19 Indians. There are no funding match requirements. There are currently 193 grantees receiving Title VI, Part A, funds. Grantees provide a broad range of services and must assure that nutrition services and information and referral services are available. Legal and ombudsman services, if provided, are to be substantially in compliance with the requirements of Title III. Other services which may be provided under these grants include: services which facilitate access -- such as transportation, outreach, escort, individual needs assessment, and service management; o services provided in local areas -- such as continuing education, health and health screening, water purification, temporary shelter, day care, protective services, and o services provided in the home -- such as home health, homemaker services, chore, visiting and telephone reassurance, and fuel assistance; and 20 services provided to residents of care-providing facilities, such as case management, counseling, and group services. Under Title VI, Part B, grants are awarded to provide supportive and nutrition services to Native Hawaiians. The Alu Like organization is currently receiving Title VI, Part B, funds to provide older Native Hawaiians in the five major islands of the State with congregate meals, transportation, health awareness and screening, education and recreation classes, escort service, and visiting and telephone reassurance. In order to improve Title VI services, and as directed in the 1987 Amendments, the Commissioner on Aging has established an Interagency Task Force on Older Indians. This Task Force has met regularly during the past year and has addressed a number of issues, including income security, transportation, and access. The Task Force will be submitting a report of their findings and recommendations to the Commissioner in June. 21 In keeping with AoA's public/private sector initiative under Title II of the Act, AoA's Office of American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiian Programs, along with AARP's Minority Affairs Initiative conducted a pilot training session for a cross section of Indian leaders in the areas of health, housing, and income security. We anticipate continuing this type of training in the future. We consider this an excellent opportunity to accomplish the legislated requirements and to reach out beyond Title VI grantees and address elderly Indian issues in the larger Indian community. Another major effort which the Administration on Aging is undertaking is to focus on all of the vulnerable elderly whom a recent needs assessment indicated are truly underserved. First, let me give you some background on the findings. Based on a requirement of the 1987 amendments to the Older Americans Act, each State Agency on Aging conducted a needs assessment and submitted its findings to the Administration on Aging. We, in turn, provided a national report to the Congress. Because of 22 the diverse methodologies used by each State in the study and the complexity of the subject, the findings from one State to the next could not be compared. However, in the area of supportive services, States frequently identified needs related to in-home services and access services. In the area of nutrition, needs were identified for both congregate and home-delivered meals. A number of States indicated waiting lists for services such as meals and in-home care. Following the 1987 Amendments, the Administration on Aging developed a new Program Performance reporting format to accommodate the additional service data collection requirements imposed by the amendments. State Agencies on Aging used this new format for the first time in reporting Fiscal year 1990 data. Based on our own experience, and comments received from the States, we have determined that changes in the service data base reporting would enhance the quality and utility of the data which we receive. Therefore, I have convened a Task Force to revise the data collecting form and have solicited from each State their ideas as to 23 appropriate improvements. We have received that State input and are sharing it with members of the Task Force. As the Task Force meets over the next several months, the members will consider ways to improve reporting and the use of service data both in light of past experience and in view of priorities which the Congress expresses during the reauthorization process. The findings of the needs assessment study together with information from the Program Performance Reports and my own personal experience which indicates the extent of the need of older persons which cannot be met solely through federal resources. As a result, I have initiated the National Eldercare Campaign. In January, I announced the National Eldercare Campaign. This Campaign is a nation-wide, multi-year effort to mobilize resources to assist older persons at risk of losing their self-sufficiency. Our Plan for Action calls for: |