for our aging population, including congregate and home-delivered nutrition programs, community service employment, and services to prevent the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older persons.”
Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) called the law an “extremely important Act that meets the day-to-day needs of America’s seniors.” Stressing the importance in reauthorizing the OAA, she said, “There are several principles that I believe must guide reauthorization. First, we must continue and improve the core services of this Act to meet the vital needs of America’s seniors. Secondly, we must modernize the act to meet the changing needs of America’s senior population, including the growing number of seniors over 85, the impending senior boom, and the growing number of seniors in minority groups. Next, we must look for ways to help seniors live more independent and active lives. Finally, we must give national, state, and local programs the resources they need to carry out these vital responsibilities.”
Josefina Carbonell, assistant secretary for aging at the Administration on Aging (AoA), discussed some of the accomplishments since the last reauthorization. Calling the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) the “single most important provision of the 2000 reauthorization, and most significant accomplishment of AoA and the aging network since 2000,” Ms. Carbonell said, “AoA provided flexibility in program structure and operations that has allowed States to focus on such issues as developing new infrastructures for caregiver support; reorganizing State aging networks to be better able to integrate the NFCSP; and developing partnerships with entities not traditionally part of the State’s aging network.” Additionally, AoA commissioned the Family Caregiver Alliance to study states’ efforts in implementing the program. “One interesting finding was that the vast majority (78 percent) of adults in the U.S. who receive long-term care at home, are cared for exclusively from unpaid family and friends,” she stated. The study also found that as a result of the NFCSP, 36 percent of states were providing these services for the first time; the NFCSP is enhancing the scope of services and furthering the adoption of such services; and states are enacting laws to fund caregiver support services, expand family and medical leave, and include family caregiving in state long-term care efforts.
In terms of issues to be considered during the reauthorization, Ms. Carbonell pointed to the need for greater flexibility in implementing the OAA and better integration of long-term care services and funding mechanisms. Citing the “unprecedented” increase of older Americans, Ms. Carbonell said, “Three major issues in particular must be addressed in the modernization of the Older Americans Act: 1) the growing demand for long-term care; 2) the future public and private costs of long-term care; and 3) the systemic problems inherent in our current approach to financing and delivering long-term care services and supports.”
HHS recently launched the “Own Your Future Campaign,” a pilot program operating in five states, which will encourage people to plan ahead for their long-term care. Additionally, AoA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Aging and Disability Resource Center in 2003. The center also is designed to help people plan ahead for their long-term care.
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training at the Department of Labor Emily DeRocco profiled an OAA program administered by the department, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). Funded at $436.7 million in FY2005, the program serves persons 55 years and older whose family incomes are no more than 125 percent of the federal poverty level. Participants are placed in part-time community service assignments to gain on-the-job training while they seek other employment. “Participants receive training and work experience in a wide variety of occupations, including nurse’s aides, teacher aides, librarians, gardeners, clerical workers, and day care assistants at non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations and public agencies. Program participants also work in the health care industry such as in hospitals, as well as in recreation parks and forests, education, housing and home rehabilitation, senior centers, and nutrition programs.”
Noting that the “typical SCSEP participant is a woman with a high school education in her mid-sixties,” Ms. DeRocco said that as of June 2004, “73 percent of the participants were women, 44.3 percent were minority, 81.5 percent were age 60 and older, 8.7 percent were age 75 and older, and 70.8 percent had a high school education or less.” She described a recent success story of a woman who was laid off from her 5-year secretarial job at a local Ohio hospital: “She came to SCSEP for help, was found to be SCSEP-eligible and placed in a community service assignment in the grantee’s resource room. In that capacity, she helped to provide services to other older workers as she pursued her own job search. Initially reluctant, she agreed to participate in the grantee’s WIA [Workforce Investment Act]-funded Job Club, refreshing her interviewing and job-seeking skills, and benefiting from shared information on job openings. As a result of a Job Club lead and these services, she is now employed at a mass transit company as the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director–a challenging and interesting position.”
Other initiatives undertaken by the DoL include an Older Worker Task Force, which is charged with developing a comprehensive policy to address key issues related to the participation of older workers in the workforce, and a Protocol for Serving Older Workers, which was released in January 2005 to all One-Stop Career Centers.
